Welcome!

Why do fringe philosophy?

Often, one’s first exposure to philosophy (generally, in a compulsory university class) is prohibitively obscure and dry. Beyond that, it gives the impression that philosophers are uninterested in thinking about the world we find ourselves in: one that contains strange, wondrous, and mystifying phenomena alongside the ordinary everyday.

Ventures in "public philosophy" have tried to solve this problem of bad first impressions, but are often geared toward a general audience. Introductory glosses on philosophical topics, while suitable for the curious hobbyist, often have a difficult time both 1) holding the attention of readers/listeners, and 2) doing justice to the nuances of the issues they discuss. Additionally, these resources tend to lose consumers who desire deeper engagement. 

With Philosophy on the Fringes, we attempt to bring both philosophers and curious laypeople into substantive philosophical dialogue by exploring non-traditional questions and topics, all while making recourse to the influential ideas of canonical thinkers. In this way, our listeners get exposure to standard issues in philosophy, and we show how these standard issues intersect with topics outside of academic philosophy’s traditional ambit. In turn, we also hope to pique the attention of academics by showing how the “fringe” topics we cover can enrich discussions of core issues in philosophy.

A Note About Generative AI

We value the human element in how we work and in what we make. No generative AI has been, or ever will be, used in our research, podcast, art/promotional materials, music, and even our website design and construction. This means that our output may be slower than some creators (and possibly contain more typos...) But we can guarantee that when you listen to our work or peruse our website, you are getting content made entirely by humans--either us, or the artists and scholars we collaborate with.