On World Philosophy Day: What Else Would You Be Doing?
Happy World Philosophy Day, philosofriends. World Philosophy Day was created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to celebrate philosophy and promote the idea that “philosophy is a discipline that encourages critical and independent thought and is capable of working towards a better understanding of the world and promotin..
Post-Election Changes To Philosophy Curriculum By Subject: Language
Yesterday I published the first in a series of posts about subfield-specific changes to philosophy curriculum in light of the 2016 U.S. election. That post is soliciting suggestions for readings, lessons, and teaching strategies for epistemology courses—keep them coming. (more…)
Post-Election Changes To Philosophy Curriculum By Subject: Epistemology
The shock of the 2016 presidential election is still being felt keenly by educators, many of whom see in its victor, Donald Trump, the embodiment of so much of what we aim to overcome: ignorance, incompetence, carelessness, and a lack of concern for the truth. (more…)
Teaching Under Trump: A Writing Exercise
This is what author and professor of literature and creative writing Melissa Febos (Monmouth University) did with her students the day after the election: (more…)
The Tractatus As Subway Map
Last year I posted about visualizations of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus. There’s now a new one. David Stern (University of Iowa) writes:
I asked the students in my Wittgenstein seminar if they could come up with a better way of visualizing the structure of the Tractatus, and one of them proposed looking it as a subway map, rather than a tree, which turned out to be ..
To φ Or Not To φ (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
To φ Or Not To φ
by Tanya Kostochka (more…)
“Can I Look Myself in the Eye and Decide to Become an Academic?”
A reader writes in with the following concerns:
The results of this election have substantiated some feelings I’ve been having for a while. For a few years I’ve been planning (not without a lot of consideration and some hesitation) to go to graduate school and play my cards with the hope of entering academic philosophy. Now, however, it is harder for me to see th..
Dominic Balestra (1947-2016)
Dominic Balestra, professor and chair of philosophy at Fordham University, died on November 8th, 2016. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the weekly roundup of what’s new at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy(SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
Productive in Publishing 2: Reply to Brennan (guest post by David Enoch)
Yesterday, I posted an outline of Jason Brennan’s advice to graduate students on how to be productive in publishing (when you read that, do note the further details Brennan supplies in response to some of the comments). In what follows, David Enoch, the Rodney Blackman Chair in the Philosophy of Law in the Faculty of Law and the Philosophy Department at Hebrew Unive..
Philosophers On The 2016 U.S. Election
Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States Presidential Election. There is a substantial portion of the U.S. population—including supporters of both candidates—who did not think this outcome was even remotely possible. For many who supported Trump, his victory is a glorious surprise. Many of those who opposed him, though, are grappling not j..
Productive in Publishing (guest post by Jason Brennan)
Jason Brennan received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 2007. Since then, he has authored or co-authored seven books, and has two more books currently in progress. He has also written a good number of peer-reviewed articles, reference entries, and pieces for popular consumption. He’s currently Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Chair and Provost’s Distinguished Assoc..
We Have Work To Do
On Friday, January 20th, 2017, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States of America. (more…)
Election Day Open Thread
Philosofriends, care to share your thoughts, hopes, fears, predictions, ideas, stories, etc., about the election? (more…)
Thank You, Donald Trump
I’m going to take a page from Michelle Obama and “go high.” I would like to thank Donald Trump (and I write this without a trace of sarcasm) for making me think longer and harder about what it means to be an American than I have ever thought before. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Welcome to the week, philosofriends. Here’s the usual report on what’s new at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy(SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
Philosopher Refuses to Hand Over Passport; His Talks Cancelled
The other day, Jonathan Webber, a philosopher at Cardiff University, sent out a series of tweets detailing how the University of Hertfordshire, at which he was supposed to give a pair of talks, required he provide a scan of his passport in advance. (more…)
Conant Wins Humboldt Professorship
Philosopher James Conant of the University of Chicago has been named as one of three winners of this year’s prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Professorships. (more…)
Interdisciplinarity and Marginalization in Philosophy
When asked whether some of the work in experimental philosophy would be better characterized as psychology, Joshua Knobe (Yale) tells Pendaran Roberts (Warwick):
First off, it should be emphasised that analogous issues arise for just about any area of philosophy that pursues interdisciplinary research. (more…)
Was A Philosophy Professor Fired For Refusing To Lower His Standards?
Colleges in Colorado have the option of offering “guaranteed transfer” (GT) courses. Standards for these courses are set by statewide requirements called the “GT Pathways Requirements”. The idea is that students taking GT courses at, say, a community college, are getting the kind of quality education that students at the state’s major universities are receiving, so ..
A Flag for Utilitarianism
Does your philosophical view have a flag? If you’re a utilitarian, it does now. Johan E. Gustafsson, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of York, has designed a flag for utilitarianism. Here it is: (more…)
Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik
Big Changes to the Eastern APA
The Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) is undergoing some changes, according to outgoing Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Cullison and incoming Secretary-Treasurer Jeffrey Dunn (both at DePauw University). (more…)
Rutgers And OUP Collaborate On New Lecture And Book Series
The Department of Philosophy at Rutgers University has teamed up with Oxford University Press to create a new lecture and book series. (more…)
What Philosophical Idea Or Position Do You Find The Scariest?
It’s Halloween, and philosophers everywhere are dressing up as obscure ideas and concepts that they’ll have to spend too much time explaining. Costumes are fun, but let’s not forget the horror, shall we? (more…)
Criticism of the APA’s Code of Conduct
Last week, the American Philosophical Association (APA) issued a Code of Conduct. The document was produced by a volunteer task force headed by Nancy Holland (Hamline University), in response to a petition. (more…)
That Philosophy Is A “Cushy Gig” Explains Some Of The Profession’s Problems
Philosophy is largely male, white, cis, straight, able-bodied—why? Well, maybe it has little or nothing to do with philosophy.
That appears to be the view of philosopher Albert Atkin (Macquarie), in response to Richard Marshall when he raises the topic of diversity in philosophy in an interview at 3:AM Magazine. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Greetings and Happy Halloween! Here’s the usual report on what’s new at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy(SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)