Mini-Heap

Here’s another Mini-Heap of philosophy-related links for your consideration.

1. “So much ingenuity wasted” — Stephen Yablo (MIT) discusses the problems of philosophy, and the philosophical problems he has worked on
2. The racial politics of philosophy–African and Western–in South Africa — includes remarks from African grad students and their white professors, including David Benatar and Thaddeus Metz
3. “Being hyper-alert to whether one is being philosophical enough can prevent one from yielding to the creative process that is required for doing philosophy” — Subrena Smith (New Hampshire) on questions about what makes for a good philosophy paper
4. “I just thought of a bad opinion someone could have, and now I’m searching to see if anyone does” — philosophy research or unhealthy internet tendency?
5. Philosophy professor who was charged with possession of child pornography this past February has been convicted and sentenced — Scott Lowe will serve 1-2 years in prison and pay a fine
6. Sarah Silverman talks with Socrates (Will Ferrell) about democracy — and panini. (some NSFW language)
7. “Even as I argued and swore… I could see that this wasn’t a productive way to engage. That people were getting more angry. More hurt. More frustrated.” — Tracy Isaacs (Western) on the lure and limits of calls for kindness
8. What’s going on at the Blog of the APA? — new editors are joining the team, for one thing
9. Are boring talks that seem to go on forever really longer than non-boring ones? — Yep (via Matt McAdam)
10. The largest statue of Confucius has just been unveiled — it’s 236 feet tall