Right Answers And What Makes For A Good Philosopher
Just going to put this on the table:
Question: You work in the field of the philosophy of religion. Are you a religious person and do you think philosophy of religion can be done by people who aren’t?
Answer: Let me take your questions in order. I am a Christian; I was brought up in a Christian family; and I’ve never really wavered from that worldview. I defin..
What Does “Engaged” Philosophy Look Like? (Guest Post)
The following is a guest post* by Ben Baker, Louise Daoust, and Rob Willison (University of Pennsylvania) on a recent attempt at publicly engaged philosophy at the University Pennsylvania—one that others might be interested in trying out elsewhere.
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) and Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR). There was nothing new at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy nor any new videos at Wi-Phi this week, but there’s a bonus entry below. (more…)
Jennifer Nagel To Do an AMA Session on Reddit Today
There will be an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session on Reddit today with Jennifer Nagel (Toronto). The session begins at 1pm Eastern Time (US), and you can submit a question ahead of time, check out the other questions, and then follow the discussion this afternoon, here.
The AMA is presented jointly between the moderators of the philosophy subReddit and the folks a..
The Philosophers of Germany’s Anti-Islam Political Movement
“Alternative for Germany” (AfD) is a German political party, gaining in popularity, which supports “the idea of banning mosques” and has an official who has declared that “it may be necessary to shoot at migrants trying to enter the country illegally.” AfD has supported, and been supported by, a political movement known as “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamizati..
Scharp and Kerr from Ohio State to St. Andrews
Kevin Scharp, currently professor of philosophy at The Ohio State University, has accepted a position as Reader at the University of St. Andrews, starting in September, 2016. Professor Scharp works in logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophy of science, and the history of analytic philosophy. He will be taking up a leadership role at Arché, the researc..
Philosophy Placement Data and Analysis: An Update (guest post by Carolyn Dicey Jennings)
The following is a guest post* by Carolyn Dicey Jennings (UC Merced), who has led a team of academics in producing and organizing a trove of data related to the graduation and placement records of English-language philosophy Ph.D. programs (previously). The team just published an update to its 2015 report, “Academic Placement Data and Analysis” (APDA). Among other ..
Philosopher Faces Blasphemy Charges (updated)
Philosophy professor Sheikha al-Jassem (Shaikha Binjasim) is facing charges of blasphemy and the possible loss of her faculty position at Kuwait University, owing to remarks she made in a television interview about freedom of conscience, the politicization of religion in Kuwait, and how the Kuwaiti constitution, not the Quran, is and should be the basis of law in Ku..
What Was The Real Target of the Latest Academic Hoax?
Recently a pair of philosophers, Philippe Huneman (CNRS / Paris I Sorbonne) and Anouk Barberousse (CNRS / University of Lille), writing under a pseudonym, submitted a nonsense article to the journal, Badiou Studies, which accepted and published it (see this account, which I put in the Heap of Links last week).
The ostensible target of the hoax is Alain Badiou and..
Grad Programs, Don’t Jump the Gun
I’ve been asked to remind folks that graduate programs are not supposed to be asking their prospective students to respond to admissions and financial support offers before April 15th. There are reports of at least one violation of this practice.
Recall that the practice is the product of a resolution by the Council of Graduate Studies. The resolution includes th..
How To Tell People You’re Leaving Academia (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment! Today’s letter is from a philosopher who’s decided to leave the profession after several years of trying to get a tenure-track job, and is wondering how to break the news to academic friends and mentors:
Dear Louie,
After spending several years in NTT positions and failing yet again to get a TT job, I have decided to leave aca..
Ingrid Stadler (1931-2016)
Ingrid Stadler, Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Wellesley College, died this past March 18th. Professor Stadler worked mainly in aesthetics, and taught at Wellesley from 1958 until her retirement in 2000. Prior to Wellesley, she taught at Harvard. She also lectured at MIT, Boston Architectural College, Holy Cross, Wheaton, and Vassar. Professor Stadler was a nati..
