June 2016
Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik
Big Philo and Distortions in the Philosophical Research Agenda
In a post at Digressions & Impressions, Eric Schliesser (Amsterdam), discusses the influence of big money on academic research, with a focus on “displacement effects.”
The contestation of ideas is costly in time and effort. This matters because time and effort are scarce resources. All other things being equal, it follows that if some ideas X are being discussed/..
Winners of the APA’s Routledge, Taylor & Francis Prize
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of the 2016 Routledge, Taylor & Francis Prize. The prize was created in 2013 and is funded by Routledge, which is part of the Taylor & Francis publishing group. The prize is awarded for the two best published articles in philosophy written by adjunct professors. The 2016 winners are: (more…)..
Intelligence and the Cultures of Philosophy and Psychology
Josh Knobe holds appointments in Yale’s Department of Philosophy and its Cognitive Science program. He has an office in the Psychology Department there and he works with both philosophy and psychology students. In a recent interview, he remarks on the cultural differences between the disciplines of philosophy and psychology:
It has been fascinating to experience ..
Recent APA Election Winners
The American Philosophical Association (APA) reports the results of its elections over the past few months in a post at its blog. All newly elected members will serve three-year terms beginning on July 1st. They are: (more…)
Western Illinois As Warning
Inside Higher Ed has an article following up on the recent news of the elimination of the philosophy major at Western Illinois University (WIU). As we previously reported, the committee charged with reviewing programs (APER) did not recommend the closure of the philosophy department. And while Illinois has a reporting requirement for programs with low enrollments at..
Western Illinois University Loses Its Philosophy Major
The Board of Trustees of Western Illinois University (WIU), following up on its previously announced plans, ignored substantial opposition and voted unanimously this past Friday to eliminate its school’s philosophy major (along with majors in African-American studies, religious studies, and women’s studies).
Western’s interim provost and academic vice president, ..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
“The Counterfactuals” Review & Giveaway
The new, self-titled album by The Counterfactuals, a rock band that is 3/4 philosophers, has just been released. Below is a review of it by Michael Crawford, and below that is the opportunity to win some band merch.
Eleven Philosophers Win ACLS Fellowships
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has announced the winners of its current fellowship competition. There are eleven twelve philosophers among the winners: (more…)
Duties to Graduate Students Pursuing Non-Academic Careers (guest post by Torsten Menge)
The following is a guest post by Torsten Menge, a recent philosophy PhD from Georgetown who currently works for Connected Academics, a national Mellon-funded project by the Modern Language Association (MLA) aimed at preparing humanities doctoral students for non-academic careers. (more…)
Morton White (1917-2016)
Morton White, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, died on May 27th. Over the course of his career he taught philosophy at City College of New York, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. (more…)
Other Two-Body Problems (guest post by Carol Hay & John Kaag)
The following is a guest post* by a couple of philosophers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell—Carol Hay, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Gender Studies, and John Kaag, Professor of Philosophy—on being a couple of philosophers: not just in the same discipline, but in the same department. (more…)
Good News for Philosophy at Wyoming
Last month, the philosophy program at the University of Wyoming was slated to be eliminated, owing to a budget crisis. Now—good news—the elimination itself has been slated for elimination. I just received word from the chair of the philosophy department at Wyoming, Franz-Peter Griesmaier. He writes:
There are positive new developments for philosophy at the Un..
New Funding Source for Public Philosophy Projects
PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization) is a national network devoted to promoting pre-college philosophy education. It just created the PLATO Philosophy Fund (PPF), “which will provide funding for a wide range of innovative philosophy programs with the aim of broadening philosophy’s reach,” according to a post by PLATO founding president and PPF chair..
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler (more…)
2,000 Spaces for 10,000 Papers: Why Everything Gets Rejected & Referees Are Exhausted (guest post by Neil Sinhababu)
The following is a guest post* by Neil Sinhababu, Associate Professor of Philosophy at National University of Singapore. It concerns a publication crisis: how the number of new journal submissions outstrips the number of places to publish all of them, creating a backlog.
Data on Philosophy Jobs Advertised Recently
Two sources of information appear to present slightly different figures regarding the number of job openings advertised in philosophy through the American Philosophical Association (APA) and PhilJobs—that is, through PhilJobs: Jobs for Philosophers—in recent years. (See update)
According to data presented by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (via Robert..
Our Duties to Actual and Possible Graduate Students (guest post by Sergio Tenenbaum)
The following is a guest post* by Sergio Tenenbaum, Professor of Philosophy at University of Toronto, on what philosophy departments owe graduate students in light of how difficult it is for them to find secure employment in philosophy.
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi.
This Week at Daily Nous
This week Daily Nous will be publishing a number of guest posts. I’m at a conference and will have considerably less time to attend to the site and to philosophy news. Feel free to keep me informed about what’s going on, but please note that posts and replies to emails will be slower to appear. (more…)
Summer Reading: Your Non-Fiction Suggestions
The other day we solicited summer reading suggestions in fiction. Fiction! Who has time for that? If we are going to be reading something this summer that isn’t philosophy, we better learn something about the real world from it. So, readers, which works of non-philosophy non-fiction do you recommend your philosofriends read this summer? (more…)
Prestige Bias in Philosophy
In this paper, I argue that prestige bias is both the first and the final hurdle to make academic philosophy more inclusive…. Prestige bias is a first hurdle to diversity, because countering it provides a wide-reaching way to make philosophy more diverse even if we did not increase our efforts to increase diversity specifically. By actively working against presti..
Intuitive Bedrock and the Philosophical Enterprise (guest post by Dale Dorsey)
The following guest post* is by Dale Dorsey (Kansas) and appears here via a special arrangement with Oxford University Press and the OUP Blog, at which it is also posted.
Intuitive Bedrock and the Philosophical Enterprise
by Dale Dorsey
Imagine a person who spends their entire life sitting on the couch watching and rewatching Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. He..
Three Recent Plugs For Philosophy’s Practical Value
In the span of a day or so at least three paeans to the practical value of studying philosophy have appeared online, at… (more…)
Blasphemy Charges Against Philosopher Dismissed
In April, philosophy professor Sheikha al-Jassem (Kuwait University) was charged with blasphemy after a television interview in which she discussed freedom of religion and the importance of a secular basis for law in Kuwait. She has now informed me that she was cleared of all charges. She writes: (more…)
Summer Reading: Your Fiction Suggestions
Ah, summer…. that part of the year in which I like to think I have time to read something besides philosophy. Help me keep the dream alive, philosofriends, and recommend some fiction. If you want to say something about why you’re recommending this or that particular work, be my guest. But you don’t have to. Because it’s summer. (more…)