Philosophy Thoughts as and when

Yesterday, I came across an email I was sent way back in July 2016 by the admin woman that non-Dutch prospective students had to deal with when applying to the (2 year full time, first year only taught, second year research) MRes Philosophy MA (2016-18).  I was applying as an EU prospective student because the UK was still part of the EU and, at the time of applying, had no yet voted to leave the EU. So much for the notion that part of the advantage of being an EU Member State is to access opportunities to live and study across Europe, all under their wonderful respect for and observance of people's European Human Rights. And where could be more central to the principles of the EU bloc than the Netherlands, home to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the European Patent Office (EPO).  I have decided to share it to raise awareness of something that is very much in the public interest, yet the topic is rarely ever discussed or brought to light in mainstream media: we may see

The hidden consequences of decriminalising drugs  There are many consequences to decriminalising drugs that Branson hasn't addressed in this Facebook video message, available  here . He hasn't taken on board the hidden and complex drug problems taking place amongst students at universities across the country that won't be solved through a relaxation of law and regulations.  Here's  an excellent YouTube video interviewing an investigative journalist on the use and abuse of ketamine at universities. I'll be drawing on his journalistic research in this blog post. 1) Surely decriminalising being caught with drugs means you're normalising taking drugs which we know cause mental and physical health issues, temporary or permanent. This normalisation will create more peer pressure to participate in drug taking and it can take place more openly and prolifically because it's not unlawful and more socially acceptable. That makes life harder for those who don't wish

The AKC {Associateship of King’s College} is a course dating back to 1829 with the motto: sancte et sapienter, "holiness and wisdom" which, to this day, claims the equivalent BA course "remains faithful to this commitment to taking religion seriously".  Meaning what? Who on earth takes religion seriously? You either are religious and go to church and all that. Or, if you're like me, you rarely think about religion. And there's a substantial amount of people who couldn't care less about religion. No-one is obliged to take religion seriously.  And what 18-21 year old wants to be preached at when they go to uni? They usually choose a uni far from home to get away from their parents not to then fall into some hierarchical religious and social control system. I'd love to see these students' faces when they see two religious ministers walking down the corridor. That's enough to inhibit any conversation.  Why is the course necessary? The teenagers h

I came across and read this  article in the Guardian newspaper on Facebook, with the caption:  'Digital tools can free staff from mundane and repetitive tasks, providing them with more time and the tools for better teaching, research and student support' Really? 🤔 It should be the case that simple processes are only a click away from being smoothly done through technology but clearly isn't, when a very young professor doesn't mind wasting time on her KCL work emails organising some nonsensical KCL visitor pass for those who are not "members of King's" (whatever that means) apparently to "access the building" for a London Spinoza Circle event.  For the past 8 years the London Spinoza Circle has existed, and I've been attending in-person throughout these academic years, whenever it was held at both Birkbeck College, London University as well as Senate House, and it has always been organised under the mottos: "All welcome and no registrati