On writing philosophy columns

Or "why are the internet men yelling at me again?"

Since March, I’ve been writing a regular philosophy column for The New World (formerly The New European). It’s a fun prompt: I put a philosophical spin on any subject that catches my interest, from the TV show Severance (if you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading this and go watch), to the weirdness of package holidays.

When I started sharing my columns online, I noticed that some internet men were having big feelings about them. How dare I write about serious philosophical topics in bite-sized, mostly light-hearted, articles aimed at a non-specialist audience?

When my column on the decline of the French philosopher-celebrity was published, I was told in no uncertain terms that my 1000-word piece had failed to provide a satisfactory literature review. Later, when I wrote about the philosophy of taste and smell, noting that these are subjects that have historically been neglected by philosophers, a handful of specialists who do write on them took great offense. One commented: “Been caring about [it] with many, many others for over a decade. Sigh” evidently without noticing that I had cited examples of recent research in the very article they dismissed.

Even when I was still in academia, I never understood the disdain some scholars harboured toward the so-called “popularisation” of ideas. I am not inclined to criticise the use of academic jargon – language that some may find obscure and that populists often seize upon to discredit scholarship. Conceptual rigour has obvious utility. But I also believe that rigorous research remains rigorous no matter how it is presented, and that there is real value in more engaging presentations of difficult concepts.

Surely the wider dissemination of specialist ideas is, dare I say it, a good thing? But maybe this radical idea is a tad too revolutionary for the men of the internet.

Some exciting news:

On October 5th I will be speaking about my biography of Henri Bergson, Herald of a Restless World, at Ilkley Literature Festival. There are still a few tickets left here.

Herald of a Restless World, is now available in paperback! Check it out!

John Banville called it “The most intellectually stimulating book I read this year.”

The LA Review of Books recently called it “the best introduction I know of to Bergson’s life and thought... It is also the most delightful book I’ve read about him, written with clarity, joy, humor, and narrative drive.”