•  1019
    Slurring Words
    Noûs 47 (1): 25-48. 2011.
  •  701
    Racist Humor
    Philosophy Compass 10 (8): 501-509. 2015.
    In this brief essay, I will lay out the philosophical landscape concerning theories of racist humor. First, I mention some preliminary issues that bear on the question of what makes a joke racist. Next, I briefly survey some of the views philosophers have offered on racist humor, and on a view of sexist humor that is relevant for this discussion. I then suggest the debates could benefit from moving beyond the racist/non-racist binary most views presuppose. Finally, I conclude with suggestions fo…Read more
  •  618
    Language and Race
    In Gillian Russell & Delia Graff Fara (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language, Routledge. pp. 753-767. 2012.
    What is the point of language? If we begin with that abstract question, we may be tempted towards a high-minded answer: “People say things to get other people to come to know things that they didn't know before” (Stalnaker, 2002, 703). The point is truth, knowledge, communication. If we begin with a concrete question, “What has language to do with race?” we find a different point: to attack, spread hatred, create racial hierarchy. The mere practice of racial categorization is controversial: are …Read more
  •  349
  •  227
    Hermeneutical Impasses
    Philosophical Topics 45 (2): 1-19. 2017.
    When people respond to chants of “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter” or excoriate Colin Kaepernick for being “anti-military” or “anti-American” when he sits or kneels during the playing of the national anthem, there appears to be a break in understanding. BLM protestors and Kaepernick understand their actions and messages in one way, detractors in quite a different way. This presents an interpretive challenge. In this essay, I aim to explore the nature of this interpretive challenge by …Read more
  •  176
    Hate Speech
    with Michael Randall Barnes
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2022.
    Hate speech is a concept that many people find intuitively easy to grasp, while at the same time many others deny it is even a coherent concept. A majority of developed, democratic nations have enacted hate speech legislation—with the contemporary United States being a notable outlier—and so implicitly maintain that it is coherent, and that its conceptual lines can be drawn distinctly enough. Nonetheless, the concept of hate speech does indeed raise many difficult questions: What does the ‘hate’…Read more
  •  136
    Why so serious? An inquiry on racist jokes
    Journal of Social Philosophy 54 (3): 370-384. 2020.
    Journal of Social Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  77
    We encounter offense through various media: an intended facetious remark, a protester’s photographic image of an aborted fetus, an epithet, a stereotypical joke of a minority racial group. People say things that cause offense all of the time. And causing offense can have serious consequences, both personal and professional; the offending party is subject to termination, suspension, or social isolation and public opprobrium. Since the stakes are so high we should have a better understanding of th…Read more
  •  50
  •  47
    Propaganda
    The Philosophers' Magazine 94 96-101. 2021.
  •  39
    Editor’s Introduction: Language, Power, and Society
    Southern Journal of Philosophy 56 (S1): 5-6. 2018.
  •  38
    Why so serious? An inquiry on racist jokes
    Journal of Social Philosophy 54 (3): 370-384. 2020.
    Journal of Social Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  38
    Roasting Ethics
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 78 (4): 451-464. 2020.
    ABSTRACTWhat are the rules of the comedic roast? Initially, there might seem to be a tension between “the comedic” and “roasting” or “insult.” The comedic is concerned with the funny or mirth while insults are mean-spirited in nature, tools of injury. So how can the two be combined to produce something fun? In this article, I entertain a few views that attempt a resolution of this apparent tension. I conclude with a proposal that suggests when they are successful, roasts employ mechanisms that r…Read more
  •  38
    Sneering Satire
    Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 96 (1): 269-288. 2022.
    In ‘“Sneering, or Other Social Pelting”’, Lucy O’Brien understands sneering acts as ways of making feel that are aimed at socially downgrading a target. Sneers are essentially expressions of contempt. Although typically thought of as vicious, O’Brien argues they can also be used virtuously to disrupt social hierarchies, especially when taken up by people with low social status. I examine satire as a potentially effective means of carrying out this virtuous activity. I examine O’Brien’s account w…Read more
  •  23
    For many decades, race and racism have been common areas of study in departments of sociology, history, political science, English, and anthropology. Much more recently, as the historical concept of race and racial categories have faced significant scientific and political challenges, philosophers have become more interested in these areas. This changing understanding of the ontology of race has invited inquiry from researchers in moral philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of scienc…Read more
  •  21
    Black is Beautiful: A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics (review)
    The Philosophers' Magazine 81 110-111. 2018.
  •  19
    Why so serious? An inquiry on racist jokes
    Journal of Social Philosophy 54 (3): 370-384. 2020.
    Journal of Social Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  11
    The Reality of Aesthetic Activism
    Radical Philosophy Review 26 (2): 321-328. 2023.
  •  6
    For many decades, race and racicsm have been common areas of study in departments of sociology, history, politcal science, English, and athropology. Much more recently, as the historical concept of race and racial categories have faced signifcant scientific and politcal challenges, philosophers have become more interested in these areas. This changing understanding of the ontology of race has invited inquiry from researchers in moral philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, …Read more
  •  4
    Reflections on McGowan's Just Words
    Res Philosophica 98 (3): 513-518. 2021.