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.

E-Philosophy: A Brief Manifesto

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Steven Yates

The word philosophy comes to us from two Greek words meaning the love of wisdom. What is wisdom? Knowledge, both theoretical and practical, used in ways both defining and helping to bring about what is good and beneficial in life … Continue reading →

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What Is It Like to Be a Lost Generation Philosopher (Part 3)

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Steven Yates

[Continued from Parts One and Two] Given that you pursued a career in academic philosophy, any specific regrets? One big one from my early days. Not turning my MA thesis on Paul Feyerabend into my first book. The idea was … Continue reading →

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What Is It Like to Be a Lost Generation Philosopher (Part 2)

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Steven Yates

[Continued from here.] Getting back to personal stuff again if you don’t mind: what did your parents make of your decision to go into philosophy? My mom had always encouraged me to find out and pursue what I was really … Continue reading →

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What Is It Like To Be a Lost Generation Philosopher? (Part 1)

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Steven Yates

This is an “Imagined” interview. It is based on a proposal I made to the What Is It Like To Be a Philosopher website created by Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina University), not responded to for whatever reason, but it follows … Continue reading →

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Donald J. Trump: Reasons He Appeals, Reasons for Hesitating

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Steven Yates

Is it possible to get the Trump movement understood on its own terms, by investigating the appeal Trump has with, e.g., the white working class … without the usual politically correct demonizing of the latter as racists and would-be brownshirts? Continue reading →

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A comment on, “A philosophical interpretation of recent campus protests” by Huenemanniac

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Steven Yates

What follows is a lengthy comment on this blog entry. I also came over here from Brian Leiter’s blog, and may be something of a johnny-come-lately because due to work obligations only saw this essay last night. Disclaimer: despite my … Continue reading →

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Higher Education and Race: Approaching the Nearest Cliff

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Steven Yates

Over the past month, we’ve been regaled by confrontations at an Ivy League school, Yale, and at the University of Missouri, involving allegations of supposed racism on campuses. The former involved supposedly “insensitive” Halloween costumes and a faculty member who … Continue reading →

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There Is No Such Thing As “Settled Science” (Here’s Why)

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Steven Yates

When deciding what to write and post on this blog, I am generally torn between two conflicting impulses. The first is to take note of and comment on those things that eventually drove many of us Lost Generation Philosophers from … Continue reading →

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Why Do Highly Intelligent People Do Extremely Stupid Things?

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Steven Yates

Academia, those who have spent any time there may have noticed, is a very strange place. Among other things, there is a certain amount of truth to those colorful anecdotes about absent-minded professors who, back in the days when chalkboards … Continue reading →

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The Age of Atheism and the Eight Veils.

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Steven Yates

Over the past month or so I’ve been reading Peter Watson’s The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God (2014). I’ve almost finished it. If you are a believer in any sense of … Continue reading →

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