Michael Jordan or LeBron James? What the GOAT Debate can Teach Us By Victor Monnin Michael Jordan or LeBron James? Who is the greatest player of all time, the GOAT? I find myself addicted to the dispute over this apparently impossible question. Of course, as philosophical questions often do, the GOAT question, raises other questions:…
When Ignorance Truly Isn’t Bliss Lessons from We Happy Few By Brandon Packard We’ve heard it a million times, “Ignorance is Bliss.” It’s a phrase that has echoed through time, but where did it start? The phrase dates back to 1742 and a poem in which Thomas Gray states, “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis…
Tove Jansson’s Moomins: Just Stories? Peter West In this short discussion of the Moomins and philosophy, I want to do two things. First, I want to point out some obvious instances of philosophy at work in the Moomins. Second, I want to suggest that the way Tove Jansson treats the relation between fiction and reality…
Moana and the Wonder of Disney Philosophy Tyler Shores All of philosophy begins with a question. And every good story begins with a question. In Moana (2016) the seemingly straightforward question is: “What if … we fished beyond the reef?” Inspiring feelings of wonder, the question becomes the catalyst for a tale of mythology, philosophical…
Bojack Horseman and the Danger of the Partially Examined Life Tessa Brunnenmeyer and Kristopher G. Phillips Bojack Horseman is a Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Netflix cartoon project that is in many ways deeply confusing. The show follows the titular character, a washed-up former sit-com actor who happens to be a cartoon horse. Bojack Horseman offers…
Shark Tank and Philosophy: Mr. Wonderful and Plato’s Pursuit of Truth Brandon Kirby Plato taught us to have reverence for mathematics. He saw it as the pathway to truth. The inscription above the Academy read, Let none ignorant of geometry enter here. On Shark Tank (and the Canadian version of the show, Dragons’ Den) Kevin…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 