history
TagIsrael, Hamas, and “Blowback” (guest post)
“The proportionality constraint is backward-looking in the following sense: to determine how bad a prospective harm is for a potential innocent victim, we sometimes need to look at what that victim has suffered in the past, and whether we’re responsible for what they’ve suffered” as well as “whether we should have acted differently in the past thereby avoiding the n..
The Origins of Analytic Philosophy
“I find the usual story exaggerated, incomplete, and mistaken in various ways.” (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 5: 2010s
In this, the last post in our series of underappreciated writing of the past 50 years, we turn to 2010-2019. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 4: 2000s
Our series of posts on underappreciated writings of the past 50 years moves to the 2000s. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 3: 1990s
Continuing our series of underappreciated philosophical writing of the past 50 years, we turn now to the 1990s. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 2: 1980s
Last week we began a decade-by-decade series on underappreciated philosophical writing of the past 50 years. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 1: 1970s
Not everything notable gets noticed, and that’s true in philosophy, too. (more…)
Countenancing Segregation Based on Imaginary Science (guest post)
“Papers like this should be left ignored, and certainly not mistaken for brave declarations of inconvenient truths.” (more…)
Using Contemporary Politics and History to Judge Contemporary Political Philosophy
To what extent can the dominant political philosophy developed over the past half-century fruitfully address the political problems we face today? (more…)
Collingwood and the Contintental – Analytic Divide
“Possibly—the great schism would never have set in at all, had RG Collingwood, one of the most remarkable, open and eclectic minds of the 20th century, not died prematurely in 1943.” (more…)
New John Locke Manuscript in the News
“Independent scholar finds new John Locke manuscript” was the tag on an entry in the Heap of Links a couple of weeks ago. Since then, several publications have covered the story. New Locke is hot news, apparently. (more…)
A “Data-Driven” History of Philosophy of Science
“Philosophy of science is what philosophers of science do. But what is it that philosophers of science do?” A team of researchers has just published their answer, based on computational text-mining of every issue of the journal Philosophy of Science published from 1934-2015.
How Early Modern Philosophy Courses are Taught
The NSF and the Rise of Value-Free Philosophies of Science (guest post by Joel Katzav & Krist Vaesen)
Why were social, moral and political issues relatively neglected in philosophy of science during the 20th Century? Joel Katzav (Queensland) and Krist Vaesen (Eindhoven) continue their investigation of the institutional and sociological influences on the history and development of analytic philosophy in the following guest post.*
British Journal for the History of Philosophy Awards Best Article Prize
The British Journal for the History of Philosophy has awarded the 2018 Rogers Prize—its annual prize for the best article it publishes—to Michael Gill (University of Arizona) for his “Shaftesbury on life as a work of art” (Vol. 26, no. 6). (more…)
The Structure of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Over Time, Visualized
Created in 1995, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) has grown to become not just an expansive and trusted collection of expertly-written entries on philosophical subjects, but a model for improving the internet. Now Adam Edwards, a Ph.D. student in philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has created an interactive visualization of th..
Grey Wins Sanders Prize in Early Modern Philosophy
John Grey, a philosopher at Michigan State University, is the winner of the 2018 Sanders Prize in the History of Early Modern Philosophy. (more…)
Gorgeous Interactive Timeline of Philosophical Ideas
A visual communication designer has created an interactive timeline of philosophical ideas that is impressive, useful, and beautiful. (more…)
New: the Journal of Modern Philosophy
A new online, open access, peer-reviewed journal focusing on philosophy from the 16th century through mid-18th century has been created. Called the Journal of Modern Philosophy, its co-editors are Aaron Garrett (Boston University) and Antonia LoLordo (University of Virginia). (more…)
End Philosophical Protectionism
Economists generally agree that protectionist policies (tariffs, subsidies, and other measures that shield domestic firms and laborers from foreign competition) are harmful to a nation’s overall economic well-being. Yet they continue to be implemented, in part because they sound good to an uninformed population susceptible to being swayed by nationalist rhetoric, an..
How Philosophy Makes Progress (guest post by Agnes Callard)
Instead of gauging progress by asking what “we” philosophers agree about, one should ask whether someone who wants to do philosophy is in a better position to do so today than she would’ve been 10 or 100 or 1000 years ago? The answer is: certainly. (more…)
Berkeley’s Handwritten “Manuscript Introduction” Digitized
Kenny Pearce, a professor of philosophy at Trinity College Dublin, has been working with his university’s library to produce a digitized version of Berkeley’s handwritten introduction to his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, which differs in significant ways from versions that have been published. (more…)
The Rise and Fall of Philosophical Jargon (guest post by Eric Schwitzgebel)
The following is a guest post* by Eric Schwitzgebel, professor of philosophy at UC Riverside. A version of it first appeared on his blog, The Splintered Mind.
Mill’s Myriad Marginalia: Mundane, Mysterious, Mocking
A website has been launched to display the handwritten annotations, marginal comments, and doodles made by John Stuart Mill in the approximately 1,700 books in his library.
The Parochialism of Mainstream History of Philosophy
Our histories of philosophy are astonishingly parochial. Across two and half millennia and a whole planet, there are basically only 9 historical figures you can write about without running the risk of marginalizing yourself as a young philosopher. (more…)
Journal of History of Philosophy Lifts Moratorium on Early Modern Submissions
Late last year, the Journal of the History of Philosophy (JHP) had announced that it would not be accepting new submissions on early modern philosophy and would be treating “revise and resubmit” verdicts on manuscripts as rejections. JHP editor Jack Zupko (Alberta) has now announced that these measures are no longer in effect. (more…)
JHP’s Best Article Prize Awarded
The Journal of the History of Philosophy has announced that Clare Carlisle, senior lecturer in philosophy and theology at King’s College London, is the winner of its best article prize for Volume 55.
JHP’s Best Book in the History of Philosophy Prize
Each year, the Journal of the History of Philosophy awards a prize for the best book published in the history of philosophy the previous year.