Tyron Goldschmidt Has Written Nothing To Deserve A Drink
…so make sure you buy him one next time you see him. Goldschmidt, a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University, has just published, in Dialectica, “A Demonstration of the Causal Power of Absences.” I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing the article in whole, below, to save folks who lack institutional access to Dialectica the $38 PDF downl..
Umberto Eco (1932-2016)
Umberto Eco, known to the world as the author of novels such as The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum, has died. Obituaries have appeared in mamy outlets (e.g., New York Times, NPR, The Guardian, The Telegraph). Eco was also an academic, working in philosophy and semiotics. He’s quoted in several articles as saying, “I am a philosopher. I write novels only on..
Is Philosophy Unfriendly?
The latest interview at What Is It Like To Be A Philosopher? is up, and it’s with Dan Haybron (Saint Louis University). There’s a lot of interesting stuff in it, so worth a read. One theme that stuck out was the idea that, though most philosophers are quite nice, there is something “unfriendly” about philosophy. Professor Haybron says of grad school in philosophy:
..
AP Philosophy for High Schools: Input Sought
Don’t Get Overloaded by “Opportunities”
A half-dozen academics have contributed brief essays to a collection at Times Higher Education on how to handle the academic workload and how to appropriately manage their time—especially in regards to accepting or declining various “opportunities.”
Some choice quotes:
“Why don’t you just say no, non-academic friends asked? Because, I explained, when you don..
Philosophy and the Digital Humanities
The above image is a detail from the famous “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch. “Enormously sized, lavishly detailed, and compellingly grotesque,” the work is now available to explore in an “online interactive adventure.” Viewers can take a “15 step” tour of the image, or go their own route, clicking on the flags placed on the image to listen to or..
Funds Available for Public Philosophy Projects
Working on a project in public philosophy? Need some money to help do it? You can apply for funding from the American Philosophical Association’s Berry Fund, administered by the APA’s Committee on Public Philosophy. From a post at the Committee’s blog:
Grants are generally under $1000. Some sample projects that The Berry Fund is supporting:
(1) a philosophy and sc..
How to Talk about the Philosophy Job Market with those on the Market
A philosopher currently on the job market writes in:
I wanted to start a thread/have a place for job market candidates to talk about what is, and is not, helpful for our friends/mentors/professors/colleagues to say around this time of year. The job market is, by all accounts, abominable (and not only for those of us who don’t land jobs—there are different stre..In Defense of Academic Writing
Cass Sunstein, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, defends serious academic writing against the pressures of popularization and accessibility. Articles in popular magazines and blogs “might be clear and beautifully written, but usually they don’t add much if anything to the stock of knowledge,” and “even when they are written by professors, they are often ..
APA Issues Job Market Calendar Guidelines
It used to be that the timing of the job market in philosophy was anchored by the publication schedule of Jobs for Philosophers and the practice of holding first-round interviews at the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA). Now that the ads are posted continuously over the year, and video interviews, which can be scheduled anytime..
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
Previous Daily Nous Comics / More Info about DN Comics / Rachel Katler on Twitter
Canadian Philosophical Association’s Letter on Turkey
The Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA) has written a letter to Turkey’s Council of Higher Education, stating concerns about academic repression in that country. (For more on the situation in Turkey, see previous posts here and here, for example.) The letter contains some eloquent and important remarks on academic freedom.
An excerpt:
We recognize that th..
American Catholic Philosophical Association on Mount St. Mary’s Fiasco
The Executive Committee of the American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA)has issued a statement regarding the ongoing controversy at Mount St. Mary’s University of the recent actions of its president, Simon Newman. After intense pressure and horrible publicity, Newman agreed to reinstate the faculty he had fired, attempting to save face by claiming it was an..
Statement from Professor Naberhaus of Mount St. Mary’s University
Thane Naberhaus, the tenured associate professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University who was one of several recently fired or demoted by the university’s president, Simon Newman, and then, last Friday, reinstated, sent along the following statement Sunday evening:
Having been reinstated as a member of the Mount St. Mary’s faculty, I have decided to retur..
Mount St. Mary Faculty Reinstated / Update: Faculty Ask President To Resign By Monday
This afternoon Mount St. Mary’s University announced that its president, Simon Newman, had agreed to reinstate Thane Naberhaus and Edward Egan, the two faculty members who were fired for “disloyalty” earlier this week, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. CHE also reports on Naberhaus’s response:
But one of those faculty members—Thane M. Naberhaus, ..
