April 2017

Monthly Archives:

APA Pacific Open Thread

Here’s an open thread for discussion of the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA), currently taking place in Seattle.

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New Philosophy Journal Survey Project

The Blog of the APA is launching a new project to collect and share data on the experiences philosophers have had with academic journals, including information about each journal’s “average review time, time to publication, acceptance rates, comments per submission” and related qualities. (more…)

Quitting A Safe Job To Pursue A Career In Philosophy (Ought Experiment)

Welcome back to Ought Experiment, the column by Dear Ida that offers personal advice for your academic life. Today’s letter is from someone considering pursuing a career in academic philosophy. (more…)

Don’t Turn It Off (guest post by Danielle Wenner)

The following is a guest post * by Danielle Wenner, assistant professor of philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. It’s a response to Monday’s post, “When To Turn It Off.” (more…)

Josh Parsons (1973-2017)

Josh Parsons, our beloved friend, mentor, and role-model, died on April 11, 2017. He was 44. Our thoughts are with his family, and most especially with his wife, Hannah Burgess. (more…)

Most Philosophers Favor Efforts To Broaden The Discipline

Last year, Valerie Tiberius, professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, conducted what she called “The Value of Philosophy Survey.” Over 2,500 philosophers responded to the survey, which asked 24 questions, and in her Presidential Address at the Central Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) last month, Professor Tiberius discu..

To φ Or Not To φ (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)

To φ Or Not To φ
by Tanya Kostochka

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UC Berkeley Knew Of Prior Complaints About Searle

John Searle, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, was the subject of at least three sexual misconduct claims filed by Berkeley students in recent years, prior to the filing of the current sexual harassment lawsuit against him and the Regents of the University of California, according to a report by Katie J.M. Baker at Buzzfeed…

Anti-Abortion Philosophy Lecturer Fired

Stéphane Mercier, the visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium whose courses were suspended recently because of a lecture he gave in which he argued against a right to abortion, has been fired. (more…)

When To Turn It Off

Here’s a… hypothesis for why many habits of philosophical thinking might not come naturally. The hypothesis is that some tools for critical evaluation run counter to another valuable set of tools: our tools for effective social engagement. These tools help us make sense of what someone is saying by encouraging us to interpret underspecified claims in the most posi..

Philosophy Instructor Reportedly Abducted

Önder Asan, a philosophy instructor from Ankara, Turkey, was reportedly abducted there on April 1st. Asan had worked at one of the educational institutions* closed down by the Turkish government following the attempted military coup there last July. (more…)

New Essay Prize For Early Career Philosophers

The philosophy journal Mind, which was established in 1876 and has long served as a prominent venue for analytic philosophy, and which recently broadened its scope to include a greater variety of philosophy, has established a new essay competition. The journal and its publisher, Oxford University Press (OUP), have announced that the winner will receive a cash prize ..

Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

Here’s our weekly report on what’s new at several online philosophy resources. We currently check the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), Wi-Phi, and 1000-Word Philosophy for updates. (more…)

Mini-Heap

Mini-Heap: the last 10 items from the Heap of Links, collected here for your perusal and discussion… (more…)

Three Philosophers Among New Guggenheim Fellows

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has announced the winners of its prestigious fellowship. There were 173 Guggenheim Fellowships awarded, three of which went to philosophers: (more…)

Should Journals Publicly Grade Submissions?

Jonathan Weisberg, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto and managing editor of Ergo, notes that by the time a paper is published in one journal, it has likely made the rounds at a few others, and hence has been reviewed by several people whose opinions on it are not publicly available. These people have already “thought about strengths and..

New Philosophy Podcast on Politics and Public Discourse

Why We Argue is a new, interview-based podcast “that explores the triumphs and disasters of American political conversation.” It is hosted by Robert Talisse, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University and is part of the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project directed by Michael Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut. (more…)..

Dominance Of The English Language In Contemporary Philosophy: A Look At Journals

“If you’re an academic aiming to reach a broad international audience, it is increasingly the case that you must publish in English. Philosophy is no exception.” So writes Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside), in a post at The Splintered Mind.

As he notes, this gives native English speakers an obvious professional advantage of being able to reach a worldwide readersh..

Did Gorsuch Plagiarize? Philosophers & Others Consulted (updated)

Politico has consulted several “experts on academic integrity” to assess whether Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch plagiariazed parts of his book, The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, which was a revised version of his D.Phil thesis, as well as an article in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, while the White House has produced statements from sev..

Mini-Heap

I’m trying something new here. As you may know, the Heap of Links is updated throughout the day as material comes in and as time allows. That will continue. I’ll now be adding regular posts that collate the links, about 10 at a time, to both give that material a bit more visibility and provide people a space to discuss them, should they wish to. Current rates of Hea..

A Philosophy Paper’s Part In A Title IX Lawsuit

A former undergraduate who majored in philosophy at Yale has filed a Title IX lawsuit against the university. The student, a male referred to as “John” in the lawsuit, is suing on grounds of hostile educational environment, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, erroneous outcome, selective enforcement, 14th Amendment due process, equal protection,and decla..

Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)

Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik (more…)

Three Observations About Moral Philosophy Today

Below are three features of contemporary moral philosophy that I’ve observed, and that may be worth discussing. I present them largely without judgment, except to say here that each seems like a mixed bag. Feel free to discuss, evaluate, elaborate, etc. These aren’t the only observations I have about moral philosophy today, but they are ones that recent events have..

Philosophy for the Public: With or Without Gimmicks?

Freelance philosopher and writer Nigel Warburton, whom you may know from Philosophy Bites, is prompted by the occasion of a straightforward interview with a philosopher in the mainstream media (Daniel Dennett on BBC Radio 4) to observe how rare it is, and then, in a series of tweets, come up with increasingly ridiculous pitches for TV and radio producers about how ..

New Philosopher-Run Blog on Imagination

The Junkyard is a new blog dedicated to study of the imagination. Its creator and editor is Amy Kind, professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College (with technical assistance from Eric Peterson, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Kentucky). (more…)