Andy Lamey
@andy-lamey.bsky.social
Philosophy prof., UC, San Diego. Books on rights of refugees (Frontier Justice), animal rights (Duty and the Beast) and Canadian writers (The Canadian Mind). Mostly post about (political) philosophy and academic freedom. Views mine only, not employer's.
'Philosophy is the most productive force ever discovered by human beings and we are responsible for modernity. Philosophy is the great gear deep in the heart of the world, and when that gear moves, the Earth trembles.'
Why Philosophy Matters
Its true and final value: a rant
hilariusbookbinder.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:09 PM
'Philosophy is the most productive force ever discovered by human beings and we are responsible for modernity. Philosophy is the great gear deep in the heart of the world, and when that gear moves, the Earth trembles.'
Thoughtful and informative piece about the problems at the University of Austin. It's too bad. There should be more institutional experimentation in higher education.
They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted.
Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by Bari Weiss.
www.politico.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Thoughtful and informative piece about the problems at the University of Austin. It's too bad. There should be more institutional experimentation in higher education.
10/10.
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 8, 2026 at 6:54 PM
10/10.
Reposted by Andy Lamey
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 8:15 PM
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
I'm not much of a Marxist, but I found Mistaken Identity to be a stimulating book, and was sorry to learn of Asad Haider's passing.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/u...
Asad Haider, Leftist Critic of Identity Politics, Dies at 38
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 1:25 AM
I'm not much of a Marxist, but I found Mistaken Identity to be a stimulating book, and was sorry to learn of Asad Haider's passing.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/u...
Good news.
NIH Approves 100s of Grant Applications It Shelved or Denied
Last year, the Trump administration widely rejected funding research it disfavors. But, just before 2026 began, one of its agencies agreed in court filings to take another look at proposals it sat on or turned down. https://bit.ly/3N4PCbu
Last year, the Trump administration widely rejected funding research it disfavors. But, just before 2026 began, one of its agencies agreed in court filings to take another look at proposals it sat on or turned down. https://bit.ly/3N4PCbu
January 3, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Good news.
I was invited to talk about philosophy on a YouTube podcast called Like an Old Friend, which I enjoyed doing.
Episode 25: How to live life in a f##ked up world with top Philosophy Author Andy Lamey
YouTube video by Like an old Friend
www.youtube.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I was invited to talk about philosophy on a YouTube podcast called Like an Old Friend, which I enjoyed doing.
Reposted by Andy Lamey
Body count.
The U.S. Has Killed More than 100 People in Boat Strikes. We’re Tracking Them All.
@theintercept.com is keeping count of all U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
theintercept.com/2025/11/17/t...
@theintercept.com is keeping count of all U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
theintercept.com/2025/11/17/t...
December 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Body count.
I wrote a journal article defending transracialism.
PhilPapers version (no paywall):
philpapers.org/rec/LAMRTH-2
PhilPapers version (no paywall):
philpapers.org/rec/LAMRTH-2
Andy Lamey, Rescuing Transracialism - PhilPapers
Can an individual change their race? To answer in the affirmative is to endorse transracialism. Spencer Case has recently objected to transracialism on the grounds that it seems to raise the ...
philpapers.org
December 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I wrote a journal article defending transracialism.
PhilPapers version (no paywall):
philpapers.org/rec/LAMRTH-2
PhilPapers version (no paywall):
philpapers.org/rec/LAMRTH-2
The Case for a Global Ban on Industrial Animal Agriculture by 2050
verfassungsblog.de/global-ban-o...
verfassungsblog.de/global-ban-o...
The Case for a Global Ban on Industrial Animal Agriculture by 2050
verfassungsblog.de
October 21, 2025 at 12:06 AM
The Case for a Global Ban on Industrial Animal Agriculture by 2050
verfassungsblog.de/global-ban-o...
verfassungsblog.de/global-ban-o...
'Once we have properly accounted for indirect effects, such as the role that our policies play in shaping moral attitudes and behavior . . . we can see that consequentialism may converge with animal rights theory significantly, even if not entirely.'
October 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
'Once we have properly accounted for indirect effects, such as the role that our policies play in shaping moral attitudes and behavior . . . we can see that consequentialism may converge with animal rights theory significantly, even if not entirely.'
Reposted by Andy Lamey
‘According to the philosophical account Taylor draws on, the articulations of poetry are as fully capable of disclosing the existential significance of human life as the words of philosophers or saints.’
Stephen Mulhall on Charles Taylor’s ‘Cosmic Connections’: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Stephen Mulhall on Charles Taylor’s ‘Cosmic Connections’: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Stephen Mulhall · Self-Interpreting Animals
New linguistic articulations can reconfigure the way we make sense of our own feelings, thoughts and responses – our...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
‘According to the philosophical account Taylor draws on, the articulations of poetry are as fully capable of disclosing the existential significance of human life as the words of philosophers or saints.’
Stephen Mulhall on Charles Taylor’s ‘Cosmic Connections’: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Stephen Mulhall on Charles Taylor’s ‘Cosmic Connections’: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Andy Lamey
Judith Norman is a philosophy professor at Trinity University. In this interview, she shares her experience of being cleared of all allegations following two Title VI investigations into six complaints. She discusses how these policies and procedures can be weaponized to silence faculty voices.
October 13, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Judith Norman is a philosophy professor at Trinity University. In this interview, she shares her experience of being cleared of all allegations following two Title VI investigations into six complaints. She discusses how these policies and procedures can be weaponized to silence faculty voices.
Reposted by Andy Lamey
The Rowan op-ed reminds me of how Socrates in the Apology describes consulting the businessmen: "each of them, because of his success at his craft, thought himself very wise in other most important pursuits, and this error overshadowed" their accomplishments.
