🚨 Only 9 hours left - UK Gov consultation on school meals closes at midnight Schools in England are currently required to serve meat, fish and dairy for most meals. There's an opportunity to weigh in on this as the Government is seeking to make school meals healthier.

An amusing aside: I welcome the proposed change of "requiring at least one portion of pulses" and as a Mum and a Brit, love that they have to immediately follow this with "not including baked beans".

Government consultation on their proposed changes to the School Food Standards. Deadline 12 June. Do respond with your opinions. But please consider including that they could think more about sustainability and avoiding the exploitation of animals. consult.education.gov.uk/school-food-...

If scientists keep changing their minds, how can their advice be trusted? 📚 In the latest edition of THINK #journal, @chreaston.bsky.social argues for the importance of public understanding of #science, & how to promote it. 🔗 Open-access article: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #philosophy

"My proposal is that the 'worship of science' and science denialism are two sides of the same coin, in that both result from seeing science as all-encompassing, infallible and unchanging." www.cambridge.org/core/service...

I am reminded of Elmer the elephant by the Birmingham political map of 2026 though the quite positive patchwork of harmony message of that storybook may be challenging to emulate in city local politics

*Published today* I must admit, this little piece was initially fueled by irritation! It's open access and short! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Last call for MANCEPT workshop on tolerance - deadline tomorrow. philevents.org/event/show/1...

What should schools be teaching children to tolerate and what should schools be teaching them not to tolerate? Can tolerance be taught? Deadline is Tuesday for submission of abstracts to the MANCEPT workshop on this topic: philevents.org/event/show/1...

I'm sad to learn of the death of Lord Harries of Pentregarth. Been watching closely for over a year whether his bill, asking for 'individual worth' and 'respect for the environment' to be added to the 'values of British citizenship', ever got read in the Commons.

20 years ago, Gordon Brown argued that the Union flag needed to be recaptured from the far-right and instead associated with progressive values of tolerance, liberty, inclusion, fairness and responsibility. How's that going? 🫣

Applications close Friday 24th April. Funding is available for travelers within the UK. www.multispeciescollective.com/event-detail...

*Workshop on tolerance and education* 2-4 September, Manchester, UK Call for papers is here: philevents.org/event/show/1...

🎺 Call for papers 🎺 Workshop on tolerance and education 2-4 Sep 2026, University of Manchester philevents.org/event/show/1...

This time next week I am giving the Royal Institute of Philosophy lecture at the University of Keele. If you're in the area, do please come along. It's on the uneven, gendered distribution of mental load in parenting, a subject close to my heart! www.keele.ac.uk/research/our...

Philosophy writing prize for 15-18 year olds royalinstitutephilosophy.org/think-essay-...

This evening I was a judge for the Philosothon hosted at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham. Honestly, that young people from diverse backgrounds could talk and listen together so intelligently, compassionately and responsively fills me with hope for the future.

Talk tomorrow in London www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2...

*London talk, this Wednesday evening* "From Lunch to Lessons: The Case for Promoting Plant-Based Diets in Schools" With thanks to @ioe.bsky.social and @pesgb.bsky.social for hosting.

PhD scholarships at the University of Birmingham. Application deadline: 27 February 2026. ⬇️

"complex writing with longer sentences" and "more jargon" were linked to higher scoring applications for the ERC’s Starting Grant! www.timeshighereducation.com/news/how-wri...

*Published today*, in the Journal of Philosophy of Education, my article "Teaching evolution in schools: A thin comprehensive liberal approach". It gives a taster of the view I defend in my forthcoming book. doi.org/10.1093/jope...

Meanwhile, the government published this report today. Among its conclusions is that "Ecosystem degradation is occurring across all regions. Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse." www.gov.uk/government/p...

This is in my daughter's school newsletter. I really hope she doesn't take it too literally as I feel like the requirement to be "inspiring" each time you speak sets expectations a little high. Also now pondering what constitutes "necessary" speech.

It exists in physical form! 🎉

""individual freedom will always be as much a social matter as an individual matter ... it is on the bedrock of social toleration that free speech stands tall as an individual privilege." psyche.co/ideas/tolera...

What a job title!

"Morally as well as physically, there is only one world, and we all have to live in it." Mary Midgley

My son (11yo) likes to be given LEGO tasks. Yesterday, I told him to 'make me a philosopher in the style of The School of Athens for my office at the university.' I love how he even captured some Diogenes-like too-cool-for-school. And of course a couple of really excellent NPUs going on. #philosophy

Tomorrow, 16 Dec, in the next meeting of the Flourishing Network, Jon Beale and I will introduce our forthcoming co-edited book with @oxfordunipress.bsky.social The Future of Education: Reimagining Its Aims & Responsibilities. 3-4pm ET over Zoom. All welcome: hfh.fas.harvard.edu/flourishing-...

Luckily wishing people Happy Easter is not such a thing, otherwise it'd be Happy Easton! [Pointed out to me today by Rickard Karlsson.]

I just sent an email ending Happy Christina. This is not the first time this has happened. My fingers and brain say that that's what you write after 'Christ'. And the rule works well most of the year. Any other Christinas out there who can sympathise?

Targeted advertising for those who read philosophy articles: those for whom the most sought-after feature of a shoe is stability.

Accidentally arranged March next year so that I am giving a fairly big deal* talk each week, and all vastly different topics. Nice to keep things varied, hey? 🫠 *subjectively, for me, at my early career stage.

Just spotted this free item ad, perfect for philosophers!

It's #DíaMundialDeLaFilosofía! Did you know that philosophers can (sometimes!) be good at answering practical questions ? Questions such as: "What should state-mandated Relationships Education look like?" "Am I obliged to mentor my students?" Like in this new book! academic.oup.com/book/61645

It's #WorldPhilosophyDay! And did you know that philosophers can (sometimes) be quite good at answering practical questions? Questions such as: "What should state-mandated Relationships Education look like?" "Am I obliged to mentor my students?" Like in this new book! academic.oup.com/book/61645

#Philosophy sat amongst fairies and crop circles at my local library. 🤔🤬

Nope, not much there

This has now sold 15,500+ copies and has been translated into French! A possible stocking filler for your loved ones?! www.iconbooks.com/ib-title/sho...

"when we display poppies and attend Remembrance services this year, we can reflect on how we might make our system a little less unfair in the future" Jonathan Parry and I wrote for the Big Issue this week. The longer version is published online here today: www.bigissue.com/news/politic...

I‘ve seen quite a few tributes to Jane Goodall on TV, including one just now on BBC’s the One Show. Not a single one has mentioned her circa 60 years of veganism. They all talk about how she taught us to love animals, none of them can stomach her conclusion that loving animals means not eating them.

A philosopher meets a bear. I just came across this delightful snippet from Harry Brighouse's blog Crooked Timber.

Quick note for everyone on the philosophy job market

According to Google, there exist over 29 rights lawyers who are also philosophers, and they are all men. But if you specify 'women', there's just ... Martha Nussbaum!

I only wanted 'bread'. Initially.

But then why are they there?