Carnegie Mellon Philosophy Eliminates Application Fee (guest post by Kevin Zollman)
The Department of Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has eliminated the fee for applying to its graduate programs. Below is a guest post* by Kevin Zollman, associate professor of philosophy at CMU and the philosophy department’s director of graduate studies, explaining the rationale for this change. (more…)
University of Hawai‘i Receives $1.35m Grant For Philosophy In Schools Program
The Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education, a Japanese non-profit educational organization, has awarded a $1.35 million grant to the University of Hawai‘i to further develop its Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education (which was established with a 2012 grant from the foundation). (more…)
Onora O’Neill Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize
Onora O’Neill, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge and member of the House of Lords, has won the 2017 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, a $1 million prize awarded by the Berggruen Institute as one of the programs of its Philosophy and Culture Center. (more…)
To φ Or Not To φ (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
To φ Or Not To φ
by Tanya Kostochka
Converting One-Time Philosophy Students Into Repeat Enrollees
A philosophy professor writes:
Our department is thinking about ways we can convert students who take one class for accidental reasons (it fulfills a requirement or it fits a time slot) into students who take a few more classes. We’ve talked about a few strategies here, and I’ve looked around online a tiny bit for resources, but I thought this might be the sort o..
Mini-Heap
Here’s the latest Mini-Heap: 10 recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected and numbered for your convenience. (more…)
Bentham Being Tested For Autism
Scientists have taken DNA samples of philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who died in 1832, to determine whether he had Asperger Syndrome or some other form of autism, according to The Telegraph. (more…)
Glen Newey (1961-2017)
Glen Newey, professor of political philosophy and ethics at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Leiden, died on September 30th, 2017. (more…)
Philosophy PhD Program Rankings: APDA’s 2017 Final Report
Academic Placement Data and Analysis (APDA) has released its complete 2017 Final Report, an 81-page document that collects data on PhD-granting philosophy programs (including ratings by former students, placement rates, and diversity) and the discipline as a whole (including hiring networks, placement maps, cluster analyses of programs, job descriptions, non-academi..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the weekly report of what’s new at some useful online philosophy resources. (more…)
Originality and Failure in Philosophy
To what extent do philosophers’ quite understandable social needs and fears of failure compromise their capacity for originality? A lot, according to Costica Bradatan (Texas Tech), in his epistle to academic philosophers in the Los Angeles Review of Books, “Why We Fail and How.” (more…)
Reimbursement Ethics
A reader writes in with the following query about reimbursement for academic travel: (more…)
Ken Chung (1978 – 2017)
Ken Chung, a philosopher who taught at Western University, Ryerson University, the University of Guelph-Humber, and at Trent University, died this past Wednesday. He was 39 years old. (more…)
University of Central Missouri Loses Philosophy Program
Students at the University of Central Missouri will no longer be able to major in philosophy, according to the school’s news site, Muleskinner.
Scientism’s Threat To Philosophy
So, just as naturalism-as-opposed-to-apriorism succumbs to scientism when it falsely assumes that whatever isn’t a priori must be science, naturalism-as-opposed-to-supernaturalism succumbs to scientism when it falsely assumes that whatever isn’t religion must be science. Granted, theological “explanations” don’t really explain anything; but it doesn’t follow, and it..
Does Philosophy Fit Trend of Decrease in Humanities PhD Applications?
From 2010 to 2015 there was, on average, a 3% annual decrease in the number of applicants to doctoral programs, and in 2015-2016 there was a 7.1% decrease, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, reporting on data published by the Council of Graduate Schools. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Here’s the latest Mini-Heap: 10 11 recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected and numbered for your convenience. (more…)
Brooklyn College / CUNY Philosopher Among Faculty Targeted By Anti-Muslim Organization
Samir Chopra, a professor of philosophy at Brooklyn College and City University of New York (CUNY), is among faculty and students being slandered as “terrorist supporters” by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a rightwing, anti-Muslim organization. (more…)
Philosophy in Schools: Continuing the Conversation (guest post by Myfanwy J. Williams)
The following is a guest post* by Myfanwy J. Williams, responding to last week’s post about claims made regarding the benefits of pre-college philosophy instruction. Dr. Williams is co-director of what she calls “a very small not-for-profit company,” which she is in the process of establishing with two fellow philosophers, John Foster and Faye Tucker (Second Though..
Use This Free Automated Recommendation Service, Created by Philosophers
MARGY (Managing Academic Recommendations Gratis Yay) is a free automated academic letter of recommendation service. It had its initial trial run at the start of the year (following earlier beta testing) and is up and running for the Fall 2017 academic job market. (more…)
Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik
Patent Pending for Philosopher and Astrophysicist-Designed Artificial Consciousness Test
Susan Schneider, professor of philosophy and cognitive science at the University of Connecticut, and Edwin L. Turner, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, have developed “a behavior-based artificial consciousness test (ACT), and related tests for AI safety.” (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Greetings. Here’s the latest report of what’s new at some useful online philosophy resources. (more…)
Asking Questions at Talks and in Seminars
“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it” (Maurice Switzer). Thoughts like that have inhibited many a young academic from asking questions in seminars or at talks. (more…)
Appiah on the “Actual Practice of Philosophy”
In the new Oxford Review of Books, Daniel Kodsi, an apparently remarkably well-read Oxford undergraduate, conducts a wide-ranging three-part interview (I, II, III) with Kwame Anthony Appiah (NYU). Here’s an excerpt from Part II:
Descartes Did Not Invent Modern Philosophy
Christia Mercer (Columbia), writing in “The Stone” at The New York Times:
René Descartes has long been credited with the near-single-handed creation of modern philosophy. Generations of students have read, and continue to read, his famous “Meditations” as the rejection of medieval ways of thinking and the invention of the modern self. They learned that he doubted..
The Benefits of Pre-College Exposure to Philosophy: Data Needed
Occasionally philosophers make claims about the benefits of teaching elementary and high school students philosophy. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Here’s the latest Mini-Heap: 10 recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected and numbered for your convenience. (more…)