Opinion | Academia Is Broken. Trump’s University ‘Compact’ Can Help Fix It.
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
The Rowan op-ed reminds me of how Socrates in the Apology describes consulting the businessmen: "each of them, because of his success at his craft, thought himself very wise in other most important pursuits, and this error overshadowed" their accomplishments.
I had the pleasure of speaking about my paper, 'Migration Justice in Indigenous Borderlands" at the Legal Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Tijuana last month. Video has a bit of Spanish to start, then English.
www.youtube.com/live/dKsovWE...
www.youtube.com/live/dKsovWE...
Seminario especializado: Justicia migratoria en territorio indígena
YouTube video by IIJUNAM
www.youtube.com
October 9, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I had the pleasure of speaking about my paper, 'Migration Justice in Indigenous Borderlands" at the Legal Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Tijuana last month. Video has a bit of Spanish to start, then English.
www.youtube.com/live/dKsovWE...
www.youtube.com/live/dKsovWE...
New from me: an article on the libertarianism of Robert Nozick, and the surprisingly robust resources it provides to a theory of indigenous rights.
Non-paywalled version: philpapers.org/rec/LAMLSF
Non-paywalled version: philpapers.org/rec/LAMLSF
Andy Lamey, Libertarian support for indigenous rights - PhilPapers
The most prominent philosophical defenders of indigenous rights have been egalitarian liberals such as Will Kymlicka and Alan Patten. Libertarians, on the other hand, are often critical of such arrang...
philpapers.org
September 27, 2025 at 4:30 PM
New from me: an article on the libertarianism of Robert Nozick, and the surprisingly robust resources it provides to a theory of indigenous rights.
Non-paywalled version: philpapers.org/rec/LAMLSF
Non-paywalled version: philpapers.org/rec/LAMLSF
'Chatbots of the dead are chatbots designed to converse in ways that resemble specific dead people. We argue that chatbots of the dead are continuous with representations found in art, like memoir and theater, and function as props that mandate and prompt imaginal interactions with the deceased.'
September 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
'Chatbots of the dead are chatbots designed to converse in ways that resemble specific dead people. We argue that chatbots of the dead are continuous with representations found in art, like memoir and theater, and function as props that mandate and prompt imaginal interactions with the deceased.'
Reposted by Andy Lamey
Now on the Oxford University Press website, complete with cover: Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka's Animals and the Right to Politics, the long-awaited sequel to 2011's Zoopolis.
An expected release date of 11 December. Just in time for Christmas!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
An expected release date of 11 December. Just in time for Christmas!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
September 4, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Now on the Oxford University Press website, complete with cover: Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka's Animals and the Right to Politics, the long-awaited sequel to 2011's Zoopolis.
An expected release date of 11 December. Just in time for Christmas!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
An expected release date of 11 December. Just in time for Christmas!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
AI has been a disaster for uni. teaching, bring on the reliable detectors! An encouraging study on their effectiveness:
'Most commercial AI detectors perform remarkably well, with Pangram in particular achieving a near zero [false positive rate] and [false negative rate] within our set of stimuli'.
'Most commercial AI detectors perform remarkably well, with Pangram in particular achieving a near zero [false positive rate] and [false negative rate] within our set of stimuli'.
September 4, 2025 at 5:34 PM
AI has been a disaster for uni. teaching, bring on the reliable detectors! An encouraging study on their effectiveness:
'Most commercial AI detectors perform remarkably well, with Pangram in particular achieving a near zero [false positive rate] and [false negative rate] within our set of stimuli'.
'Most commercial AI detectors perform remarkably well, with Pangram in particular achieving a near zero [false positive rate] and [false negative rate] within our set of stimuli'.
Nice piece on new omnivorism, an argument for meat eating based on animal protection that I identified and criticized in my book Duty and the Beast.
For my first post on BlueSky, I'd like to share that my new article in the Journal of Applied Philosophy is now available to read, and is open access too!
#NewArticle Permissible Purchasing, Obligatory Abstention: The Strict Vegan Case against New Omnivorism | Daniel White #OpenAccess text here: doi.org/10.1111/japp...
#philsky #philosophy
#philsky #philosophy
September 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Nice piece on new omnivorism, an argument for meat eating based on animal protection that I identified and criticized in my book Duty and the Beast.
Jeff McMahan (Oxford) on Gaza: 'This article . . . challenges the assertion that Hamas’s having wrongly initiated the conflict absolves Israel of responsibility for the harms its military action has caused to civilians.'
Jeff McMahan, Moral responsibility for the scarcity of healthcare in Gaza - PhilPapers
In response to Arianne Shahvisi’s call for medical ethicists to condemn Israel’s having caused extreme scarcity of healthcare in Gaza, two critical commentaries published in this journal attributed primary moral responsibility ...
philpapers.org
August 29, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Jeff McMahan (Oxford) on Gaza: 'This article . . . challenges the assertion that Hamas’s having wrongly initiated the conflict absolves Israel of responsibility for the harms its military action has caused to civilians.'
Attack data show the vibe shift has officially arrived on campus.
open.substack.com/pub/heterodo...
open.substack.com/pub/heterodo...
Attack data show the vibe shift has officially arrived on campus.
The censorious left has handed the baton to the censorious right.
open.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Attack data show the vibe shift has officially arrived on campus.
open.substack.com/pub/heterodo...
open.substack.com/pub/heterodo...
Reposted by Andy Lamey
As a committed advocate of the importance of classic texts, let me state definitively: this guy is not helping the cause.
Still think this is the most hilariously Charlie Kirk thing Charlie Kirk has ever done.
August 14, 2025 at 4:53 PM
As a committed advocate of the importance of classic texts, let me state definitively: this guy is not helping the cause.
Reposted by Andy Lamey
