Simone de Beauvoir on Becoming: You Are Not Born Into a Role, You Are Trained Into One
Simone de Beauvoir's most famous claim is also one of her most misunderstood. In The Second Sex, she writes, "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." The line is often repeated, but its force is easy to miss. Beauvoir is not saying that the body is unreal, nor is she making the simple point that society influences people. Her argument is stronger than that. She is saying that much of what people take to be natural femininity is actually the result of social formation, repetition, expectation, and constraint.
How to Start a Literary Magazine: What We Learned in Seven Years.
After Dinner Conversation has been publishing for seven years. That feels like a good moment to stop and say something simple: if you are working on a literary magazine, thinking about starting one, or just curious about how this kind of thing actually runs, we are happy to talk.
June, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine Is Out!
The June, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine is out! Read exclusive short stories that ask “what if” ethical and philosophical questions. Sign up today on the website to get your copy!
Nozick's Experience Machine: If Happiness Is All That Matters, Why Not Plug In?
Imagine a machine that could give you any life you wanted. Once connected, you would experience perfect success, deep love, creative achievement, pleasure, admiration, or peace. You could feel as though you had written a masterpiece, raised a family, climbed mountains, changed history, or become the person you always hoped to be. Inside the machine, none of it would feel fake. From your point of view, it would simply be your life.
May, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine Is Out!
The May, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine is out! Read exclusive short stories that ask “what if” ethical and philosophical questions. Sign up today on the website to get your copy!
Sartre on Bad Faith: The Lie You Tell Yourself to Avoid Freedom
Jean-Paul Sartre believed that one of the most common forms of self-deception is not lying about the world, but lying about ourselves. We tell ourselves that we have no real choice, that our roles define us, that our personality is fixed, or that our circumstances fully excuse what we do. Sartre called this kind of self-deception bad faith, and he thought it was one of the central failures of human life.
April, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine Is Out!
The April, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine is out! Read exclusive short stories that ask “what if” ethical and philosophical questions. Sign up today on the website to get your copy!
March, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine Is Out!
The March, 2026 - Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine is out! Read exclusive short stories that ask “what if” ethical and philosophical questions. Sign up today on the website to get your copy!
Kierkegaard's Leap of Faith: Why the Most Important Parts of Life Cannot Be Proven
Modern people tend to assume that the best life is the most rational one. We are taught to gather evidence, compare outcomes, and delay commitment until the facts are clear. That approach works reasonably well for technical decisions, but Søren Kierkegaard believed it fails when we confront the questions that matter most. Questions about love, belief, identity, and purpose do not yield the kind of certainty we want from them.
“Words She Keeps” Interview
In a conversation with Words She Keeps founder Susheela, Kolby Granville, editor-in-chief of After Dinner Conversation, lays out the personal origin and editorial philosophy behind the short-fiction literary magazine he’s been building for the past seven years.