March 2015
“How could someone be so devastatingly exacting and kind?”
If your father is a philosopher, then you should expect to lose many arguments. You will never lose “because life isn’t fair,” or because your dad “says so.” You will always lose on strict logical grounds… If your father is a philosopher, your premises must support your conclusion. Then, maybe once or twice in a childhood filled with lost arguments, you will win. ..
Hilail Gildin (1928-2015)
Hilail Gildin, professor of philosophy at Queens College, has died. Gilden worked in political philosophy, publishing books on Mill, Spinoza, and Rousseau. He was one of the founders, with his teacher, Leo Strauss, of Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, and served as its editor-in-chief. (via Moti Mizrahi)
Freiburg Ditches “Heidegger” Chair (2 updates)
The University of Freiburg, the academic home of Günter Figal—who recently stepped down from the leadership of the Martin Heidegger Society in the wake of the publication of Heidegger’s Black Notebooks—has decided to convert the faculty chair long dedicated to the Heideggerian tradition to one dedicated to philosophy of language. It has also downgraded the line ..
Creativity and Criticism (guest post by Patricia Marino)
Patricia Marino is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Waterloo. She works in ethics, epistemology, the philosophy of sex and love, and the philosophy of economics. She also has a blog, The Kramer is Now, full of amusing and insightful thoughts about philosophy, culture, economics, politics, and various aspects of life. Below is a guest post* by h..
Research Advice for Non-Native English Speaking Philosophers
A graduate student in philosophy asks:
I really enjoyed the daily habits of routine research post. I am wondering if you could open up a new discussion that addresses the related issues with regards to philosophers who use English as their second language. In my own experiences, doing research in a non-native language often comes with unique challenges that call ..
The Prime Directive & Microbes
In the world of Star Trek, a rule called the “prime directive” prohibits our heroes from interfering in the development of alien cultures. I don’t think they had in mind the kind of “cultures” that could be grown in a Petri dish, but, as it turns out, NASA has predicted that we will find extraterrestrial life within the next 20 years, and that the life in question w..
Shafer-Landau from Wisconsin to UNC (updated)
Russ Shafer-Landau, currently professor of philosophy and chair of the philosophy department at the University of Wisconsin, has accepted an offer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Starting this summer, he will be professor of philosophy there and director of UNC’s Parr Center for Ethics. Shafer-Landau is known for his work in metaethics.
UPDA..
TAs at York and Toronto Strike
Approximately 6000 teaching assistants (TAs) at the University of Toronto are currently on strike, and around 3700 TAs and adjuncts at York University, also in Toronto, just last night voted to go on strike. The main concerns appear to be pay and job stability for the adjuncts. An article in The Star has more details. The Canadian Union of Public Employees is repres..
Does Philosophy Matter? (guest post by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong)
The following guest post* is by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Duke), and appears here via a special arrangement with Oxford University Press and the OUP Blog, at which it is also posted.
Does Philosophy Matter?
by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Philosophers love to complain about bad reasoning. How can those other people commit such silly fallacies? Don’t they see how..
Dan Kaufman’s Lawsuit Against CU-Boulder is Filed
After filing four notices of claim last August, Dan Kaufman has now officially filed his lawsuit against CU-Boulder, “alleging the school both discriminated and retaliated against him because he has a disability.”
From an article in the Daily Camera:
Kaufman alleges that by kicking him off campus and taking other actions against him, CU violated his rights und..
New APA Travel Fund for Philosophers of Color (updated)
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced that it is creating a travel fund for philosophers of color. According an APA press release, the fund is aimed at supporting “philosophers of color who would otherwise find it challenging to participate in APA divisional meetngs and other APA-sponsored conferences. The fund is supported exclusively by donati..
Public School Curriculum Denies Moral Facts
Our public schools teach students that all claims are either facts or opinions and that all value and moral claims fall into the latter camp. The punchline: there are no moral facts. And if there are no moral facts, then there are no moral truths.
The inconsistency in this curriculum is obvious. For example, at the outset of the school year, my son brought home a l..
Philosophers Don’t Read and Cite Enough (guest post by Marcus Arvan)
The following guest post* is by Marcus Arvan (Tampa). Marcus runs The Philosophers’ Cocoon, a helpful blog aimed at early-career philosophers. Last week saw the posting of a report on philosophers’ citation practices by Kieran Healy. Marcus has written on this topic a few times over the years at The Philosophers’ Cocoon (the latest is here), and so I asked him if he..
Philosophers Threatened for Objecting to Talk by Holocaust Denier
Philosophers at St. Olaf College and Carleton College objected when a local pub, The Contented Cow, scheduled conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier Jim Fetzer to give one four in a series of “CowTalks” on assorted political issues. Alan Rubenstein (Carleton) withdrew from a debate with Fetzer (see update) at the Cow, and St. Olaf professors Gordon Marino, Danny M..