Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

Title cover of "The Use of Force against Individuals in War under International Law: A Social Ontological Approach" by Ka Lok Yip, published by Oxford University Press

Catch-22: exploring the escape routes for Gazans

Ka Lok Yip examines how the current situation in Gaza powerfully illustrates the danger of relying solely on international humanitarian law to address problems without transforming the underlying structural conditions through jus contra bellum and international human rights law.

Read More
Title cover of "Aesthetic Dimensions of Modern Philosophy" by Andrew Bowie, published by Oxford University Press

The art of philosophy

The “philosophy of art” in Anglo-American analytical philosophy has had barely any influence on the main epistemological, ethical, and metaphysical concerns of that philosophy.

Read More

Five unexpected things about medical debt

100 million Americans hold medical debt which causes people to forgo or be denied necessary medical care. Luke Messac, a historian and physician, looks at five unexpected things about medical debt.

Read More
"A Concise Guide to Communication in Science and Engineering" by David H. Foster, published by Oxford University Press

The risks of boosterism in research writing

At first glance, the significance of a piece of research may not be obvious, either from a paper submitted to a journal or from a published article. Its novelty, importance, and future impact are often uncertain, needing time to become clear to the research community.

Read More
Title cover for "Empires of the Dead: Inca Mummies and the Peruvian Acestors of American Anthropology" by Christopher Heaney, published by Oxford University Press

Why global museums amassed the ancestral dead, starting in Peru

It is a time of worldwide reckoning for museums that display or contain ancestral dead. But the specific story of the collection of Andean ancestors charts a different origin for this global process, and it asks us to think with more nuance regarding what to do with the museums it created.

Read More
Title cover of "Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels: Insulting the President from Washington to Trump" by Edwin L. Battistella, published by Oxford University Press

More than emotion words

Interjections like oh or wow are sometimes described—too simply—as “emotion words.” They certainly can express a wide range of emotions, including delight (ah), discovery (aha), boredom (blah), disgust (blech), frustration (argh), derision of another (duh) or one’s self (Homer Simpson’s d’oh).
They certainly can express a wide range of emotions, including delight (ah), discovery (aha), boredom (blah), disgust (blech), frustration (argh), derision of another (duh) or one’s self (Homer Simpson’s d’oh).

Read More
"Understanding Self-injury: A Person-centered Approach" by Stephen P. Lewis and Penelope A. Hasking, published by Oxford University Press

Supporting a loved one who self-injures [infographic]

The stigmatization of self-injury remains common. Such stigma makes it difficult for people to reach out about their experience, even when they may want support. Further, many people who do not have lived experience, but who are concerned about someone who does, want to offer support but are unsure about how to navigate this. The […]

Read More
Title cover for "Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization and the Loss of the Self, second edition" by Daphne Simeon and Jeffrey Abugel, published by Oxford University Press

Understanding Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder [infographic]

Depersonalization is the third most common psychiatric symptom, yet clinicians and lay people still know little about its presentation and treatment. While it can indeed be a symptom accompanying other mental illnesses, it is also a full-blown disorder itself, recognized by every major diagnostic manual.

Read More