Dr Lauren Ware, Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, has featured in a humorous article on the BBC’s news page, an analysis of US rapper Kanye West’s Twitter account.
Kanye West has over 18 million followers on Twitter, but had previously deleted all content from his account. West restarted the account on Monday, claiming to write a book in real time with a string of apparently philosophical statements – including reflections on work, truth and time.
Lauren took up the BBC’s request for a philosopher to analyse West’s tweets. On his tweet: ‘Truth is my goal. Controversy is my gym. I’ll do a hundred reps of controversy for a 6 pack of truth,’ Lauren responded ‘Kanye identifies here his philosophical methodology: the arrival at truth through controversy. Philosophy as the pursuit of truth, the love of wisdom, is well-known, but Kanye’s embrace of controversy marks him out as genuinely engaging in philosophical practice.’