Aren Loving and Jeffery Lou are the Co-Founders of Eastside Philosophy. Discovering the Problem Our generation has coined a term that has become widespread: “larping.” “Larping” is the act of being pretentious—in an obnoxious manner—by engaging in actions or conversation topics that serve the sole purpose of impressing those that are listening. For example, suppose … Our Experience Building Eastside Philosophy
Jana Mohr Lone is PLATO’s Executive Director. The story Love, Z by Jessie Sima is about a young robot, Z, who finds a bottle with a message inside that is unreadable except for two words: “Love, Beatrice.” Z wonders what “love” means and asks all the other robots, but they do not know. Z decides to search … A Silent Discussion about Love
Aanya Padhi is a junior at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California. She is interested in applied ethics and political philosophy and is active in advocacy work to overturn wrongful convictions and address prosecutorial misconduct. Aanya is also a member of PLATO’s Student Advisory Council. I remember the moment when the world stopped being … Our First Ethics Bowl: Creating a Space for Ethical Dialogue
Marcello Oreste Fiocco is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. A metaphysician and epistemologist, he is the author of a number of papers in leading journals and of Time and the World: Every Thing and Then Some (Oxford University Press, 2024). I founded TH!NK in the spring of 2015, within a couple … TH!NK, Now More than Ever
Ellis Sobers is a high school freshman with a passion for philosophy, particularly Stoicism. In her blog and Tedx Talk, she focuses on how Stoicism can help us through everyday situations and can positively affect our lives while repairing political divisiveness. A year ago, when I was on the line at a track meet … How Stoicism Helps Fill Our Present-day Void
Karen S. Emmerman is PLATO’s Education Director. As the end of the school year in Seattle approaches, I have been thinking about my role as Philosopher-in-Residence (PIR) and how it plays out over the course of a week. I tend to think in daily increments rather than weekly, focusing largely on what classes I will … A Week in the Life of a Philosopher-in-Residence
Edward Gelman is an undergraduate at Columbia University studying philosophy and Germanic languages. He is dedicated to applying ethical frameworks to contemporary social issues. I was the captain of my high school’s Ethics Bowl team, the student who stayed after school arguing about trolley problems and corporate responsibility. Still, my moral imagination had its limits. … Radical Conversation and the Work of Leadership
Dr. Anne van Leeuwen is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at James Madison University. In her now classic book on pedagogy, bell hooks writes that education is enabling, that it “enhance[s] our capacity to be free.” Studying philosophy embodies this promise of freedom and equality precisely because it encourages a use of reason that is … Practicing Philosophy with Kids in the Shenandoah Valley
Karen S. Emmerman is PLATO’s Education Director. Some readers of Wondering Aloud will know that I have a long-standing interest in building philosophical skills in ways that are joyful and themselves philosophical. To be together in a community of philosophical inquiry requires that we all articulate our ideas as clearly as possible and also ask … Thinking Clearly Through Art
My name is Naphat Prateepveruriya (my nickname is In). I’m a 4th grade student at International Community School (ICS) in Bangkok. I really love my school because it is a place where we care about “who we are” as much as “what we learn.” My teachers always encourage us to be curious, and since my … Why I Wonder