Peter Gregory Boghossian is an American philosopher. He is an assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State University, and his areas of academic focus include atheism, critical thinking, pedagogy, scientific skepticism, and the Socratic method. He is the author of A Manual for Creating Atheists and (with James Lindsay) How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide. Boghossian was involved in the Grievance Studies affair (also called "Sokal Squared" in media coverage) with collaborators James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose, in which they published several hoax papers in academic journals, as part of their criticism of a set of fields including gender studies. As a result, Portland State University initiated a research misconduct investigation of him in 2018. Boghossian coined the term street epistemology for a set of conversational techniques he described which are designed to enable examination of strongly held beliefs, especially of the religious kind, in a non-confrontational manner.
Lyrics to the song that was inspired by the interview:
WAKE UP TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
VERSE
"The Master's house can't be dismantled
By using the Master's tools"
That's an anarchic fallacy
And will never set us free
If I get to say what you can say, democracy will end that way
Think reason and rationality
Instead of violent condemnation
Engage... in conversation
VERSE
We must not co-operate with tyranny
By claiming mass conspiracy
Speaking truth in the face of danger
Parrhesia will keep us free
Your way, uses the words I say, to take away my liberty
Freedom is a hard-won thing
Instead of aggressive condemnation
Engage... in conversation
VERSE
Only the Master's tools can dismantle
Forever the Master's house
Freedom of speech must be defended
Even if we don't like what we hear
If I get to say what you can say, democracy will end that way
Think reason and rationality
Instead of outward condemnation
Engage... in conversation