“I don't see how being a faster runner, or a better mathematician makes you 'deserve' access to a better life, or more influence on policy, in the absence of a social decision to play that game in the way it's proposed to be organised for some set of benefits.” WayPlayGamesSocialDecisionInfluencePolicyBenefitsDeserveAbsenceAccessFasterMathematicianRunnersBetter LifeOrganised Author:Catherine Wilson
“You can find many philosophy papers on the themes of 'love' and 'friendship,' most of which are cheerful and somewhat anodyne; you don't find many on the loss of friends, relatives, and lovers from death or alienation, though it happens all the time.” PhilosophyHappensLossLoversPaperThemeCheerfulPapersAlienationLove And FriendshipLoss Of A Friend Author:Catherine Wilson
“We need grief as a precursor to emotional refreshment, and so consume it vicariously in somewhat titrated but powerful enough form through engagement with the arts.” NeedsArtEnoughFormPowerfulGriefEmotionalEngagementRefreshmentsPrecursor Author:Catherine Wilson
“It used to be that nobody would really argue with a woman, because what she thought (unless it was by way of providing helpful comments about one's own work) just didn't matter.” WayMatterUsedArguingUsed To BeHelpfulCommentProviding Author:Catherine Wilson
“People formerly seemed unable to evaluate a woman's c.v. or to accept a range of personal and communicative styles from the exuberant and confident to the sober and pedantic. It's much better than it was, and a number of male philosophers have been extraordinarily helpful in detecting and criticising everyday sexism in the profession.” PeopleHas BeensNumbersAcceptingStyleMalesEverydayPhilosopherProfessionRangeHelpfulSexismSoberEvaluatePedantic Author:Catherine Wilson
“Human courtship has some wild extremes. At one end of the spectrum, there is harassment, pestering, blackmail, and an abuse of institutional power, which its targets rightly fear and loathe. At the other end is love, which as Nietzsche said, is beyond good and evil and always deserves our respect and compassion even when it is doomed or destructive. In the wide middle of the spectrum are all the ambiguous and tragi-comic goings-on of our species.” HumansSaidEndsEvilCompassionMiddleDeserveAbuseSpeciesExtremesWideComicDestructiveGood And EvilTargetDoomedSpectrumHarassmentAmbiguousCourtshipLoatheBlackmailBeyond Good And Evil Author:Catherine Wilson
“Gentlemanly, principled, helpful behaviour by older men vis-a-vis young women goes unnoticed, but it deserves real moral credit, and we could use more first-person testimony from the beneficiaries and practitioners about that too.” MenFirstsPersonsRealUseYoungMoralDeserveCreditHelpfulBehaviourYoung WomenTestimonyFirst PersonUnnoticedPrincipledBeneficiariesOlder ManGentlemanly Author:Catherine Wilson