Millikan’s Dewey Lecture
Marcus Arvan over at Philosopher’s Cocoon draws attention to the 2012 Dewey Lecture by Ruth Millikan (University of Connecticut), to some of the details about her education that, he says, “really put things into perspective,” and to her views about the fragility of philosophy in light of its nature and the institutional pressures to which it is subjected.
Measuring “Meaning & Purpose” in Students’ Lives
Wake Forest University is looking into ways to assess the quality of life of its students and alumni. Among the things the university would like to know: “the level of meaning and purpose students find in their lives.”
Top Philosophical Songs
“Rock and Roll Philosopher” Grant Maxwell has compiled a list of the top 15 philosophical songs. I suspect many philosophers would give this list the other kind of “R and R,” namely a revise and resubmit. Your suggested changes, folks? (Include links if you can.)
The Relevance of Analytic Philosophy
This paper holds that philosophy is and has always been relevant to life. The history on this matter is against the likes of Kripke and Soames who claim otherwise, even when it comes to the recent Analytic tradition. But, even more importantly, we argue that even if this history is not quite right, that philosophers have both moral and instrumental reasons for makin..
Louis CK on Avoiding the Perfectionism Trap
It’s one thing to be told “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” and another thing to, well, actually not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Whether it is writing a paper or working through some task at a departmental meeting, there is the temptation to not move forward unless everything is just right, or until one knows everything is going to be j..
The “art” in Sartre
Open Culture has posted the doodles of Jean-Paul Sartre (via Peter Gratton). While not as skillful as those of Jorge Luis Borges or as striking as those of Franz Kafka, they do have a certain whimsical air to them. Some research suggests that doodling enhances one’s concentration and memory, so if you see people doodling while you are giving a talk, don’t assume the..
What’s the Deal with NewAPPS and Other Blogs?
Some of you may have noticed that NewAPPS, 3 Quarks Daily, and some other blogs are down. What’s up with that? Contrary to the rumors, Daily Nous has not launched distributed denial of service attacks against its competitors in an attempt to achieve complete and total domination of the philosophy blogosphere. Rather, we are doing it for ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
Joking ..
Jean Harvey (1955-2014)
Jean Harvey, a philosopher at the University of Guelph, has died. Harvey worked mainly in political philosophy, ethics, and feminist philosophy. There is a more detailed remembrance of her at Feminist Philosophers.
Advice for Grad Students and Other Conference Goers
The Pacific APA is in session and so it might be a good time to share this helpful post about good conference-going behavior (via Hannah Bondurant). From the intro:
I do… have something to say about the unwritten rules that accompany your forays into the Greater Academic World. Because when you attend conferences, colloquiums, workshops, or other group activities ..
More Millions for Mele
Alfred Mele (Florida State) has won another enormous grant from the Templeton Foundation, this time for $4.5 million, for his project on the philosophy and science of self-control. He had previously won, in 2010, an award for $4.4 million from Templeton for the study of free will.
Accessing PhilPapers From Campus
PhilPapers announces that starting on July 1st, 2014, full access to the PhilPapers site from an institution of higher education will be by institutional subscription only. You will still be able to access the full site for free while off-campus, but if you want to access it all on campus you’ll need to get your library to subscribe. Given how long that could take, ..
Philosopher Gets Google Doodle Treatment
The 888th birthday of Spanish Muslim philosopher Averroes (Ibn Rushd) is celebrated with a Google Doodle today, but not everywhere. Check out Google Spain to see it (today only).
Good Philosophical Comic Strips (Friday Fun)
Let’s get a list of good philosophical comic strips going. Post one you like. If it is online, great; list a brief description along with the web address, like so:
Dinosaur Comics on philosophical progress – http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=787.
If you just have a hard copy, take a photo of it and post it somewhere online. Or, if you can’t do that, send the p..
You’ve Got To Know When To Tollens…
Professional poker player Sam Holden will be walking away from the table to pursue a degree in philosophy at the University of Kent. Story here.
At his blog, Holden writes:
Over the past few years, before properly considering life after poker, I’ve tried to embrace my inner geek. I find myself listening to debates, podcasts, lectures and speeches whilst playing o..
