Author: Jennifer Lawson

Check out the re-release of my book! And a letter from President Joe Biden on Native American policy.

My dad was in the the military during the Korean Conflict. Today, he would be known as a Green Beret. Below is a coffee cup I thought I had lost that he bought for me me when I was 8 years old. I infrequently get manic and give away stuff that I actually love.

You can visit my dad’s memorial online here. Veteran’s Affairs has thoughtfully put his grave online, which is nice because I don’t have to go all the way to Texas to put a daisy wreath on his grave. I’ve put some weird stuff on it, but I’ve also put some really great stories on it. 

Everyone who knew him has different stories to tell–some good, some bad. Above is a picture of my dad and my daughter on the day he cooked buffalo burgers and grilled corn on the cobb that he grew himself.

When I was older, my dad had the bracelet below engraved for me. I thought I had lost that, too. 

It says “Jennifer” on one side, and “Dad” on the other. My dad’s song for me was “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”

Hey, TONK, where’s your closure? lol. You drop out of nowhere for the convivence of the writer. You may fool yourself, but you don’t fool me, and I’m the reader.

By Jennifer Lawson 

As a graduate student, I was interested in many things. I had become somewhat of an expert on Native Studies, but my interests were extremely broad and I was moving away from that. I knew Steve Russell from my undergraduate years. I corresponded with him about U.S./Native American issues. He gave me reading recommendations for my undergraduate thesis. 

I heard from Steve Russell as a graduate student when he emailed me saying he was working on a book and wanted me to look it over. That’s what we do. We do that kind of thing. It seemed normal, so I did. There wasn’t much to what he wrote, but I did recommend that he read Jeremy Waldron’s “Supersceding Historic Injustice.” That’s basically all I did. I forgot about it and did my other work. 

Later, Russell emailed me saying the book was published and that I was mentioned in it. One always wants to see how one’s intellectual help made a difference, so I bought the book and read it. I was horrified. In that book, Russell argues, first of all against Jeremy Waldron. In Waldron’s argument, he uses the example of a stolen car. When your car is stolen, it’s still yours. Russell made the claim that Native tribes were just like that. Stolen goods, being driven off. I didn’t buy it. It wasn’t a good argument. 

Later in the book, Russell argues for militant nonviolence to take on, basically, the United States military. He literally says Native Americans can meet America’s nukes. 

Totally insane. 

What’s more, Russell even states that people who do this would be considered terrorists by the United States. That’s what really got me. People who agree with this book are, quite literally, terrorists. 

Upon reading the book, I felt selected. I felt targeted. I felt pressure like I was supposed to do this. 

I completely and utterly refused. 

For many, many years, I refused. 

I maintained contact with Russell on social media, but I didn’t do much Native Studies anymore. Thank God. I very much felt hated for being smart and white. I felt pressure to go along with some idiotic plan. 

I’m a philosopher. I don’t make manifestos. I try my best to make reasoned arguments. If they are good, great. If they are not, argue against them. 

I am also an activist, as many people know. But I have only taken on select activities, and even then, only briefly. I highly doubted I could do something like lead Native Americans in some insane revolution, anyway, even if I wanted to, which I didn’t. 

I come from a military family. Although I’m not always in favor of war, I know it’s beyond insane to take them on the way Russell mentioned. 

This book was published with an academic press. I thought it was garbage. Certainly not academic. If this is the kind of stuff being published, academia does deserve to be attacked. Thank God I know it’s not the only stuff out there. 

I don’t have any say on this really, but my hunch is that Steve Russell was a mastermind. And perhaps, just perhaps, he wanted to punish me for giving him, well, a really good argument.

Jennifer Lee Lawson, MA

Radical Logic

In Jonathan Lear’s book Radical Hope, he argues for flexibility in adapting to cultural breakdown. He makes a great case. But what does it require? In this short paper, I argue that it requires adaptable logics.

There are several different logics to choose from. In philosophy, we typically try to find out which one secures truth the best, or which one is correct. But what if the application, in cases like cultural breakdown, require that we use almost all of them? This would have huge ramifications for philosophy, as we live in a time when breakdowns of many kinds are becoming more frequent. Philosophy education and familiarity with logics can provide us with the adaptability we need to survive.

We tend to think of logics as theoretical. But what about their applications? Applied logic is typically only thought of with regards to informal logic. But what about other logics, like dialethism?

The artist frequently uses different logics in their art. Poetry, music, photography. These forms of art capture different logics. This is how logics are applied. We need, then, the ability to make art or have access to the arts in order to make our way through a breakdown, even if it’s something singing.

When 9/11 occurred, which is what Jonathan Lear was referring to for things like modern-day breakdowns, people turned to the arts to mourn, discuss, reflect, and more. As for myself, I wrote a poem which won an award at my undergraduate university.

