The Christmas holidays are upon us, with many joyful gatherings of family and friends, lots of tempting treats and libations, and of course, plenty of college football bowl games… all barring cancellation due to Covid psychosis. Just as discipline and good sportsmanship is maintained on the football field via sound officiating, it might be helpful to designate at least one friend or family member to serve as an impartial referee for the many political and philosophical discussions that are bound to crop up around the Yule log.

In the spirit of giving, I present you with an illustrated guide to officiating these deliberations. A complete set of hand signals for philosophy referees is shown below, with credit to the Leiter Reports blog. However, you better give your designated ref(s) a day or so to prepare. And remember to appoint a videographer for replay review!