July 2016

Monthly Archives:

Philosophy: Splendidly Polyphonic, Historically Limited, Problematically Magical

In the latest interview at What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher?, Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina) asks Kwame Anthony Appiah (NYU) how he sees the future of philosophy. Appiah answers:

I’m not much of a prophet and I feel very stuck in the present of the subject, which strikes me as splendidly more polyphonic than it was when I started out. (more…)

The Enduring Evolution of Logic (guest post by Thomas Ferguson & Graham Priest)

The following guest post * is by Thomas Ferguson and Graham Priest (both of CUNY) and appears here via a special arrangement with Oxford University Press and the OUP Blog, at which it is also posted. (more…)

Police Shootings of Blacks in the U.S.; What Can Philosophers Do or Say in Response?

News from the past week:

Site Layout Issues

Yesterday morning, some changes were made to the layout here at Daily Nous (most visibly, some of the advertising slots were moved around). Some people have reported that the site now looks “different” or “avant garde” or “completely screwed up.” Here’s how it should look (on a normal-sized laptop):

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Referees With Attitude Problems

Everyone involved in the academic journal publishing process, it seems, is overworked. It’s true of the editors, of course, but also of the referees who say yes. And when people are overworked, they often become especially concerned with how their time is used up, by themselves and others, and frustrated when they feel their time is wasted. (more…)

The Costs of Publishing Principia Mathematica (guest post by Landon D. C. Elkind)

The following is a guest post * by Landon D. C. Elkind, a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Iowa. At the Bertrand Russell Society‘s 2016 annual meeting it was noted that Russell and Whitehead each paid to publish their jointly authored Principia Mathematica, and the discussion turned to how much, in today’s dollars, they laid out. (more…)

The “Grad School Takeover”

Even in four-year colleges that emphasize undergraduate education, new appointments are going to top graduates from a mere handful of prestigious doctoral programs that emphasize research and professional advancement over teaching. The academic job market and tenure expectations focus ever more intently on publications, whether in book or journal form, that tend to ..

Philosophy on Instagram

A philosopher who wishes to remain anonymous thinks philosophy needs more of a social media presence, and so created a philosophy-related Instagram account. She writes:

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Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)

Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler

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The Biggest Problems Facing Science — How Different is Philosophy?

A few reporters at Vox conducted an unscientific survey of scientists to unpack the sense they’ve been getting that “science is in big trouble.” The result is a list of the seven biggest problems facing science, based on responses from 270 scientists. (more…)

Allegations of Ideological Policing via Refereeing

The refereeing of academic papers in philosophy has its share of problems. Is one of them ideological policing? That is an allegation made by Dan Demetriou (University of Minnesota, Morris) in regards to an article he co-authored with a student, Michael Prideaux. (more…)

“Free Range Philosophers”: A New Site

Free Range Philosophers is a new website about and for “people with advanced training in philosophy who are either working outside of traditional academic jobs or engaged in philosophical outreach or other philosophical activities outside of the academic classroom.” (more…)

Australasian Association of Philosophy Awards

The Australasian Association of Philosophy (AAP) has announced the winners of several of its 2016 awards. The list of prizes and winners is below. But first, notice that the AAP issues an award to non-philosophers: its Media Professionals’ Award. (more…)

Univ. of Minnesota Philosophy Receives $1.23 Million Donation

The Department of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota has received a $1.23 million donation from Stephen Setterberg. Dr. Setterberg is the president of PrairieCare, a mental health provider. He also majored in philosophy as an undergraduate at Minnesota before going to medical school there. (more…)

What, if anything, should philosophers do on Twitter? The Blog of the APA has an interesting interview with longtime Twitterphile Kelly Truelove (@TrueSciPhi), who, among other things, keeps statistics on philosophers and their followers on Twitter, and he addresses this question. (more…)

Academic Purges In Turkey

The government of Turkey appears to be using the recent attempted coup as an excuse to purge universities of opposition. According to recent reports, the licenses of approximately 21,000 teachers have been revoked, nearly 1,600 deans have been ordered to resign. Additionally, the government has banned academics from travelling abroad. (more…)

Philosopher Becomes Romania’s Minister of Education

Mircea Dumitru, until recently dean (which in the Romanian context is a title more akin to university president, I’m informed) and professor of philosophy at the University of Bucharest, has been appointed the Minister of Education of Romania by the country’s Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos. (more…)