Author: Janet Keeping
After doing graduate work in philosophy and then going to law school, Janet Keeping did legal research and some teaching of law at the University of Calgary. She spent about 12 years working on law and governance reform projects in Russia, was president of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership from 2006 until 2012, and leader of the Green Party of Alberta from 2012 – 2017.
The clearest present danger to democracy? It’s the lying
Can a democracy function as such when those who are supposed to carry out the wishes of citizens regularly lie to them on matters of clear public import? [...]
On Humiliation
To say a person’s dignity has been wounded may leave many confused and thus unconvinced. To point out that, and how, they have been humiliated, may well prove much more effective. [...]
Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin were Right: it’s all about Respect
To protect democracy, the interdependence of the rule of law and democracy has to be more fully appreciated: the truth is that you simply cannot have one without the other. [...]
Freedom of religion, abuse of power in Louisiana and social connectedness
In May of this year the Louisiana State Legislature passed a law – House Bill No. 71 – requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in every elementary, secondary and post-secondary classro [...]
Democracy, Truth and the New Conspiracists
Is truth central to democracy? Janet Keeping explains why the two cannot be separated, and how anti-democratic forces are threatening this interdependence by spreading lies. [...]
On trees feeling pain: Anthropomorphism run amok
While there are good reasons to attribute certain human characteristics to trees, it is absurd to attribute to them such characteristics as sentience and self-awareness. Such misdirection d [...]
Moral Detachment, One Key to the Persistence of Dubious Ideas
Why do dubious ideas persist? Janet Keeping argues that part of the problem is moral detachment. One can have the “right intellectual concepts in one’s head, but that is of little value if w [...]
Freedom and Civic Responsibility
Is it our civic responsibility to get vaccinated? Is it true that, as is often claimed, that vaccine mandates are unconstitutional? Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice? [...]
Identity Anthems – their comforts, uses and pitfalls
Violations of anyone’s human rights should be the concern of all, no matter one’s identity. Our shared humanity requires it. [...]
Consequences of Abuse of Power, Limitations on the Usefulness of Law and the Politics of Humiliation
Keeping writes about the limitations on the usefulness of law and the politics of humiliation. [...]
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