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.

The Deep Establishment

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Steven Yates

In the title of his recent Adults in the Room: My Battle with the European and American Deep Establishment (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2017) former Greek foreign minister Yanis Varoufakis introduces this phrase: The Deep Establishment. I like it! The … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Higher Education Generally, Media, Political Economy, Where is Civilization Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

This Blog Is Not a Commodity

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Steven Yates

Several months back, someone posted a comment that went something like, “You don’t monetize your blog.” Why not? was the implied question, quite in tune with the prevailing neoliberal ideology of the day. I thought about it. I’ll admit, I … Continue reading →

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George Herbert Walker Bush (1924 – 2018)

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Steven Yates

Today is George Herbert Walker Bush’s funeral. I don’t normally write notices for just-deceased politicians, so this is a departure for me. But something has aroused my curiosity. I posted a very brief notice about his death, along with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Political Economy, Where is Civilization Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Philosophy in Three & a Half Years”

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Steven Yates

Seen by accident, “ganked” off Colin McGinn’s blog this morning, this comment caught my eye. Writing back in April 2017 under the title “Philosophy in Five Years” he predicted: I think the field will be a complete shambles. It’s already … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Election 2016 and Aftermath, Higher Education Generally, Philosophy, Where Is Philosophy Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Auguste Comte’s Law of Three Stages: What It Is, Why the Third Stage is Dying, What Comes Next. (A Major Statement.)

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Steven Yates

[Note: this may be the longest blog post I have ever made on this site. The result of several weeks of effort, it may be read as a progress report on what may turn into my life’s work: if I … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Political Economy, Where is Civilization Going?, Where Is Philosophy Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

A New American Philosophical Association Organization?

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Steven Yates

This past week, philosophy’s top blogger Brian Leiter posted a poll on a quite interesting topic: Would you leave the [American Philosophical Association] and join a new dues-charging professional philosophy association that does much of what the APA does, but without … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Philosophy, Where Is Philosophy Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Open Letter to Professor C. Christine Fair, Georgetown University

Posted on October 6, 2018 by Steven Yates

Re: “Look at this chorus of entitled white men justifying a serial rapist’s arrogated entitlement. 
All of them deserve miserable deaths while feminists laugh as they take their last gasps. Bonus: we castrate their corpses and feed them to swine? … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Media, Where is Civilization Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Fate of Civilizations

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Steven Yates

Should a philosopher be interested in the trajectory of civilizations, from their rise to dominance in a region, and then the reasons why a civilization seems to lose its collective capacity and go into decline? Most professional philosophers are not, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Media, Philosophy, Where is Civilization Going?, Where Is Philosophy Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Is Philosophy Important? An Expanded Comment

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Steven Yates

Daily Nous, the philosophy blog, posted a recent query raising this question in response to an undergraduate who had fallen in love with the subject. Presumably she’d gotten some flak from friends or maybe family. The blog’s editor, Justin Weinberg … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Language, Philosophy, Where is Civilization Going?, Where Is Philosophy Going? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Should I Pursue a Doctorate in Philosophy These Days?”

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Steven Yates

Should you even consider getting a doctorate and going into academic philosophy today? Even if you find the subject endlessly fascinating, and you have talent for it? The question comes up occasionally on forums. Someone I am “friends” with on … Continue reading →

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