Sep 5Gender is a Möbius CircleMale against Female. Mind against Body. Encouraged by historical philosophical debates, these two seemingly isolated concepts have remained opposed to each other in the arena of feminist theory. At the heart of this battle lies the concept of ‘somatophobia’, a term that encapsulates the fear, devaluation, disgust and hate of…Gender7 min readGender7 min read
Aug 31Utilitarianism v Rawlsian Principles of JusticeContemporary political theorists view justice as a virtue in society that upholds principles of fairness by maintaining the balance between distribution and benefits. Where truth is the first virtue of systems of thought, justice is the first virtue of societal institutions. When justice is woven into the structure of society…7 min read7 min read
Aug 24The Freedom to Discriminate: Problems with Justifying Religious Exemption Laws in AustraliaThe debate of ‘Freedom of religion’ gained prominence following marriage equality in Australia; and continues today with conservative Christian bodies opposing changes to anti-discrimination laws.[1] Currently religious exemptions contained in both the Age Discrimination Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, enable religious bodies to exercise discrimination against any individual that…LGBTQ26 min readLGBTQ26 min read
Jul 1039 Years Later: Personal Reflections on Gayle Rubin’s ‘Thinking Sex’ EssayPrior to my course in Law, Gender and Sexualities, I had not been exposed to any foundational education of Queer theory despite being a Gender Studies Major student. This lack of exposure is primarily due to both course cutbacks within the university and the depressing reality that courses are rotated…Queer5 min readQueer5 min read
May 21How Gaslighting is a Form of Epistemic InjusticeThe term ‘Gaslight’ describes a set of behaviours and actions that use emotional and psychological manipulation to cause a victim to question their perceptions, experiences and knowledge of the world. Paul Podosky defines intentional gaslighting as having three conditions: when “(i) a speaker uses words with (ii) the intention that…Gaslighting8 min readGaslighting8 min read
Apr 13Justifying Justified True Belief as KnowledgeTaylor has a friend named Este. Este confides in Taylor saying that she believes her husband is having an affair. She has observed that her husband has been acting differently, he comes home late with stains of merlot on his mouth and she’s noticed that he’s brought jewellery on their…Philosophy5 min readPhilosophy5 min read
Mar 26Podcast: Bridging the gap between Australian common law and Indigenous Native TitleWhat is the difference between Western and Indigenous concepts of land and how do they operate together under a dominant legal system? What would a treaty between Indigenous Australians and the Commonwealth look like? In this podcast, my housemate and I discuss these issues that arise from plurality of native title existing alongside colonial common law rights and the conditions required for a treaty to even be considered by Aboriginal peoples.Native Title1 min readNative Title1 min read
Nov 6, 2022Social Baseline Theory and Perception: How our relationships ground us to our neurological starting pointTraditionally, neuroscience, neuropsychology and other mind sciences have considered a person’s ‘baseline’ state to be when that individual is on their own and without the introduction of external stimuli. ‘Baseline’ is the starting point from which your brain activity, and subsequently your resulting perceptions and emotions, stem. To visualise this…Philosophy11 min readPhilosophy11 min read
Oct 21, 2022Christianity, Voodoo and the Slave Revolution of HaitiCW: Slavery, racial violence and colonisation. The year is 1791, and Haiti is established as France’s colonial crown jewel. A foreign export trade built from a brutal regime of slavery results in Haiti producing sixty percent of the world’s exports in sugar and coffee. For its European settlers, it is…Black History10 min readBlack History10 min read
Sep 26, 2022Appraising Appraisal Theory and the Causation of EmotionsWhat causes us to have differentiating emotions in response to the same objects or events? Appraisal theorists seek to address this question by arguing that it is our appraisal of a situation which causes us to have an emotional response that is unique to us. That is, through an analysis…Philosophy10 min readPhilosophy10 min read
