Katy Fulfer

Philosophy in the world

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Fashionable ethics

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. I'm not sure who first uttered this phrase, but I often hear it, usually accompanied by an exasperated or defeated sigh. The internet tells me that social media users are responsible for the phrase. An ad popped up in my email today that elicited a defeated sigh from me. It is for a company that aims to, among other admirable initiatives, use recycled materials and make supply chains transparent. The ad included some kudos the company has … [Read more...]

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Philosophy, sex, and love

I am teaching the Philosophy of Sex and Love in the Fall 2018 term. I was motivated to construct a course that would speak to the philosophical dimensions of concerns that people actually have. Although love and sex are two areas where we might suspect that philosophers attend (more than usual) to embodied experience, twentieth century philosophizing on love and sex remains very abstract (read this review of the philosophy of love as an indication of this point). Philosophy, as I … [Read more...]

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Political veganism and whiteness

This week I read what is to-date the best answer I've found to feminist scientist and philosopher Donna Haraway's critique of veganism. If you are unfamiliar with Haraway, see my previous post, in which I challenge the way that Haraway describes veganism. She critiques veganism for seeking to claim innocence from systems that do violence to nonhuman animals. I offer "Veganisms" by philosopher Robert C. Jones as a response to Haraway. Jones outlines three different types of ethical veganism … [Read more...]

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On having status

For professional and personal reasons, this week I've been thinking about what it means to have status within a political community. It just so happens that events in my personal biography have corresponded with two days calling for attention to status in various respects: Wednesday was World Refugee Day, and yesterday was National Indigenous People's Day in Canada. (I'm celebrating the latter belatedly by attending the Faculty Association's Reading Circle on Indigeneity and the University … [Read more...]

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Reading Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel

Preamble Below, I have re-blogged a post I wrote for the University of Waterloo Faculty Association's blog. It's the first in a series of posts from faculty members about books we've been reading relating to Indigenization. When we were divvying up books to read, I jumped at the chance to read Vowel's non-fiction, as I am a huge fan of the Métis in Space podcast, which she co-hosts with Molly Swain. Between the time I wrote this post and its publication, I've also had the pleasure of … [Read more...]