Philosophy and Culture

Philosophers On “Irrational Man”

Irrational Man is a current movie about a despondent philosophy professor who moves to a small-town college, his relationships with a student and a fellow professor, and his commission of what the film’s press materials describe as “an existential act” which allows him to “find the will to live.” It is one of the few depictions in recent mainstream films of a philos..

The “Social Harm” of Philosophy

While once I used to think that professional philosophy was a place where it would be easy to do no social harm, I have come to recognize that not only do professional philosophers harm each other distressingly often, but also in our social role as, say, expert-ethicists (not just in medical and professional contexts), we can, in fact, generate and facilitate non-tr..

If You Want to Do Good, Should You Get a Philosophy PhD?

Suppose you wanted to choose a career based on how much good it will allow you to do. Assessing careers with that in mind is one of the aims of 80,000 Hours, a non-profit organization co-founded by philosopher Will MacAskill. The group looks at four aspects of a job: (1) Role Impact — the extent to which the career enables you to help others; (2) Career Capital — ..

Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy

The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy is out! By philosopher Michael Patton (Montevallo) and illustrator Kevin Cannon, the book stars Heraclitus as the reader’s guide and companion through various philosophical topics, including logic, perception, minds, free will, god, and ethics. At over 150 pages, it has the heft and look of a big graphic novel, and it’s all ab..

Philosophy & Literary Writings Revisited

Last week’s post, “Philosophy’s Exclusion of Literary Writings,” asked whether philosophy could be done in the form of fiction or myth or poetry. Around the same time, I learned of a book whose description from the publisher included this question: “Given that poetry is about alternative forms of knowing, and philosophy the universal address of logos, then can the t..

In a Possible World Far, Far Away

By now you’ve all seen the new Star Wars trailer, so, philosofriends…

“I find your bad faith disturbing” — Sartre Vader

Philosophers Pick Philosophical Movies

The Guardian had Julian Baggini, Christine Korsgaard, Ursula Coope, Peter Singer, Susan Haack, Kenneth Taylor, and Slavoj Žižek each pick a movie and draw out its philosophical themes. The movies picked were Memento, It’s a Wonderful Life, Gattaca, Ida, Galaxy Quest, Force Majeure, and Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter … and Spring. Can you guess which philosopher pi..

“Motivational” Posters from Philosophers

Flavorwire posts a set of (de)motivational posters featuring quotes “from your favorite depressing philosophers.” Philosophers, I think we can do better. My attempts:

These were pretty easy to make by modifying this blank version of the stereotypical corporate motivational poster, but afterwards (of course) I noticed what looks like an even easier met..

List of Shibboleth Names

The blog “454 W 23rd St New York, NY 10011-2157” provides a “list of shibboleth names”—mispronounced names of cultural VIPs “by which the privileged judge their inferiors.”

It reminded me of a conversation I had a long time ago with a rather distinguished professor of philosophy, in her office, that went something like this:

Me: So I was wondering if you could..

Great Mishearings

Originally from here.

(from @rickburin on Twitter)

Philosophers Talk Football

Hey, so, uh, the Superbowl….

That’s all I got, but feel free, folks.

(images from Academic Coach Taylor)

Lupe Fiasco Hands Off Philosophy Sunday to WiPhi

Rapper Lupe Fiasco has been running a weekly philosophy discussion on Twitter called Philosophy Sunday (#PhilosophySunday). With a new album about to come out, he is handing off responsibility for the discussion over to the folks at Wi-Phi. Their first run at it will be tomorrow, January 18th, starting at 2pm EST. Gaurav Vazirani, a philosophy PhD student at Yale an..

A “Nonproblematic” Black Philosopher

Mabogo More, who was recently awarded the Frantz Fanon Lifetime Achievement award by the Caribbean Philosophical Association, is profiled in the Mail & Guardian. More held appointments at University of the North – Turfloop, the University of KwaZulu-Natal – UKZN, and the University of Durban-Westville, as well as fellowships at Birmingham, University of Illinois, an..

