Main Edition
US
FR
The academic and UnHerd columnist Kathleen Stock is widely considered one of the UK’s most distinguished philosophers, coming first in a poll carried out last year by Prospect magazine to find the “world’s top thinker”. She has authored several books, most notably 2021’s Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism, and is a frequent commentator in the British press. However, Stock’s criticisms of gender ideology have met with backlash, and she was forced to leave her post at the University of Sussex in 2021 following a student campaign against her.
Stock’s planned appearance at the Oxford Union later this month has predictably resulted in calls to no-platform her. Indeed, students at the university have allegedly been offered “welfare support” to compensate for the psychological upset the philosopher’s visit to campus might cause them.
Despite her many unhappy brushes with ideologically uncompromising students, Stock expresses empathy for young people swept up in intersectional fervour. She visited the UnHerd Club this week to speak to Freddie Sayers about the increased isolation experienced by students, and to explain why young people might be more vulnerable to extreme ideologies:
The conversation moved onto the philosophical groundings and distorted evolution of the liberal ideas that underpin gender ideology:
Stock also argued that a myopic obsession with the power of language and words in academic spheres makes it easier to conceive theories and ideologies which diverge sharply from rational thought:
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe