1. “No one goes into the humanities for reasons political, professional, or merely personal. We do so because devoting ourselves to some particular field strikes us an especially exciting and appropriate way of leading a life, because the work required seems to us noble, challenging, and rewarding, and because we love it.” David McCabe (Colgate) on how not to defend the humanities.
2. “Where will they all sleep and dine? How do philosophers party? What should we print on the pillows and promotional cups?” That’s from a very strange piece on the 2018 World Congress of Philosophy, which will be held in Beijing. “The question is, can China–with its largely untapped resources, ideas, and innovations–revive the once exceedingly gorgeous but now sadly torpid and dour discipline?”
3. Pills to fall in love, and pills to fall out of love: it’s likely not a matter of if, but of when. “We’re trying to get ahead of the technology and ahead of the science with some ethical arguments.” Australia’s ABC Radio hosts a discussion of the ethics of the pharmacology of love with Brian Earp (Oxford) and others.
4. “Throughout its 10-year run, Watterson made Calvin and Hobbes his mouthpiece for profound insights in aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, and existentialism” — a short piece on the upcoming documentary, Dear Mr. Watterson, about the beloved comic strip that adorns the doors of many a professor’s office. There’s a trailer at the link, too.
5. “The division of labor is not that philosophy is speculative while physics is not; rather, each discipline looks for different kinds of answers.” M. Anthony Mills, a philosophy graduate student at Notre Dame, responds to Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
6. Áine Mahon, a post-doc in philosophy at the University of Dublin, is interviewed in the Irish Times about philosophy in literature.
7. The Philosophy School of Phish, at Oregon State University, “is an experiment in engaged philosophy that will use a variety of venues to facilitate collaborative and experiential learning in the Phish community.” Uh huh. Taught by assistant professor Stephanie Jenkins, “This class will use Phish’s mythology, live performances, and social media presence in order to introduce key ideas in the history of philosophy in public settings. Specifically, we will explore possibilities publicly engaged scholarship holds for social transformation, community-building, and experiential learning.” And jamming, I am sure they meant to add.
8. “Even though Player 1 wants a health pack, he believes it is his duty to give it to Player 2.” 8-Bit Philosophy on Kant on freedom and moral responsibility.