Flint and stone
I get the same charge from the juxtaposition of colors as I do from the juxtaposition of chords. Joni Mitchell The creative is always an act of recombination…as making a […]
Author Archives: Michelle
The Jazz
My favourite cookbook, Cooking Com Bigode, is both more and less than a standard recipe book. Less, in that it’s low on specificity, with recipes vaguely suggesting “some onions”, “lots […]
The Real-Life Truman Show
There’s often a troubling gap between understanding educational principles in the abstract and applying them in real-life situations. To help bridge the gap, the next three posts will offer detailed […]
Combustible philosophy
“It’s been pouring all day… the firewood is totally soaked.” It’s the lament of every soggy camper. Fire-lighting is hard in these conditions, and the quality of the tinder and […]
Unveiling and packaging
Early one summer morning, a young Australian philosophy graduate was awoken by a phone call. It was the eminent professor David Lewis, calling from Princeton University’s philosophy department. “You’ve been […]
The philosopher activist
An interview with Violet CoCo . There’s a memorable short video in which philosopher of happiness Dr Caroline West is asked why Western society has become so obsessed with material […]
‘Blobs’ fall flat
Ever on the lookout for innovative teaching resources, I jumped at the invitation to preview a sample of The Blob Guide to Children’s Human Rights, a new release in the […]
Doing without Socrates
The Socratic method, when used correctly, is an ingenious and dependable way of fostering collaborative dialogic argument in the classroom. Yet the Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) presents […]
Wake up!
Philosophy education and the climate crisis Like many in our community, I find myself moving between shock, anxiety, grief and frustration as news reports indicate that our planet is heating […]
Straighten up and fly right: Making dialogue work
Does dialogue work to harmonise conflicting views, or does it simply entrench differences? According to extensive research in the psychology of polarised opinion, the answer is discouraging: when people of […]
The Philosophy Club 