Improving Journal – Author Communication
A philosopher who prefers to remain anonymous recently wrote in with some complaints about a journal. Among them:
The editor and editorial staff have been for at least the last three months, and continue to be, completely unavailable via both email and the submissions manager.
In this particular case, the problem began to be resolved when I passed along the co..
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
APA Op-Ed Contest Nominations Due Soon
The American Philosophical Association (APA) holds an annual contest for the best editorial or opinion pieces published by philosophers:
The goal is to honor five standout pieces that successfully blend philosophical argumentation with an op-ed writing style. Winning submissions will call public attention, either directly or indirectly, to the value of philosoph..
A Philosopher’s “Brain Music”
Dan Lloyd, Brownell Professor of Philosophy at Trinity College, thinks that “brain dynamics resemble the dynamics of music” and that “tools from cognitive musicology may therefore be useful in characterizing the brain as a dynamical system.” (more…)
Dasgupta from Princeton to Berkeley
Shamik Dasgupta, currently associate professor of philosophy at Princeton University, will become associate professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley, starting this fall. Dasgupta works mainly in metaphysics and philosophy of science. You can learn more about his work at his website.
What Is Going On At Dickinson College? (updated)
Crispin Sartwell, who up until recently was associate professor of philosophy at Dickinson College, says: “i have been officially terminated by dickinson college, as of march 31, without appeals process or compensation.” Dickinson College Provost Neil Weissman says that Sartwell’s “characterization of events, including his claim that the college terminated his emplo..
That Paper… Again?
A philosopher who prefers to remain anonymous writes in with a good question:
How often can one present a paper in progress before one is simply presenting “old work”?
When I get invited to give a talk or present at a workshop, I often will use the same 1 or 2 papers 3-4 times within the space of a year or so. These are usually papers I’m working on and I wa..
Strong Showing By Philosophers in New CASBS Class
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at (CASBS) Stanford University was founded in 1954 as an interdisciplinary research institute with a mission of “advancing human welfare” and creating “knowledge for the maximum benefit of individuals and society.” Each year the center invites a number of fellows to take up residence at Stanford and join in a ..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Below are the past week’s updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) and Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR). There were no new entries at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy nor any new videos at Wi-Phi this week, but there’s a bonus entry below. (more…)
New Essay Prize in Honor of Jonathan Trejo-Mathys
Jonathan Trejo-Mathys was an assistant professor at Boston College when he died in November of 2014. Now, the Global Justice Network has created an essay prize ($1000.00 USD) in his honor, sponsored by the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College:
The editors of Global Justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric invite submissions of unpu..
First Alain Locke Award for Public Philosophy Awarded to Andrew Light
Interview with Janice Dowell
Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina) continues his series of interviews of philosophers at What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher? with Janice Dowell of Syracuse University. In it she discusses her childhood (she worked as a janitor for a Princeton eating club), how she ended up going into philosophy (“almost entirely by accident”), her career at various institutions, her..
Negotiating a Graduate Admissions Offer
A prospective graduate student in philosophy writes in asking for advice on “how to negotiate more money from the Ph.D. programs to which I’ve been admitted.” The student adds: “I haven’t found many tips on the internet that are specific to philosophy. I’d be really curious to hear what some admissions directors and other faculty have to say about what works and wha..
Your Discipline Versus Your University?
An increasing number of academics simply adopt what Albert Hirschmann would call an “exit” strategy—they care more for their discipline or, more to the point, their research network than the university that employs their labour and affirms their status.
So says sociologist Steve Fuller (Warwick) in a brief interview published at Social Epistemology Review and R..
Four Philosophers Win Guggenheim Fellowships
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation recently announced the winners of its United States and Canada fellowship competition, and included among the 178 awardees are four philosophers: (more…)
Should Philosophers Train Graduate Students to Teach? How? (Guest Post by David W. Concepción)
The following is a guest post* by David W. Concepción, professor of philosophy at Ball State University, which summarizes some of the findings presented in “The State of Teacher Training in Philosophy” (Teaching Philosophy 2016), a systematic look at the training in teaching graduate students in philosophy get (alternative link). In the paper, authors Concepción, Me..