Latest additions to the Heap of Links…

Discussion welcome.

1. “If Israel’s actions… are threatening the foundations of social, political, cultural, and physical life for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, ‘genocide’ may be the appropriate term to describe the moral significance and scale of the harm caused by Israel’s attacks” — an argument from Jessica Wolfendale (Case Western)
2. “For me, philosophy is part of a toolkit for understanding the world. I started life as a scientist and so that’s still probably how I first approach understanding… But I think philosophy has an important contribution in providing methods for clarifying concepts, setting out clear frameworks, identifying background assumptions, and synthesising work across disciplines” — an interview with philosopher (and former zookeeper) Heather Browning (Southampton)
3. “Judd, a junior philosophy professor, was called in by the University’s president and told to clear out his office at the end of the term. He did, and spent his working life managing a junkyard. He did not see the ‘evidence’ against him until fifty years later” — John McCumber (UCLA) on how politics influenced 20th C. philosophy, and the challenges of making that case. Part 2 here.
4. “If I click at a surface, it answers back. It’s like asking a question” — What is it like to be a blind person who uses echolocation (and who has taught it to thousands of students)?
5. “Generative AI writing tools have some benefits. I like being able to understand what more of my students have to say… But…” — Jeffrey Watson (ASU) on teaching philosophy in a ChatGPT world
6. Questions about philosophical method and expertise (especially across specializations) are interesting in themselves, but also because they’re relevant to practical decisions philosophers make, like whom to hire — after reading this post by Eric Schliesser (Amsterdam), hit the “previous” button and check out that one, too
7. “We’re often incoherent through inattention to our mental states” but we try “to make them coherent when they’re brought to our attention” — which, says Alex Worsnip (UNC), “suggests that there is a kind of rationality… that we at least tend to approximate”

Mini-Heap posts usually appear when 7 or so new items accumulate in the Heap of Links, a collection of items from around the web that may be of interest to philosophers.

The Heap of Links consists partly of suggestions from readers; if you find something online that you think would be of interest to the philosophical community, please send it in for consideration for the Heap. Thank you.