Beautyism as Ableist Eugenics… and the Mystique of “Choice Feminism” 

Introduction I recently came across this article on Vice.com asking filmmakers to “stop making hot actors play normal people.” The author indicts filmmakers for casting too few “normal” people. I think that this is a much-needed critique, but it lacks philosophical nuance, which I intend to provide here. My analysis will explore the harms of mainstream beauty […]

Against Exotic Philosophy, Again

When we approach other people’s thoughts, especially those that might prima facie to be very different from us, culturally, geographically, historically, etc., there is always the temptation to think that trying to fit their thought into our current epistemological, aesthetic, ontological, etc. categories would require forcing it into a conceptual straitjacket and that instead one […]

Max Scheler on the Phenomenology of Value

it is not that feeling that something is valuable gives un defeasible justification to believe that it has value; instead, the relation between feeling and value is not cognitive but constitutive: something is valuable because of how it feels (to us, obviously)

Nondisabled People Always Win the “Hunger Games” of Academic Publishing and Tenure

This year, only one department lists “disability studies” amongst its desired areas of specialization; namely, California Polytechnic State University’s AOS is “Technology Ethics, as related to Feminist Ethics and/or Disability Studies.” No department is looking for a specialist in critical disability theory or crip theory. Based on a keyword search, the word “disability” appears in […]

Call for Podcast Guests

Hello! It’s me, your friendly neighbourhood podcast host and producer, and I am looking for guests for Philosophy Casting Call Season 3. If you are unfamiliar with this interview podcast featuring underrepresented philosophers, you can listen to it here and read full transcripts of each episode: Philosophy Casting Call. The theme of Season 3 is […]

The Tragedy of Nondisability: A Sad and Boring Life

1. Introduction Philosophers tend to focus on the ‘tragedy of disability,’ the oppressions and exclusions faced by disabled people. There is good reason for this, inasmuch as disabled people must deal with systemic bullying, harassment, and discrimination. But if this is the only story that we tell about disability, then we are missing a big part of […]

Embodied Subjectivities in the Philippine Context

Sometimes, your niche just finds you. This seems to be the case with me and the intersection between Filipino philosophy and philosophy of disability, as I am happy to announce my second speaking engagement on that topic on May 28, 2022 at 5PM PHT. I will be one of two presenters for the 11th Beyond […]

CFP: Special Issue of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly on Feminist Approaches to Moral Responsibility (deadline: Apr. 30, 2023)

This is a call for papers for a special issue of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly on feminist approaches to moral responsibility. Feminist philosophy provides unique insight into the ontology, epistemology, psychology, pragmatics, and politics of responsibility. Unlike mainstream philosophy, feminist philosophy “originated in feminist politics and… included from the start discussion of feminist political issues and positions” (Garry, Khader, […]

Online Symposium on An Intersectional Feminist Theory of Moral Responsibility 

Readers of BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY may be interested in the online symposium of my book, An Intersectional Feminist Theory of Moral Responsibility. This week’s exchange between me and fellow disabled philosopher Sofia Jeppsson focuses on the relationship between responsibility, disability, and oppression. What follows is a brief summary of my book by Ryan Lake, followed by highlights of my conversation with […]