Arguing for a Better World

How Philosophy Can Help Us Fight for Social Justice

By: Arianne Shahvisi

Narrated by: Arianne Shahvisi

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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 moral questions by examining their parts in broad daylight, equipping us to not only identify our own positions but to defend them as well. This book demonstrates the relevance of philosophy to our everyday lives, and offers some clear-eyed tools to those who want to learn how to better fight for justice and liberation for all.

©2023 Arianne Shahvisi (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"If we truly hope to participate in the political and moral quandaries of our time, Shahvisi argues, we need to be able to articulate our beliefs and values, and also why we believe them. Let her be your backup at your next meeting of minds"—Reader's Digest

“Toggling between despair and hope, Shahvisi offers a practical and forgiving path into the tough discussions we have with each other—and our own consciences.”—SALON

“Firmly grounded in the philosophical spirit of critical inquiry, this entry masterfully explores nuance without losing sight of its practical stance. This is a fascinating, pragmatic resource for those who want to make a difference but don’t know where to start.”—Publishers Weekly

Long on “Splaining,” Short on a meaningful or helpful philosophy

I anticipated more meaningful dialog on effective approaches to tackling meaningful issues, but was inundated with the author’s pessimism and lens of anti-most things: anti-establishment, anti-capitalism, anti-white, anti-masculinity and anti-reason that spews random tidbits of data, but ignores the myriad of contradicting facts out dates that would refute many of her underlying claims.

Spends an entire book doing exactly the same thing she despises - “Splaining”.

Raises important questions, but seems fixated on everything anecdotally wrong in the world excessively, akin to pharmaceutical companies inflating the dangers of curses or disease, or defense contractors exaggerating and clamoring for war. Seems to add fuel to a fire and increase polarity and divisiveness intentionally to validate her perspective, versus actually developing a framework to build meaningful coalitions that can be true change agents.

I suppose it’s natural for a career academic to become transfixed on anecdotal information to support a preconceived mindset versus challenging assumptions, considering different perspectives, and removing any and all nuance, but it makes her arguments general and weak kneed.

She’s appalled by the white male privileged patriarchy that allowed Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein to victimize children and women, focusing solely on race, but remains loudly silent on the large issue of corruption amongst powerful and elite if the perpetrators isn’t white or male - Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, or Ghislaine Maxwell to make just a few.

Brilliant and Inviting

I loved this. The narration is a tad slow, speeding up the playback speed a bit helped immensely. The content is excellent and the author does a great job of presenting the info in a really digestible way without being patronizing. I'm going to buy the print copy now bc there were so many places I wanted to take notes