The latest links…

1. “In a mob, we voice the same conclusions because we defer to others or because we ape them… In a public conversation, we correct and challenge each other, so it is no stroke of fortuity when we find ourselves in accord” — Anastasia Berg (Hebrew) & Becca Rothfeld (Harvard) distingush two forms of collective speech
2. “Socrates,” the dream said, “make music and work at it” — Jenny Judge (NYU) shared this quote from the Phaedo. She’s a philosopher making music (check out her “Block of Amber“). Who else among you is?
3. “Something to push against, something to argue with, and even if you disagree with it, engaging with it helps to make your thinking about matters of justice richer” — Martin O’Neill (York), Fabienne Peter (Warwick), and Jonathan Wolff (Oxford) on the ideas of John Rawls & his critics on the BBC’s “In Our Time”
4. “The kind of philosophy I love is the kind of philosophy that embraces ambivalence and contradiction” — Amia Srinivasan (Oxford) in conversation with artist Paul Chan
5. Soldier, whistle-blower, philosopher, sufferer of mental illness, and “a journey, all the way to the grave, that didn’t need to be” — the (ongoing) story of the late Ian Fishback
6. The methods & questions of philosophy “change under the influence of many forces, among them answers given by philosophers of an earlier age, the prevailing moral, religious and social beliefs of the period, the state of scientific knowledge…” — an appreciation of Isaiah Berlin’s history of philosophy, from Dan Little (UM-Dearborn)
7. 700-year-old handwritten copy of Maimonides’ “Guide of the Perplexed” is going up for auction — bidding starts at $129,250

Discussion welcome.

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. Thanks!