Philososplainin’ #2: Letting Kids Do Stuff Themselves

Making the rounds this morning is the news of parents who are being investigated for neglect for allowing their children, ages 10 and 6, to walk, by themselves, the one mile from a park to their home in Silver Spring, Maryland. There have been a rash of such stories recently, it seems, most notably one about a South Carolina mother who was arrested (!) for allowing..

The Philosophy of Philosophical Institutions

Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle (both of the University of North Texas) have published an essay, “Socrates Untenured,” at Inside Higher Ed that makes a case for what they call “field philosophy” — a “context-driven, problem-focused, and interdisciplinary” approach. Their hope is that “a new philosophical practice, where philosophers work in real time with a variet..

Philosophy: Now Even More Popular in Germany

Philosophy is so popular in Germany right now, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education (may be behind paywall). How popular is it? So popular that at least one philosophy book may have sold more copies in Germany than the latest album by David Hasselhoff, a fact the author of the Chronicle piece neglects to mention. Perhaps because it is not true. In any event, he..

Woody Allen, Please, No

On a small town college campus, a philosophy professor in existential crisis gives his life new purpose when he enters into a relationship with his student.

That is the description of Woody Allen’s currently untitled 2015 movie. It is in post-production and stars Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Jamie Blackley, and Parker Posey. More information here and here.

(vi..

The Ethics of Friending in Academia

In a column at The Chronicle of Higher Education, David Perry discusses some of the complications for people in academic organizations using social media like Facebook. How should we engage with others on social media? Here are his suggestions:

Be aware of workplace hierarchies and your position in them.
You get to choose whether to “friend up” to people more..

The Most Disruptive Philosophical Idea

On the occasion of its 85th anniversary, Businessweek put together a list of the 85 “most disruptive” ideas during the past 85 years. Containing some predictable entries like the birth-control pill and email, as well as some odd ones such as kitty litter and name-brand jeans, the list offers not one philosophical idea. It is, of course, a business magazine; no surpr..

Mulhall on Philosophy and Culture

This past October, Stephen Mulhall (Oxford), delivered the Grahame Lock Memorial Lecture, and it contains interesting reflections on philosophy and its significance in the broader culture:

Sometimes philosophy finds that its own continued existence does not matter to anyone else… But philosophers shouldn’t deny their own responsibility for this fate. For how many..

Cornel West Arrested in Ferguson

Cornel West (Princeton) was arrested in Ferguson, MO today while taking part in the “Ferguson October” rally, which has been attended by over 1,000 protesters. West said he attended the rally with the intent to get arrested. Details here and here.

(photo: Jim Young / Reuters, via The New York Times)

The Moral Psychology of Racist Brutality

Kate Manne (Cornell) writes in The Stone in The New York Times that the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, and the events that have occurred in its wake, suggest that a traditional understanding of racism is mistaken:

One possibility is that people are treated brutally because those who mistreat them fail to grasp their common humanity — or, similarly,..

What Google Thinks People Think About Philosophers

Enter a word or two into Google and its guesses about what you’re looking for, based on what most other people have looked for using similar words, will appear.

So what do people think of philosophers? Hmmm….

How does Google autocomplete other philosophy-related searches? If you find one worth sharing, take a screenshot, send it to dailynouseditor@gmail…

Sci-Phi Faves (Updated)

Eric Schwitzgebel thinks that science fiction and speculative fiction more broadly is “a powerful philosophical tool.” He has been soliciting suggestions of philosophical science fiction from other philosophers this week at The Splintered Mind and you can view the results here and here.

Sort of related (to this and the big story of late).

UPDATE (10/6/14): Mor..

Philosopher-Celebrity Lookalikes

Brian Talbot (Washington University in St. Louis) has been pairing up well-known philosophers with the celebrities who look like them. He kindly agreed to let me share the idea with you. Here’s my favorite so far:

That’s David Hume and Jon Lovitz.

This match, owed to Julia Staffel, is also quite good:

Descartes and Richie Sambora, of course.

You..