August 2016
The League of Notorious Philosophical Arguments
Over at Electric Agora, Daniel A. Kaufman (Missouri State) takes up what may be analytic philosophy’s most notorious argument: G.E. Moore’s proof of an external world. As Kaufman says,
If you were to pinch the nearest analytically trained philosopher and ask him for the worst, most obviously fallacious argument in his tradition, he might very well tell you that i..
Essay Prize in Latin American Thought Awarded
The American Philosophical Association (APA has awarded its 2016 Essay Prize in Latin American Thought to Dr. L. Sebastian Purcell (SUNY Cortland) for his “Neltilitzli and the Good Life: On Aztec Ethics.” (more…)
The Success Story of a High School Philosophy Club (guest post by Kirk Wolf)
Last year, I posted about the efforts of the Philosophy Club at Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy to raise money for used textbooks. The club’s advisor, Kirk Wolf (Delta College), has now written an update about the club which he thought Daily Nous readers would appreciate.
Those interested in starting or maintaining philosophy clubs (not just at high schools) wi..
Job Market Mentoring for Women
Now in it’s third year, the Job Candidate Mentoring Program for Women in Philosophy” matches job candidates with junior faculty mentors who have recently been on the market.  The program provides mentoring and peer support to women candidates during their job search through videoconferencing and online forums.” (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Happy Monday, everyone. Here’s the round-up of last week’s additions to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
The Conscious Thought of Expertise, The Distribution of Ideas, and the Truth about Chicken Sexers
In an entertaining and interesting interview, Barbara Gail Montero, associate professor of philosophy at CUNY and former professional ballet dancer, discusses, among other things, the role of conscious thought in the activities of experts. On one view (notably advanced by Hubert Dreyfuss and John McDowell ), experts get into the “flow” and act in a “nonminded” way:..
Funding for Undergraduate Philosophy Research
Margaret Atherton (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) writes in asking about how philosophy professors and students can best take advantage of the funding their schools offer for undergraduate research programs. (more…)
MacBride from Glasgow to Manchester
Frasier MacBride, currently Chair in Logic and Rhetoric at the University of Glasgow, will be moving to the University of Manchester. MacBride works in metaphysics, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language and the history of analytic philosophy. (more…)
Analysis (the Philosophy Journal) to Broaden Scope
The new editorial team at Analysis (reported here) has changed its editorial policy. The journal, previously limited to short pieces of analytic philosophy, will now aim “to publish excellent short papers on any area of philosophy, including the history of philosophy.” (Recall the similar previous announcement from Mind.) (more…)
Philosophers Among Recipients of 2016 NEH Grants
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced the winners of several of its grants programs, totaling $79 million. 300 projects received support, and among them were a few philosophy professors. (more…)
Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik
Details On Starting and Running a Pre-College Philosophy Camp
The Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization, PLATO, “advocates and supports introducing philosophy to children and youth through programs,
resource-sharing, and the development of a national network in pre-college philosophy.” They’ve recently posted an interview, conveniently organized by topic, with Texas A&M philosophy professor Claire Katz and English PhD..
Recent Philosophy Prizes
Award news from the Lauener Foundation for Analytic Philosophy and the American Philosophical Association and Marc Sanders Foundation: (more…)
What Philosophers Aren’t Talking About, But Should (Updated)
Occasionally a comment makes its way onto Daily Nous, or into the Daily Nous inbox, along the following lines: “I find it strange that no one seems to be discussing some important topic or defending some important thesis, T. Is it because the majority of philosophers, P, find T philosophically uninteresting? Or is the moderator censoring T? Or is it because P is too..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
For your consideration, the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi, plus some bonus material… (more…)
Philosophical Belief, Philosophical Relief
I suppose there are moments in everyone’s life during which they are forced to believe something that they don’t want to believe or don’t think they should have to believe, but I would venture a guess that this happens more frequently, and in regards to more abstract beliefs, to philosophers. Consider the following: (more…)
Philosophy Department at IPFW Under Threat (guest post by Charlene Elsby)
The Philosophy Department at Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW) is facing an ominous-sounding “restructuring,” owing to financial concerns. The university faces a $2-3 million revenue shortfall in next year’s $110 million budget, according to the News-Sentinel. (more…)
APA Joins Condemnation of Turkey’s Attacks on Academic Freedom
The board of officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA), in a unanimous vote, decided to officially sign on to a statement from the Middle East Studies Association condemning the Turkish government’s recent attacks on academic freedom, according to a post at the Blog of the APA. (more…)
Chicago State’s Sudden Layoffs Include A Tenured Philosopher
Chicago State University has been facing a financial crisis. It relies on the state of Illinois for about 30% of its budget, but, owing to the previous financial and budgeting decisions the university’s administrators had made, along with the state’s “budget stalemate that left higher education without a dime for most of last year—and then provided only partial fu..
Should You Continue To Teach The Work of Sexual Harassers?
Thomas Pogge, whose alleged extracurricular activities, including sexual harassment, have been the subject of numerous posts here, is having his own place in the curriculum questioned. Pogge retains, for now, a prestigious named professorship at Yale. An article at Inside Higher Ed this morning discusses whether professors who believe he has acted at least problemat..
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
Applying To Programs That Previously Rejected You
A reader writes in with a question about applying to graduate programs in philosophy:
I applied to several Masters programs and PhD programs in philosophy last year, and got into a Masters program. I was wondering if you and/or your readers could answer the following question for me: when it comes time for me to apply to PhD programs again, is it alright for me t..
Boxill Denies All Allegations
In October of 2014, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published the results of an internal investigation into an academic fraud scheme in place for years, accusing philosophy faculty member Jan Boxill of involvement in directing students to take “fake” classes and providing them with impermissible degrees of assistance. This was followed by a report by..
“What Matters To Philosopers?” Asks Central APA President
Valerie Tiberius, professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota and current president of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association, wants to know “what matters to philosophers.”
She writes:
Dear Colleague,
As chair of a philosophy department at a large state institution (University of Minnesota), I’ve frequently been called upo..
The Right Tool for the Philosophical Job
Do philosophers fail to make use of the tools best-suited to their inquiries? Do they even fail to learn how to use these tools? That’s one of the claims made by Jerry Gaus (University of Arizona) in a rich and wide-ranging interview at 3:AM Magazine. He says: (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
What has been added or changed over the past week at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. UPDATE: Also, from a commenter on DN’s Facebook Page, Juliette Ferry, I learn of L’Encyclopédie Philosophique, a French philosophy reference site in progress.
(more…)..