Arguing for a Better World

How Philosophy Can Help Us Fight for Social Justice

Author  Arianne Shahvisi
Arguing for a Better World

Is it sexist to say that “men are trash”? Can white people be victims of racism? Do we bear any individual responsibility for climate change?

We’ve all wrestled with questions like these, whether we’re shouting at a relative across the dinner table, quarreling with old classmates on social media, or chatting late into the night with friends. Many people give kneejerk answers that roughly align with their broader belief system, but flounder when asked for their reasoning, leading to a conversational stalemate—especially when faced with a political, generational, or cultural divide.

The truth is that our answers to these questions almost always rely on unexamined assumptions. In Arguing for a Better World, philosopher Arianne Shahvisi shows us how to work through thorny…