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Although a tad pugilistic, I’m not a controversialist by nature. But it strikes me that debates around the status of transgender identity, including the rights and wrongs of intervening medically in children’s physical development, might gain from a philosophical perspective. Many others have of course offered their views—including other philosophers—but on the whole it’s women who’re sticking their necks out and as a result attracting the all-too-familiar misogynistic threats. In the writings offered on this platform I’ll strive to identity and evaluate in as dispassionate and objective a way as I’m able what I take to be the central conceptual issues at stake in these debates (like what it is to have an “identity”; how we should conceive of the relationship between sex and gender; etc.). Perhaps as a result my writing style might be a little dull, but I hope the content will compensate for such stylistic shortcomings. There’s no option for paid subscription on this site as I regard this is as an outlet for one aspect of my publicly funded research. I’d like to see responses from people, and I am happy to engage with anyone who wants to trade in arguments and evidence. As a sceptic by nature I love being shown where I’ve gone wrong in my thinking: it’s the only way to may that thinking better!

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