January 2017
APA Issues Statement On Trump’s Immigration Order
The Board of Officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) has unanimously approved and posted a statement on Donald Trump’s January 27th executive order on immigration. (more…)
A Philosopher’s Key To Grading Papers Quickly
Nick Byrd, a philosophy PhD student at Florida State University, has created a shorthand that he uses for commenting on his students’ papers. He describes it as having the virtues of the “grading shortcuts” method advocated by Rebecca Schuman and the more extensive approach advocated by Marcus Arvan. (more…)
Trump Is A Non-Partisan Problem
Yesterday, Donald Trump commanded:
whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.
I predict that applied mereology will be the hot area to hire in philosophy next year. (more…)
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
On Reporting Green-Card Marriages
The latest edition of “The Ethicist,” the The New York Times‘ moral advice column (published last Wednesday), takes as its topic sham green-card marriages. The advice seeker asks current Times ethicist, Kwame Anthony Appiah (NYU), whether she should report that at a wedding of an acquaintance, the bride explained to her that the marriage “was a fraud, one she’d ent..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the weekly report of what’s new at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
Trump’s Immigration Order (Updated)
NOTE (added 1/30/17): Please use the comments option here to share (a) relevant links, (b) accounts of those affected, (c) relevant updates about events and activities planned, (d) ideas about what to do, and the like. Thank you.
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At the time of this post, over 4,700 academics have signed a petition opposing Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. Yo..
Inaugural Winner of the Sanders Public Philosophy Prize
Martin Smith (Edinburgh) is the inaugural winner of the Public Philosophy Prize from the Marc Sanders Foundation for his paper “Why Throwing 92 Heads in a Row is Not Surprising.” The prize is publication of the essay in Philosophers’ Imprint and $4,500. (more…)
Logical Fallacies Through Funny Videos
There are online lists of logical fallacies , websites dedicated to explaining them, posters, children’s books, various videos, and, of course, memes. That many of the examples used to illustrate fallacies are humorous is no accident, as a lot of humor involves both upsetting expectations (e.g., saying something that deviates from what we think follows from what’s a..
Discussing Politics in the Classroom
Tempted to talk politics in the classroom? It may behoove you to take a look at “Frequently Asked Questions for Faculty in the Wake of the 2016 Election,” a document put together by American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (more…)
Journal of the History of Philosophy’s Best Article Pick Is on Conscience and Toleration
The board of directors of the Journal of the History of Philosophy have announced their selection of the journal’s best article in the previous year (Volume 54). The winning article is “The Coherence of Bayle’s Theory of Toleration” by Jean-Luc Solère of Boston College. (more…)
New Relativism Blog
There’s a new eponymous blog from the philosophers associated with the Emergence of Relativism research program. The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC), led by Martin Kusch, and is based at the University of Vienna. (more…)
Traits of Deontologists and Consequentialists: Appearance and Reality
People who hold deontological moral views appear to others to be more “pro-social,” but actually aren’t, according to a new study. The study, entitled “Are Kantians Better Social Partners? People Making Deontological Judgments Are Perceived to Be More Prosocial than They Actually Are,” is by Valerio Capraro (Middlesex University, London) and seven others, and is ava..
30 All-Night Philosophy Parties Around The World This Weekend
Thirty French consulates around the world are sponsoring all-night philosophy parties this weekend. The “Night of Ideas” events are free and open to the public, and will feature philosophical discussions and debates, readings, film screenings, musical performances, and more, according to Quartz. (more…)
Virtual Dissertation Writers Groups for Philosophy PhD Students
Once again, Joshua Smart, a graduate student at the University of Missouri and instructor at Christopher Newport University, is organizing virtual dissertation writers groups for philosophy PhD students. (more…)
Philosophy of Science Summer Program for Underrepresented Groups
The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh will be hosting a summer program in philosophy of science for undergraduate students from underrepresented groups this July. (more…)
To φ Or Not To φ (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
To φ Or Not To φ
by Tanya Kostochka
How Journal Capture Led to the Dominance of Analytic Philosophy in the U.S.
How is it that analytic philosophy came to be the dominant philosophical style in the 20th Century in the United States? From inside the practice, the answer seems to be, “because it is a particularly good way of doing philosophy.” But “that it seemed good to them at the time” is not much of an historical explanation. For any other historical development, we’d want ..
Which Sciences Can Help Answer Philosophical Questions?
Can science help us answer philosophical questions? Hanoch Ben-Yami, professor of philosophy at Central European University (CEU), in an interview at 3:AM Magazine, suggests that the question is too broad. The answers are different for different scientific inquiries. (more…)
Net Return On Philosophy Major Is Comparable To That Of Engineering Major
A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), “The Costs and Net Returns to College Major,” finds that offering a philosophy major may be as good an investment of educational dollars as offering engineering and health majors. (more…)
Profiles of Non-Academics with Philosophy Degrees
Most of the students in our undergraduate philosophy course, even most of philosophy majors, and quite a number of those with graduate degrees in philosophy—do not become professors of philosophy. What do they do with their degrees? Who can we point out to our current students as examples of those who make use of what they’ve learned studying philosophy outside of..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the weekly report of what’s new at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
Philosophy For Inauguration Day
What passages of philosophy are worth thinking about today, January 20th, the day that Donald Trump is to be sworn-in as president of the United States of America? I imagine that there will be a diversity of suggestions. (more…)
Hiring Departments: Try This New Free Recommendations Service
MARGY (Managing Academic Recommendations Gratis Yay), the free service for emailing confidential letters of recommendation developed by philosophers David Faraci (Georgetown) and Graham Leach-Krouse (Kansas State), previously reported on here, is entering its second phase of beta testing. The team is inviting hiring departments to participate in the testing, and inv..
Philosophy Syllabus As Infographic
“It’s in the syllabus,” we tell our students—so often there should be a t-shirt. Oh wait, there is. But perhaps we could make that information easier to spot? ChiaHua Lin, a PhD student in philosophy at the University of South Carolina, tries to do so by creating infographic supplements to her course syllabi. They highlight some of the important information about ..
Haslanger Issues Diversity Fund Challenge
Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women’s & Gender Studies at MIT and former President of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association (APA) has issues a challenge to fellow philosophers in a public post on Facebook. Here’s an excerpt: (more…)
Ben Caplan from Ohio State to University of Kansas
Ben Caplan, currently professor of philosophy at Ohio State University, will become professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas, starting in Fall 2017. Professor Caplan works mainly in metaphysics and philosophy of language, and also has interests in philosophy of art and the metaphysics of gender. You can learn more about his work here. (more…)
Nussbaum Receives The “Highest Honor” Federal Gov’t Bestows for Humanities
Martha Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, will be delivering the 2017 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. The Jefferson Lecture is a program of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and is “the highest honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in ..