Topics for Future Discussion

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Paying Mothers? ..... Recent studies suggest that the gender earnings gap is being driven by the financial losses women suffer after having children, the 'motherhood penalty'. But is it fair that women should bear these costs for raising the next generation? Should they instead be paid to have children? And, if so, by whom? (ADDED 18/7/23)
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Artificial Artists? ..... AI algorithms, such as Generative Adversarial Networks and neural networks, have been used to create art, music, and literature. But can AI systems be truly creative and produce original works of art? And do they have aesthetic value in the same way human-created art is evaluated? (ADDED 17/9/23)
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Do Numbers Exist? ... Skepticism about numbers has a long history. Some numbers are irrational, and others imaginary. It does raise the question: where in the world are they to be found? Not on earth, it seems. In heaven, as Plato thought? Or are they are all just very useful fictions? (ADDED 8/2/23)
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He She, They Ze? .... If another asks us to refer to them as "he" or "she", or by some non-gender-specific pronoun, we should probably respect their wishes. But should we avoid any use of gender-specific pronouns, with anyone? Should everyone be "they" (or perhaps "ze")? (ADDED 18/1/23)
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Two Concepts of Liberty? .... In 1958, Isiah Berlin first distinguished between negative and positive liberty, arguing that they showed the plurality of human values, and the need face trade-offs between them. How has this distinction withstood the test of time, and what does it mean to be free? (ADDED 21/8/23)
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Academic Activism? ..... “The philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” Or so Marx claimed. But is he right? Are the intellectual obligations of being a philosopher, an academic, consistent with the practical requirements of being an activist? (ADDED 17/9/23)
Other Topics for Future Discussion : Are zombies possible? • Do we have libertarian free will? • Is political sovereignty indivisible? • Is ugliness a pathology? • How should we feel about 26 January 1788?
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