APA Statement on Bullying and Harassment (Update: Coverage from IHE)
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has released a statement on bullying and harassment:
The American Philosophical Association appreciates the work of philosophers who bring their philosophical expertise to the public by way of op-ed essays, public forums, teach-ins, and other venues. We see this increased public engagement by philosophers as important ..
Journal Articles for Free
Do you know about Sci-Hub? Simon Oxenham at Big Think explains:
On September 5th, 2011, Alexandra Elbakyan, a researcher from Kazakhstan, created Sci-Hub, a website that bypasses journal paywalls, illegally providing access to nearly every scientific paper ever published immediately to anyone who wants it. The website works in two stages, firstly by attempting to..
Philosopher Won’t Stand Down
Thane Naberhaus, the associate professor of philosophy who earlier this week was fired from his tenured position at Mount St. Mary’s University by current university president Simon Newman of “drown the bunnies” fame, has received a new letter from Newman, informing him that though he has been “suspended” from his duties, he remains on the payroll “during the notice..
Fund Legal Help for Fired Professors
A GoFundMe site has been created to collect donations for Thane Naberhaus and Edward Egan, the two professors recently fired from Mount Saint Mary’s University by the university’s president, Simon Newman. The story has been summed up well by a fellow philosopher’s comment about Newman: “He wanted to use a fraudulent mental health survey to target students for elimin..
APA Issues Letter In Response to Mount St. Mary’s Firings
The officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) today sent the following letter to the president and Board of Trustees of Mount St. Mary’s University regarding the recent firing and demotion of faculty there:
Dear President Simon Newman and Members of the Board of Trustees:
The APA board of officers is deeply troubled by reports that two Mount St…
The APA’s Free-Rider Problem
American Philosophical Association (APA) Chairperson Cheshire Calhoun (ASU), at the Blog of the APA, writes:
What the APA does for philosophy and philosophers gets done in virtue of the hard work of hundreds of members. All told, more than 200 individuals graciously volunteer their time and expertise in serving on APA committees and task forces, on divisional pro..
The Value and Pressure of Academic Closeness (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment, which returns after a brief waiting-for-more-emails hiatus! (Hint hint guilt trip hint.) This week’s question is from a woman wondering if the close friendships that many grads seem to have with their professors are necessary for professional success.
Dear Louie,
What kind of relationship should you foster with your professors..
Letter of Support for Fired Profs Signed By Thousands (update: President Responds)
The open letter of support for two professors fired for lack of “loyalty” from their positions at Mount St. Mary’s University, authored yesterday by philosopher John Schwenkler (FSU), gained 1500 signatories in its first three hours and now has over 4000. The story is being followed not just by higher education outlets like IHE and The Chronicle, but also The Washin..
Chaospet (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Chaospet
by Ryan Lake
Previous Daily Nous Comics / More Info about DN Comics / Ryan Lake on Twitter
“Bunny-Drowning” President Sets Sights on Philosophers (Updated)
Philosophers are under attack at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The reason appears to be that they questioned the university president’s surreptitious attempt to improve his school’s retention rate by culling students ahead of the federal reporting deadline.
Thane Naberhaus, until yesterday a tenured associate professor of philosophy at Moun..
Philosophy References in Pop Music
Checking out Poison Season by Destroyer this past weekend I came across the following lyric in “Sun in the Sky“:
Tender is the night
That sweeps us up in its folly
I left my keys on the kite
And my violin on the trolley
Violin and trolley? That’s no coincidence. I looked up the band and it turns out frontman Dan Bejar was a philosophy major before he drop..
Invitations, Under Review, and other CV Questions
Two questions about what should go on CVs have come in recently. The first is about conference invitations:
I’ve been invited to/accepted to several conferences. However, budget constraints preclude me from attending almost all of them. Here is my question: is it permissible to list these invitations on my CV—I’m an early PhD student—with a proviso that I cou..
SEP, IEP, NDPR, Wi-Phi Weekly Update
Below are the latest changes and additions at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi Wireless Philosophy, courtesy of Philosophical Percolations. As usual, they were first posted in PhilPercs’ “Saturday Linkorama” along with many other links worth checking out…