Four Cubits

After a quick review of the Barbie movie, Jeff and Eli talk about a widely-circulated petition that seeks to link the Israeli judicial overhaul with the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict.To read the open letter, click/tap here. To read about the open letter, click/tap here.

In this episode, Jeff and Eli discuss the principle of free speech and how it comes into conflict with the desire to regulate hate speech, or group libel. In an attempt to tease apart and examine the various ideas and values at play in this conflict, they look at Stanley Fish, Ronald Dworkin, and Jeremy Waldron.Show Notes:To read Stanley Fish on free speech, click/tap here. To read Ronald Dworkin on free speech, click/tap here. To read Jeremy Waldron on group libel, click/tap here.

In this episode, Jeff and Eli discuss the issue of antisemitism. They examine and evaluate multiple definitions of the term, talk about the attempt of some to include anti-Zionism in their definitions, and reflect on the impact of social media on the spread of antisemitic ideas. They conclude with their own recommendations on best practices in the fight against antisemitism.Show Notes:To read Jonathan Judaken's essay click/tap here.To read the statement against antisemitism in the genital aut...

In this episode, Eli tells the story of a recent personal encounter he had with antisemitism and the intersectional bigotry that followed from it before he and Jeff discuss the meaning of patriotism. They then wade into the contemporary culture wars on race using Ross Douthat's recent OpEds in the New York Times as an access point to the controversies and dig a little deeper into the work of Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi. Jeff levels a withering critique against DiAngelo's concept of whit...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli discuss the Derek Chauvin verdict and its implications for the country and the criminal justice system. They then continue their deep dive into racism with an examination of Lawrence Blum's concept of the moral asymmetries inherent in different kinds of racism.Show Notes:To read Lawrence Blum's "I'm Not A Racist But..." click/tap here.

In this episode, Jeff and Eli continue their discussion on the metaphysics of race with a quick review of Hardimon's biological realism and a discussion of social realism/constructionism and anti-realism. They examine the metaphysics of Sally Haslanger, Paul C. Taylor, and Joshua Glasgow as they discuss the merits and problems posed by social realism and anti-realism.Show Notes:To read Sally Haslanger and Joshua Glasgow argue about race, click/tap here.To read Paul C. Taylor's excellent book,...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli begin by discussing a controversial SNL joke about Israel’s vaccination program. Next they discuss the devastating empirical problems faced by the classical racialist view of race before launching into a discussion of the different metaphysical camps in the philosophy of race. They start with Biological Realism using Michael Hardimon’s work as a model and talk about the pros and cons of holding on to a minimalist concept of biological race. Show Notes:To wat...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli examine different definitions of racism. They look at Robin DiAngelo, Ibram X. Kendi, and Paul C. Taylor’s definitions and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each before talking about the way in which Jeff thinks racism should be redefined.Show Notes:To read Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility, click/tap here. To read Ibram Kendi’s book How To Be An Antiracist, click/tap here.To read Paul C. Taylor’s book Race: A Philosophical Introduction, click/t...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli wrap up their non-comprehensive stroll through the history of racial thinking and move on to talk about the role that religion played in the history of racism and slavery. Eli then argues for the centrality of racism to the Enlightenment project, while Jeff defends its honor.Show Notes:To read about the Curse of Ham, click/tap here. For an excellent series of essays on Philosophers and Race, click/tap here. For Ibram Kendi’s history of racial thinking i...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli take a moment to reflect on the end of the Trump era before jumping into a discussion on race. They talk about their personal connection to race and then talk about the history of racial thinking using Paul C. Taylor’s account as a guide.Show Notes:To watch The New Yorker’s video from inside the Capitol attack on January 6th, click/tap here.To see the cover of Time Magazine with Eli’s terrorist doppelgänger, click/tap here.To read Paul C. Taylor’s “Race: A Philos...