In a breakdown, we lose many things. But we need our concepts to adapt and move. This doesn’t always happen in normal conversations.

So, what about logics? I’m going to assert that basically every logic except informal logic and dialethism are to be applied at will when a breakdown occurs. This requires exceptional prior education.

People who do not have these things would unlikely survive a breakdown. They would be unmovable, just like Sitting Bull in Radical Hope. They would be too rigid, too basic. Thus, excellent education, like what Plenty Coups in Radical Hope argued for, and, perhaps especially, philosophy and logic education, are foundational to our very survival as a species.

Who knew logic was so important?

Cantor’s Theorem and the Problem of Infinity

Jennifer Lee Lawson, MA

Infinity. Try for a moment to grasp it. Numbers with no end. Is it that it exists and we cannot
grasp it, or is it that it simply does not exist? In this paper, I will argue that infinite cardinal
numbers may not exist. I will analyze Cantor’s Theorem to show this. First, I will explain
Cantor’s Theorem. Then, I will argue why I believe, when tried for infinite Sets, it is truly possible
that he is incorrect. I will argue without using many mathematical or logical symbols, for ease of
reading.

Cantor’s Theorem is well known in mathematics, logic and philosophy of mathematics. It is a
theorem in Set Theory. In the end, Cantor’s Theorem aims to show there is no largest cardinal
number. In other words, there is no largest infinity.

The concept of infinity is taught, in the United States, in public schools in our Math classes. On
our finite chalkboards, we use < — > to symbolize numbers that go on forever in both directions.
Infinity, the concept, however, is rarely ever fully explained. Cantor helps us actually visualize it
with the following picture:

The bottom circle in the picture is called an Empty Set, which is a Set with nothing in it. Just

above that, there are more circles, and the letters inside symbolize cardinal numbers. Those are

called Sets. The top circle appears to show infinite cardinal numbers. An apparent paradox

occurs when one tries to put a circle around the entire picture, otherwise known as The Set of

All Sets. The Set of All Sets contains every number. In other words, if The Set of All Sets is

possible, cardinal numbers may not go on forever. There may be a vast amount of them; too

many for a human being to ever count, possibly; but they may, in fact, end at some point.

Let us not use a chalkboard, then, and simply visualize with our minds. Take a look at the

picture above, Cantor’s Theorem. Just by considering it a graphic, we can see that, clearly, it is

possible to draw a circle around all of the Sets. Is it impossible? No. It is not. We could simply

draw. There is not one thing stopping us from doing that. When we draw a circle around it, is

that paradoxical? No. It is not. It’s simply a bunch of circles and letters with a bigger circle

encompassing them. When we do this, it is The Set of All Sets, which has, for a very long time,

been considered impossible or paradoxical.

Can we conceive of The Set of All Sets now? Maybe you can, especially if you come at this

problem with no prior assumption about the concept of infinity and simply use your hand,

supposing you have one, to just draw a circle.

New paper at Amazon!

Teen Mom Turned Philosopher: My Memoir, My Life

It took me 12 years to finish my Master’s Degree. During that time, I was, frankly, learning a lot, while I was ill. I took a medical leave. My dream, in the land of dreams, The United States, was to become a philosopher. I was angry and sad at everything because I thought that would never happen. 

In 2023, I earned my M.A. My specific degree is a terminal degree, but even if it weren’t, I’m still considered an expert now, and a philosopher now. 

I’m 45. The job market, and the entire process of getting a Ph.D. takes a long time, and is likely more effort to me than it’s worth right now (in a cost-benefit analysis). So I probably won’t get one, which means I may never be a professor because accreditation requires a certain percentage of faculty to hold a Ph.D. 

I never knew I would come this far, and I thank God, who at times has been the only one there for me, that I’ve done what I’ve done. 

In the United States, I hope people still dream. But not only that, I also hope they can live a dream.

At the University of North Florida, I was a Research Assistant for Dr. Daniel Callcut. I worked on the book “Reading Bernard Williams.” 

When I got extremely sick, I ripped the title page out, framed it, and looked at it every day. It was a reminder of where I’ve been, what I was capable of, and what I wanted to do in the future.

Sometimes, you have to have an alternate plan, but that doesn’t mean you give up a dream. I publish in other ways. I was on the Editorial Committee of a top journal for a few years even as I was healing.

Sometimes, you have to carve out a path for yourself. Sometimes, you fail. Sometimes, it looks like you’ll never get there. My new memoir is my view of my life up until the year 2017, when I penned it.

I asked Dr. Callcut to sign the book to “The. Best. Student. Ever.” It was a joke from me to him. Sometimes, levity is good