Author Archives: Steven Yates

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About Steven Yates

I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy, taught the subject at a number of universities around the American Southeast, then became disillusioned in the profession, moved to Chile in 2012. I am the author of Civil Wrongs: What Went Wrong With Affirmative Action (1994), Four Cardinal Errors: Reasons for the Decline of the American Republic (2011), What Should Philosophy Do? A Theory (2021), and most recently, So You Want to Get a PhD in Philosophy? (2025). I've also published around two dozen articles & reviews in academic journals, and hundreds online on numerous topics ranging from pure philosophy to political economy. My Substack publication is Navigating the New Normal. I currently live near Concepcion, Chile, with my wife Gisela and our two spoiled cats.

May 1 – International Workers Holiday or International Diversion

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Steven Yates

It’s May 1. Here in Chile, it’s a national holiday, the official name for which is Día Internacionale de Trajabadores (International Workers’ Day). The holiday isn’t celebrated in the U.S., of course, or in Canada, because of its association with … Continue reading →

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April Book Potpourri: Kipnis, Stanley, Jorjani, More …

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Steven Yates

Over recent months and weeks any number of items have come to my attention that could have been blog entries, had I complete information about them. For example, there is the just-released book by Laura Kipnis, Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campuses (Harpers, 2017), as of this writing listed as #1 bestseller in feminist theory on Amazon.com. Continue reading →

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Announcement: I Have Joined Patreon / Patreon.com

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Steven Yates

I’m back after another vacation, lol. Actually, I have been working very hard on completing a novel in six months (begun in early November with its projected completion date in early May). To help with the costs of publication and … Continue reading →

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What Should Philosophy Do? (Part 3)

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Steven Yates

In the first two installments of this trilogy, our point of departure being John Horgan’s series on Scientific American, we offered a tentative response to the questions posed both by his title (“What Is Philosophy’s Point?”) and by ours. Before … Continue reading →

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What Should Philosophy Do? (Part 2)

Posted on February 21, 2017 by Steven Yates

Last week, we outlined four answers to this question, provided examples of each, and following a brief discussion of Comte’s Law of Three Stages and the rise of materialism as a philosophical dogma, brought our discussion to a tentative conclusion: … Continue reading →

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What Should Philosophy Do? (Part 1)

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Steven Yates

Inspiring this series of posts (I’m thinking there might again be three) is John Horgan’s series on “What Is Philosophy’s Point?” in Scientific American (five installments, here, here, here, here, and here). I should begin by saying that I am … Continue reading →

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Brian Eno Mix

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Steven Yates

I noticed a week or so back that the masthead on this blog includes, as one of our topics, “a little music.” There hasn’t been any music on here, though, or any discussions of it, not that I recall. I … Continue reading →

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And So It Begins. Thoughts on What Might Happen Next

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Steven Yates

Two days ago, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. His inauguration speech was unique (read it here; there are a few errors, all minor). It may go down in history as one … Continue reading →

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Pivotal Western philosophers no longer welcomed by students at this British university because of their color.

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Steven Yates

Plato? Descartes? Kant? Pivotal figures, all, who irreversibly changed the direction of what Richard Rorty called the conversation of the West. But to the up-and-coming generation of students, there’s a problem. Weren’t they all white males? With Plato it might … Continue reading →

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The “Two Americas”: Further Reflections

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Steven Yates

Last month’s lengthy post received some worthy feedback. I’d discussed the clash of two cultures in America (and elsewhere, but America was my focus). They both claim legitimacy for themselves but deny it to the other.  There is a distinct … Continue reading →

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