Daily Nous - news for & about the philosophy profession

APA Issues Code of Conduct

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has published a Code of Conduct. You can find it here.

I’m off to a meeting but may have time for a more detailed post about it later today.

Tough Enough: Resilience in Academia

Part of what’s behind the disagreements over freedom and security in academia that we’ve been seeing a lot of lately (over things like political correctness, trigger warnings, safe spaces, etc.) are two different attitudes. (more…)

Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

Hello folks and welcome to the weekly 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…)

Philosophy, History, and the Environment

There’s another fascinating philosophical interview at 3:AM Magazine, this time with NYU’s Dale Jamieson. Once again there is an abundance of interesting material. Two passages stood out. (more…)

Petition on Higher Education and Brexit

A petition to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, to “safeguard UK higher education” has over 1,200 signatories. Created by philosopher Helen De Cruz of Oxford Brookes University, the petition focuses on anti-immigrant rhetoric and the consequences of Britain exiting the European Union. (more…)

More Funding To Study Effects on Teaching Kids Philosophy

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent charity in the United Kingdom, has awarded a £1.2 million ($1.46 million) grant to SAPERE for it to expand and study its Philosophy For Children (P4C) program, according to Schools Week. (more…)

Preparing Teaching Assistants

Many graduate programs in philosophy provide funding for their students in exchange for their labor as teaching assistants (TAs). The job of a TA varies across institutions and courses, but typically involves grading assignments, running weekly discussion sections of a larger course, and providing guidance to students. (more…)

Faculty on Strike at Public Universities and Colleges in Pennsylvania

Faculty at 14 public institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania are on strike owing to a failure in contract negotiations. According to Inside Higher Ed, the faculty had been working without a contract in place for 477 days. (more…)

Philosophy Program At IPFW To Be Eliminated (guest post by Charlene Elsby) / UPDATE: Link to Petition

The Philosophy Department at Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW) will be completely eliminated by January, 2017, according to a plan announced by the Purdue Board of Trustees and IPFW Chancellor, Vicky Carwein. (more…)

How Academics Can Protect Themselves From Online Harassment

Data & Society, a research institute focusing on “social, cultural, and ethical issues arising from data-centric technological development” has issued a guide for those conducting “risky research” about how to protect themselves from online harassment. (more…)

Chaospet (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)

Chaospet
by Ryan Lake

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Kamtekar from Arizona to Cornell

Rachana Kamtekar, currently professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona, will become professor of philosophy at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University, starting in Fall of 2017. (more…)

U. Miami Settles Lawsuit With Grad Student Over Its Handling Of McGinn Case

A philosophy graduate student who last year sued the University of Miami for failing to properly investigate her allegations that (now former) professor of philosophy Colin McGinn sexually harassed and then retaliated against her has now settled that lawsuit with the university, according to her attorney. (more…)

Sandra Bartky (1935-2016)

Sandra Lee Bartky, Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, died earlier today. (more…)

Pick One Book for One Person to Read

Making its way around the internet is the question, “If you could get everybody to read one book, which would it be?” That’s an interesting question, but there are a lot of unspecified variables that will drive philosophers nuts. For example:

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Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

Greetings and welcome to the weekly 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…)

Philosophy Departments and Journals Ranked by Gender Data at New Website

A new website presents data on women in philosophy in a novel manner: it orders departments by number of women faculty and journals by number of women authors. (more…)

Philosophers On Bob Dylan’s Words, Ideas, and His Nobel Prize Win

Yesterday, Bob Dylan was selected as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan is the first musician to win the award, and there has been controversy over the boundary redefining move, as well as reflection on the significance of his work. (more…)

Data on Diversity in (mostly) US Philosophy

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has released a new report on its membership demographics over the past three years. Has philosophy become more demographically diverse during this period? It’s not easy to tell from the data.

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Why Policy Needs Philosophers As Much As It Needs Science (guest post)

The following is a guest post * by Adam Briggle and Robert Frodeman, both professors of Philosophy at the University of North Texas and co-authors of Socrates Tenured: The Institutions of 21st Century Philosophy. This essay originally appeared in The Guardian and is reposted here with permission of the authors.

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Advice for a Philosopher Being Used By a Scam

As reported last week, there is a phony version of the International Journal of Philosophy and Theology in existence, tricking authors into submitting to it rather than to the legitimate one.

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To φ Or Not To φ (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)

To φ Or Not To φ
by Tanya Kostochka

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Applied Philosophy Courses Outside Value Theory

Philosophy departments face increasing pressure to demonstrate their value to their universities. One type of response is to attempt to increase enrollment in philosophy courses. There are various ways to do this. One way is to offer courses that apply philosophy to matters of personal or social concern. The result is a familiar variety of courses in applied ethics,..

Starting and Maintaining a College Philosophy Club

A professor of philosophy at a U.S. college writes in with a request for information about undergraduate philosophy clubs:

My university currently does not have a philosophy club. For various reasons my department thinks such a club would be a good idea, and I, perhaps foolishly, volunteered to help get it started. (more…)

The Pathologies of Philosophers

Pathologies of Philosophers
an incomplete list

Enthymemalysis – the inability to proceed with a conversation because one’s interlocutor has neglected to explicitly state a step in their thinking that any normal listener would have automatically filled in. (more…)

Update on the Persecution of Academics in Turkey

The Turkish government, under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has continued its crackdown on those it deems enemies of the state in the wake of an attempted coup this past July. According to The Independent, over 70,000 people have been arrested during this time. (more…)

Naturalism, Evolutionary Biology and Theism

In yet another excellent interview at 3AM: Magazine, Richard Marshall talks with Elliott Sober (Wisconsin). There is a lot of interesting material in this interview, including Sober’s takes on the criticisms of evolutionary theory by Jerry Fodor (Rutgers) and Thomas Nagel (NYU).

On Nagel, he says:

Nagel thinks that “remarkable facts” can’t have low probabiliti..