Philip Pettit, distinguished university professor of philosophy at Australian National University and L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University, has been named a Companion of the Order of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II. (more…)

Anna Stubblefield, the former Rutgers-Newark philosophy professor convicted of sexually assualting a disabled man, has had her convictions overturned by an appellate court, reports NJ.com, on the grounds that she did not get a fair trial. The court determined she should have a new trial, with a new judge.

The decision turned, in part, on the exclusion of eviden..

Over the past few days, many members of the philosophical community have been expressing disappointment, sadness, and outrage over the recent controversy concerning the journal Hypatia‘s publication of “In Defense of Transracialism,” by Rebecca Tuvel (Rhodes College), and the journal’s response to criticism for publishing it. As more than one person put it, the situ..

Ruth Millikan, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut, is the winner of the 2017 Nicholas Rescher Prize for Systematic Philosophy. The prize “is intended to counter present-day tendencies to narrow specialization by rewarding and showcasing the work of philosophers who have addressed the historical ‘big questions’ of the ..

The Department of Philosophy at Rutgers University has teamed up with Oxford University Press to create a new lecture and book series. (more…)

The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at (CASBS) Stanford University was founded in 1954 as an interdisciplinary research institute with a mission of “advancing human welfare” and creating “knowledge for the maximum benefit of individuals and society.” Each year the center invites a number of fellows to take up residence at Stanford and join in a ..

James Andow (Reading) has been compiling a list of philosophers in fiction, including novels, films, plays, etc. He says:

For no reason in particular, I thought it would be nice to have a list of fictional works in which one of the main characters is an academic philosopher. The rules are somewhat arbitrary. I am prepared to be flexible as to what counts as ficti..

A half-dozen academics have contributed brief essays to a collection at Times Higher Education on how to handle the academic workload and how to appropriately manage their time—especially in regards to accepting or declining various “opportunities.”

Some choice quotes:

“Why don’t you just say no, non-academic friends asked? Because, I explained, when you don..

What about when they’re not at work? That’s what the new site Things Philosophers Make is about. (via Samantha Brennan)

(Pie by Kate Norlock)

Thane Naberhaus, the associate professor of philosophy who earlier this week was fired from his tenured position at Mount St. Mary’s University by current university president Simon Newman of “drown the bunnies” fame, has received a new letter from Newman, informing him that though he has been “suspended” from his duties, he remains on the payroll “during the notice..

Slightly more philosophy books were published in North America in 2013 (the last year for which there is complete information) than in each of the previous four years, according to data from Humanities Indicators, a project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the same year, philosophy ranked 7th in numbers of books published among the 8 humanities disci..

Julia Edelman collates excerpts from philosopher..

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of ten grants—eight from its Small Grant Program and 2 from its Diversity and Inclusiveness Grants Program. What follows is from the APA’s press release:

Small Grant Program

Each year, the APA Eastern Division provides $25,000 for the APA’s Small Grant Program. This year’s grant applicati..

No, no one has created one yet, but it would be useful. Something close to it is the philosophy page at TV Tropes, which lists various philosophical themes that, when clicked on, will take  you to a page describing the theme in more detail and giving examples of it in a variety of mediums, including television.

Speaking of TV, Alison Gopnik (Berkeley) sent over t..

Abner Shimony, professor emeritus of philosophy and physics at Boston University, has died. Professor Shimony was known for his work in philosophy of physics. A detailed obituary is here, and an entry in Wikipedia on him is here.

From the obituary:

After graduating Summa cum Laude in mathematics and philosophy from Yale in 1948, Abner was a student of Austrian..

The comments system change is in progress, with most of the features in place. Since the system works differently than the old one in some important respects, I’ve updated the comments policy. Here’s the new version. The beginning is similar to the old one, but there are a number of additions.

Before you comment, imagine the following. You are seated in a com..

There’s an interesting post at Show and Tell about the speaking styles of philosophers. It begins with this:

There is a telling anecdote about G.E.M. Anscombe and A.J. Ayer. Anscombe said to Ayer, “You know, if you didn’t talk so fast, no one would think you were so clever.” Ayer rapidly replied, “And if you didn’t talk so slowly, no one would think you were so v..