How Political Should the APA Be?
An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses whether professional academic organizations should take overt stances on the political issues of the day. The American Philosophical Association is not mentioned in the article, though others are, such as the American Economic Association, the American Political Science Association, and the American History A..
The Anthropology of the College Professor
Anthropologist John Ziker (Boise State) applied the tools of his trade to the species homo academicus and reports the first of his findings on how professors use their time. Some excerpts:
On average, our faculty participants worked 61 hours per week. That is 50 percent more than a 40-hour workweek. It’s a good thing they love what they do. They worked just over 10 ..
Dungeons and Dragons and Derrida
For the readership in that part of the Venn diagram where the “Dungeons & Dragons”, “Continental Philosophy”, and “Sense of Humor About Yourself” circles overlap: “The Orc-Paladin relationship is nothing more than an oppressive power structure, which can be traced back to the medieval relationship between the priesthood and the lepers.” (Note the mouse-over text is ..
Rawlsian Links
Bookforum’s Omnivore has an assortment of links up about Rawls, distributive justice, and related topics.
Rutgers Students Protest Ludlow’s Candidacy
The Rutgers University student group, Women Organizing Against Harassment, is leading a protest against Peter Ludlow’s candidacy for a job there, owing to allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Details in The Daily Northwestern.
Objections Raised to Chalmers’ Haircut (Daily Mousse)
A recent conference at Paul Mitchell University took as its focus some new work on philosophers of mind. Dominating the event were several sessions on David Chalmers’ new haircut (‘before’ photo here). A panel on Chalmers and other rockstars favorably compared his transformation with those of David Lee Roth and Jon Bon Jovi. However, there was also some criticism. “..
APA Members with Disabilities Respond to “Unfounded Accusations”
Three members of the APA Inclusiveness Committee publish a statement “to correct unfounded accusations that the American Philosophical Association (APA) discriminates based on disability against people like us.” (This is in response to a recent petition noted here.)
APA Central Seeks Continental Philosophy
Janice Dowell, program committee chair for the 2015 Central Division meeting of the APA, says that the committee would like to especially encourage submissions in continental philosophy. She writes, “Continental philosophy is often underrepresented on our submitted program and one source of the difficulty seems to be that we receive so few submissions in that area.”..
What’s So Good About Studying Philosophy?
This piece in the UC Berkeley alumni magazine brings together the answers of a number of people, from current students to professors to people who have pursued a wide range of careers outside of academia. This quote from John MacFarlane, chair of the Department of Philosophy at Berkeley, is great:
“There’s a kind of pre-professional way of looking at it as, ‘Well, th..
Oxford Tutor Jeffrey Ketland Fired
Jeffrey Ketland, a philosophy fellow and tutor at Pembroke College at Oxford University, who was accused of harassment of a BPhil student who later committed suicide, has been fired from his position.
Brandom Interviewed
Jeffrey J. Williams conducts a wide-ranging and thoughtful interview with Bob Brandom in the journal Symploke. The interview (PDF) covers Brandom’s thoughts about the enterprise of philosophy, its analytic and continental traditions, its major figures, as well as reflections on his own life and career.
From the interview:
Jeffrey J. Williams: What would you say, in..
March Madness: “Overrated Philosophers”
Critical-Theory.com has set up a March Madness tournament, bracket and all, of “overrated philosophers.” You can enter your vote here.
Are Junior Faculty Overburdened with Service?
How much service, and what kinds, are appropriate for junior faculty? Is more teaching preferable to more service? Do service burdens vary by gender? Brian Weatherson presents some anecdata and comments at And Another Thing, and Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins discusses her experience at her blog, Field Notes. Have any readers had noteworthy experiences in this regard? Does..
Philacronyms (Friday Fun)
This week’s Friday Fun comes courtesy of David Boonin (University of Colorado). Thank you, David, for your suggestion, and for inspiring others to send in their contributions to this occasional series (seriously, be inspired people, or this series may not last).
David writes, “The idea is to come up with a single sentence that summarizes the most important thing(s)..