April 2016
How To Tell People You’re Leaving Academia (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment! Today’s letter is from a philosopher who’s decided to leave the profession after several years of trying to get a tenure-track job, and is wondering how to break the news to academic friends and mentors:
Dear Louie,
After spending several years in NTT positions and failing yet again to get a TT job, I have decided to leave aca..
How To Put Yourself Out There: Media Advice For Academics (Guest Post by Kevin J.S. Zollman)
The following is a guest post* by Kevin J.S. Zollman, associate professor of philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. He has had a bit more experience than the average philosopher with popular media, and he kindly offered to present some advice to help philosophers and other academics get the attention of, and successfully communicate with, journalists. (more…)..
Strong Showing By Philosophers in New CASBS Class
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at (CASBS) Stanford University was founded in 1954 as an interdisciplinary research institute with a mission of “advancing human welfare” and creating “knowledge for the maximum benefit of individuals and society.” Each year the center invites a number of fellows to take up residence at Stanford and join in a ..
Four Philosophers Win Guggenheim Fellowships
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation recently announced the winners of its United States and Canada fellowship competition, and included among the 178 awardees are four philosophers: (more…)
New Philosophy Journal Aims to Publish “Creative Philosophical Work”
S.Ph. Essays and Explorations is a new, open-access biannual journal seeking to publish “creative philosophical work” in “the neglected middle-ground between the cultural-literary essay and the traditional academic article.” It is the project of S.Ph. Press, which
intends to provide a platform for philosophically imaginative works of nonfiction and fiction, writt..
The Personality of Philosophy Majors
Psychologist Anna Vedel (Aarhus University) writes: “The choice of education is perhaps the first highly important decision that young people have to make for themselves in the developed world. Each education paves the way for certain vocational paths, and the choice has a lasting impact on the young adult’s life.” It might be useful, then, to see what we can learn ..
Jennifer Nagel To Do an AMA Session on Reddit Today
There will be an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session on Reddit today with Jennifer Nagel (Toronto). The session begins at 1pm Eastern Time (US), and you can submit a question ahead of time, check out the other questions, and then follow the discussion this afternoon, here.
The AMA is presented jointly between the moderators of the philosophy subReddit and the folks a..
Public Philosophy Award Update
As reported in December, the Marc Sanders Foundation, which offers several philosophy essay prizes, has created a new award for public philosophy. Barry Maguire (UNC), who has played a large role in creating this prize and in other public philosophy initiatives, informs me that submissions for the award are now welcome, and has more details at his site, including:
..
Ingrid Stadler (1931-2016)
Ingrid Stadler, Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Wellesley College, died this past March 18th. Professor Stadler worked mainly in aesthetics, and taught at Wellesley from 1958 until her retirement in 2000. Prior to Wellesley, she taught at Harvard. She also lectured at MIT, Boston Architectural College, Holy Cross, Wheaton, and Vassar. Professor Stadler was a nati..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) and Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR). There were no new entries at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy nor any new videos at Wi-Phi this week, but there’s a bonus entry below. (more…)
Should Philosophers Train Graduate Students to Teach? How? (Guest Post by David W. Concepción)
The following is a guest post* by David W. Concepción, professor of philosophy at Ball State University, which summarizes some of the findings presented in “The State of Teacher Training in Philosophy” (Teaching Philosophy 2016), a systematic look at the training in teaching graduate students in philosophy get (alternative link). In the paper, authors Concepción, Me..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), the Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
Philosophy Degrees: How Many Are Awarded, And To Whom?
Humanities Indicators, a project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has released new degree-specific data on various humanities subjects, including philosophy. Here are some of the findings. All data and images below are from the Humanities Indicators site. (more…)
João Paulo Monteiro (1938-2016)
João Paulo Monteiro, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of São Paulo (USP), died on April 17th, 2016. He taught at USP for roughly 30 years. He worked in epistemology and political philosophy, but his focus was primarily on David Hume (he was a charter member of the Hume Society). (more…)
Individuals, Institutions, and Racial Justice
I think that rights-based discourse is necessary, but there is this sense in which rights can be given and, by implication, taken away. Within this context, I think that America needs a movement that transcends the civil rights movement. Applicative justice might be necessary, but not sufficient. Imagine a scenario where justice is being applied across the board, an..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) and Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR). There was nothing new at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy nor any new videos at Wi-Phi this week, but there’s a bonus entry below. (more…)
Improving Journal – Author Communication
A philosopher who prefers to remain anonymous recently wrote in with some complaints about a journal. Among them:
The editor and editorial staff have been for at least the last three months, and continue to be, completely unavailable via both email and the submissions manager.
In this particular case, the problem began to be resolved when I passed along the co..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi Open Access Philosophy Videos. (We hope to add the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy back into the mix, too, in future weeks. If you have suggestions for other sites you’d like to see included in this weekly update, please say so ..
Keeping Philosophical between Undergrad and Grad
A reader writes in:
I am planning on applying to graduate school in philosophy for 2017. However, I graduated from my undergraduate institution a few years ago and have been doing non-philosophy things since. I’m looking for opportunities to get (re)involved in philosophy, but pretty much everything I’ve found (institutes, journals, etc.) is either for current un..
New Essay Prize in Honor of Jonathan Trejo-Mathys
Jonathan Trejo-Mathys was an assistant professor at Boston College when he died in November of 2014. Now, the Global Justice Network has created an essay prize ($1000.00 USD) in his honor, sponsored by the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College:
The editors of Global Justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric invite submissions of unpu..
The Philosophical Art Of Bringing The Dead Back To Life
When I look back at the projects I pursued during my career, a certain pattern becomes evident. In several cases I was drawn to an idea, or a theory, that had been declared dead. In each case, when I looked at the death certificate, it seemed to me that the victim deserved to be resuscitated. I devoted myself to this project of bringing the dead back to life.
..
What Does “Engaged” Philosophy Look Like? (Guest Post)
The following is a guest post* by Ben Baker, Louise Daoust, and Rob Willison (University of Pennsylvania) on a recent attempt at publicly engaged philosophy at the University Pennsylvania—one that others might be interested in trying out elsewhere.
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
Philosophy Professor Sues College for Retaliation (updated)
Lauren Barthold, associate professor of philosophy at Gordon College, a Christian liberal arts college in Massachusetts, has filed a lawsuit against the college for retaliating against her for her public statements (such as a letter to the editor of a newspaper) disagreeing with college president Michael Lindsay over whether federal contractors, on the basis of reli..
First Alain Locke Award for Public Philosophy Awarded to Andrew Light
Continuous Publication Model for Journals — Input Sought
I am going to be taking the helm of a journal in 2017 and the publisher wants my editorial team to consider moving to the continuous publication model pioneered by the Royal Society Journals. On this mode..
Is Polite Philosophical Discussion Possible? (guest post by Nomy Arpaly)
The following is a guest post* by Nomy Arpaly, professor of philosophy at Brown University. In it, she discusses the effects of politeness and rudeness in philosophy. It was initially posted at PEA Soup.
Is Polite Philosophical Discussion Possible?
Nomy Arpaly
I’ll never forget the old guy who asked me, at an APA interview: “suppose I wanted to slap you, ..
€1.2 Million for Research on the Metaphysics of Pregnancy
Elselijn Kingma, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Southampton, has been awarded a 1.2 million Euro (approximately $1.35 million) European Research Council (ERC) Research Grant for her work on the metaphysics of pregnancy.
Kingma explains: “Every single human is the product of a pregnancy: an approximately nine-month period during which a foe..