PHILOSOPHY PATHWAYS Issue 220

I.'Climate Change and the Joys of Punishment with David Deutsch and Friedrich Nietzsche' by Jed Lea-Henry

II. 'Russian Philosophy on Human Cognitive Capabilities' by Vera Babina and Natalya Rozenberg

This month's Philosophy Pathways offers two articles; with the first being an explanation of environmentalist thought from the perspective of Friedrich Nietzsche. The second is an article focusing upon two historic Russian philosophers and their views on the process of cognition [...]

I. 'CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE JOYS OF PUNISHMENT WITH DAVID DEUTSCH AND FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE' BY JED LEA-HENRY

As counterintuitive as it might sound, 'sustainability' and the commitment to 'problem avoidance' rather than 'problem solving' are, at least according to David Deutsch, very dangerous ideas. And in this regard, our near-universally pursued policy direction in response to the problem of global warming -- that of trying to limit carbon emissions by means of limiting economic activity -- is also very dangerous because it represents, at its core, a commitment to both those ideas. The best explanation for why we are making this mistake is the 'debtor-creditor' and 'pleasure-driven' conception of punishment, as it is explained by Friedrich Nietzsche [...]

II. 'RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHY ON HUMAN COGNITIVE CAPACITIES' BY VERA BABINA AND NATALYA ROZENBERG

One of the important directions in modern Russian Philosophy is the research of concepts explaining the spiritual life of human society. In XIX-XX centuries Russian philosophers proposed some new ideas based on the lived experience of Russian culture. They tried to reveal its spiritual essence. The thinkers used both the rich heritage of classical European philosophy and the spiritual traditions of Eastern Christianity. The key goal was to create a philosophical theory that would give answers to numerous up-to-date social questions. This aim was the primary driving force of ontological and gnoseological theories formed by a pleiad of Russian thinkers starting from P. Chaadaev and concluding with P. Sorokin and A. Losev [...]

I'm really excited to announce the launch of a new philosophy podcast focused on using popular sci-fi to make philosophy more accessible to non-academics. We've started off with linking a recent Black Mirror episode with the Experience Machine, and explaining possible worlds using Rick and Morty.

I hope some of y'all might find this interesting and maybe even worth sharing with your students and philosopher cohorts. We're hoping to get enough support to make it a weekly show. We're available on all the major podcast apps, and here's our website for streaming:

Here we are on Patreon, if you know anyone who might be interested in supporting:

We've also started a facebook group with lots of good discussions already going:

If you have any suggestions for sci-fi material and/or philosophy topics to cover feel free to hit us up at philosophersinspace@gmail.com

The MAP UK directorship team are running a new publicity campaign for our mentor scheme -- which connects philosophy students and researchers from marginalised groups with experienced mentors -- and we'd appreciate any help that you can offer.

but I'd particularly like to draw your attention to the following three action points, which you might consider:

If you are a UK philosophy student or early career researcher who considers themselves a member of a marginalised group, then you are eligible for the scheme. You don't need to face particular difficulties, and you don't need to have no other mentors at all (although if you do, then please get in touch!). Mentoring is a crucial part of academia regardless of circumstances, so as long as you meet our basic criteria (you're a marginalised philosopher based in the UK) you are very welcome. You can see our database of mentors, and find out how to get in touch with one, here:

Please post about the scheme on Twitter or Facebook (or any other platforms), using #MAPmentor and/or linking back to our webpage. This shorter link is good for twitter, or any platform where character count is limited:

We've created a poster to advertise the scheme. You can download the file here, and then share it digitally, or print it off to display in your department:

www.geoffreyklempner.net

klempner@fastmail.net

International Society for Philosophers

Wisdom begins with wonder