Mini-Heap

New links…

Discussion welcome.

1. “We can’t put scientific statements to the test without dragging metaphysical statements along with them. But there’s a flipside to the story: It means that metaphysics is testable.” — it doesn’t mean that, but nonetheless this piece on science, philosophy, and “experimental metaphysics” is interesting
2. “I funded a qualitative study of undergraduate moral development at my institution and found that undergraduates felt that they were lacking opportunities to grow in their relationships reflectively” — so Jeremy Bendik-Keymer created a course, “Good Relationships”
3. “The disparity between the views of academics and those of the legislators who ultimately fund them is a major problem for US higher education” — But what explains that disparity? “This is ultimately a reflection of the fact that conservatism, in the form it currently takes in the US, involves rejection of the intellectual values of a university” says John Quiggin
4. “Ecosystems are dynamic and have always changed over time as organisms move around” — Avram Hiller (Portland State), Jay Odenbaugh (Lewis & Clark), and Yasha Rohwer (Oregon Tech) on the government’s attempt to pick “ecological winners and losers”
5. “Negative emotions are the victims of what I call the emotion double standard” — Krista K. Thomason (Swarthmore) explains
6. How should you allocate philanthropic resources in the face of moral uncertainty? — try out a new tool from Rethink Priorities that lets you select projects to evaluate, normative moral theories by which to evaluate them, and strategies for proceeding in the face of normative disagreement
7. “I don’t think the fact that incongruity is cheap—that we locate it so readily, even in its seeming absence—undermines the point or plausibility of treating it as a condition of humour” — Kieran Setiya (MIT) on what makes something funny

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.

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