Rachel Robison-Greene is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Utah State University. She regularly writes about issues related to moral psychology and the nature of the self. She is also interested in philosophical issues related to technology and to non-human animals. She is the author of Edibility and In Vitro Meat: Ethical Considerations. Email: rachel.robison [at] usu.edu
by Rachel Robison-Greene These days, there is a common unpleasant routine in the lives of well-informed, civic-minded individuals. They wake up in the morning, check the news, and are immediately bombarded with stories about events in the world that elicit strong negative emotions such as grief, fear, helplessness, and anger. In such disturbing times, it…
by Rachel Robison-Greene Ada sits alone at a table contemplating whether she should drink the liquid from the glass in front of her. She’s been promised that the result of doing so will be an immediate revision to her set of beliefs. If she drinks from the glass, she will believe only things that are…
by Rachel Robison-Greene In the past decade, we have witnessed the fallout from the largely unrestricted spread of bullshit on the internet. People have died or have become seriously ill as result of following bad medical advice that they heard on social media. A recent Healthline study found that, among those who had started a…
by Rachel Robison-Greene Public philosophy isn’t new. The image that many people conjure up when they picture a quintessential philosopher—the image of Socrates—is the image of a public philosopher. Socrates didn’t write articles. He didn’t publish in peer reviewed journals. He had conversations with members of his community about subjects that matter. The practice of…
by Rachel Robison-Greene I’ll never forget the moment when it dawned on me that I had arrived at middle age. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Nothing much had changed—my eyes were the same distance apart. My nose was in the same place. My grey hairs were still mostly hidden in my…
by Rachel Robison-Greene In 524, the Roman philosopher Boethius was imprisoned in exile awaiting his execution. He was used a as a political tool and was convicted on false charges, including the charge of sorcery. In these dire conditions, he wrote The Consolations of Philosophy in which his muse, Lady Philosophy, appears to him to…
by Rachel Robison-Greene Last weekend in Northern Utah, the fall colors in the mountains were at their peak. The days were still hot, but the mornings and evenings were cool. The sun was beginning to set a little earlier and most of the doorsteps in our quiet town were peppered with multicolored autumn gourds. An…
by Rachel Robison-Greene When we look back on some of our most pleasant memories, they often share two things in common: people we love and food. We would be unlikely to describe the origin of our favorite meals as food production. We’d be more likely to describe it as cooking and the cooks we’d describe…
by Rachel Robison-Greene When people think about what it is to live a successful life, they often think about finding a good job that pays a respectable salary, meeting and making a commitment to a life partner, having children, buying a house, and affording the luxuries that financial success makes possible. Some view success as…
by Rachel Robison-Greene In Discourse on the Method, philosopher René Descartes reflects on the nature of mind. He identifies what he takes to be a unique feature of human beings— in each case, the presence of a rational soul in union with a material body. In particular, he points to the human ability to think—a…