Philosophy Unlocked

Philosophy Unlocked aims to make philosophy more accessible to non-professionals. The project consists of a series of essays, each of which presents the main ideas of some important piece of professional philosophy. What is unique about the Philosophy Unlocked essays is that each is written “from the viewpoint” of the original author. Presenting philosophical ideas in this fashion reduces cognitive load on the reader, making the arguments easier to follow.

Philosophy Unlocked is supported by The Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at Claremont McKenna College. The Gould Center generously supports the hiring of undergraduate research assistants, without whom this project would not be possible. So far these assistants include Sophie Gitlin, Emma Kresch, Fangzhangyi Kylie Chen, and William Parker.

So far the Philosophy Unlocked series contains seven essays, all of which are available below. If there is an essay that you would like to see become a part of the series, please email me at dlocke@cmc.edu.

• On David Lewis’ ‘The Paradoxes of Time Travel’ (1976)

• On Judith Jarvis Thomson’s ‘Epistemological Arguments for Moral Skepticism’ (1996)

• On David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1979)

• On Frank Jackson’s ‘Epiphenomenal Qualia’ (1982)

• On Judith Jarvis Thomson’s ‘Killing, Letting Die, and the Trolley Problem’ (1976)

• On Miranda Fricker’s ‘Powerlessness and Social Interpretation’ (2006)

• On Michael Smith’s ‘What is the Moral Problem?’ (1994)

A Note on Copyright

In the case of non-fiction texts, U.S. copyright law protects the creative expression of ideas, but not the ideas thereby expressed. Moreover, U.S. fair use policy allows for the limited use of some copyrighted expression, especially when the use is transformative, non-profit, and/or educational (essays in the Philosophy Unlocked series are all three). Nonetheless, copyright holders with questions, comments, or concerns are encouraged to email me at dlocke@cmc.edu.