#62: Arguing for a Better World: How to Talk About the Issues That Divide Us with Arianne Shahvisi

Arianne Shahvisi is a Kurdish-British writer and academic philosopher. Raised in Lancashire and Essex, she studied astrophysics and philosophy at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and now teaches applied philosophy at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, where her research focusses on gender, race, migration, and health.

She writes regularly for the London Review of Books, and her essays have also appeared in the Guardian, Prospect, the Independent, and the Economist.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Arianne about her book titled, Arguing for a Better World: How to talk about the issues that divide us.

Some of the topics discussed includes:

1. How Arianne picked the topics discussed in the book, and the importance of 'showing her working'
2.  How the tools of philosophy are useful in uncovering the topics discussed in the book.
3. How 'freedom of speech' often clashes with other rights we think are important to ourselves.
4.  How saying 'not all men are trash' trivialises and derails the conversation 
5. What is meant by ‘wokeness’ and ‘political correctness’?
6. How credibility deficits arises from stereotypes
7. Did any of Arianne's opinions change whilst writing the book or did the process reinforce her prior held beliefs? 

The Book and Audiobook: Arguing for a Better World: How to talk about the issues that divide us is out now.

You can also find out more about Arianne via her twitter @ArianneShahvisi