Tag: violence

  • We Must Demand Professional Policing For All

    We Must Demand Professional Policing For All

    Consider the collective horror, shame, and disgust we philosophers have at the abusive behavior of our fellow philosophers: think of what it means to be compared to Colin McGinn or Thomas Pogge. Why isn’t there that kind of horror, shame, and disgust among police officers at the drumbeat of police shootings?

  • Nationalistic Dissent: Trump, the Tea Party, and the “Bowling for Fascism” Study

    Nationalistic Dissent: Trump, the Tea Party, and the “Bowling for Fascism” Study

    Civic engagement folks need to talk about nationalist populism.

  • Ice Cream Trucks and other Drug Dealers

    Ice Cream Trucks and other Drug Dealers

    To be clear, I’m not endorsing drug markets, or even beating up your food truck competitors. But I find it strange when ordinary human behavior–often the laudatory kind that is responding to a larger abuse of power with small-scale violence–is pathologized by my fellow liberals who recognize the small-scale violence but ignore the larger abuses.

  • Forgiveness and Revenge Seminar Retrospective

    Forgiveness and Revenge Seminar Retrospective

    Whenever I teach an advanced class of thoughtful students, I like to offer a short retrospective at the end of the semester. I sit down without my notes or texts and try to makes sense of what we have done. Below, you’ll find the retrospective I shared on our last day. (As background, we read…

  • Forgiveness in Charleston and South Africa: Political or Theological?

    Forgiveness in Charleston and South Africa: Political or Theological?

    After the families of the victims of the Emanuel AME church shooting unilaterally forgave the shooter, I’ve been thinking again about forgiveness. (Some previous posts here.) In particular, I am wondering again about the relationship between theological and political forgiveness. The classic Enlightenment description of the duty to forgive is derived from the Christian tradition…

  • New Evidence of Police False Statements

    New Evidence of Police False Statements

    The New York Times has a story on the new CCRB report that includes data on the rise of proveable police deception: In New York, the number of false statements noted by the agency, while small, has grown in an age of easy and widespread video and audio recording by civilians. In 2014, the agency found…