Author: Justin Weinberg

value of philosophy

Moral Philosophy Courses Can Change Students’ Behavior

July 12, 2019

The share of meal plan expenditures on meat by students who took part in a philosophy class on the ethics of eating animals declined…
philosophy

Publishing Philosophy One Doesn’t Believe

July 12, 2019

“Is there anything wrong with publishing philosophical work which one does not believe?”
Uncategorized

Philosopher Named to New State Dept. Commission on Unalienable Rights

July 11, 2019

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo earlier this week announced the creation of a new “Commission on Unalienable Rights,” comprised of scholars and activists…
Daily Nous Features

Ad Hoc

July 10, 2019
Research

Should We Get Rid of Peer Review?

July 9, 2019

“Where philosophers of science have claimed the social structure of science works well, their arguments tend to rely on things other than peer review, and…
Daily Nous Features

Mini-Heap

July 9, 2019

Time for a new Mini-Heap…
Daily Nous Features

Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

July 8, 2019

Here’s the weekly report on new entries in online philosophical resources and new reviews of philosophy books.
Faculty Moves

Lyons from Arkansas to Glasgow

July 4, 2019

Jack C. Lyons, currently professor of philosophy at the University of Arkansas, will be moving to the University of Glasgow.
Daily Nous Features

Mini-Heap

July 3, 2019

Second Mini-Heap of the day…
Uncategorized

Less Frequent Posting

July 3, 2019

This is just to let readers know I expect posting to be lighter over the next week.
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Philosophy on Twitter & YouTube – Quarterly Update

July 3, 2019

This Daily Nous item is temporarily unavailable while its historical content completes a security review. The title and publication record are preserved; the original…
Daily Nous Features

Mini-Heap

July 3, 2019

A new Mini-Heap…
Uncategorized

To φ Or Not To φ

July 2, 2019
Graduate Programs

Elite Philosophy PhD Programs Mostly Admit Students from Other Elite Schools (guest post by Eric Schwitzgebel)

July 2, 2019

“There are many potentially excellent philosophers from nonelite schools who are missing terrific educational and career opportunities because students from elite schools have such a large…
Public Philosophy and Outreach

Manifesto for Public Philosophy (guest post by C. Thi Nguyen)

July 1, 2019

“It’s war, the soul of humanity is at stake, and the discipline that has been in isolation training for 2000 years for this very…
Daily Nous Features

Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update

July 1, 2019

Here’s the weekly report on new entries in online philosophical resources and new reviews of philosophy books.
Uncategorized

Naomi Zack from Oregon to Lehman College, CUNY

July 1, 2019

Naomi Zack is leaving the University of Oregon to become Professor of Philosophy at Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY).
Awards Grants Honors

Bratman and Gilbert Win 2019 Lebowitz Prize

June 27, 2019

The American Philosophical Association (APA) and the Phi Beta Kappa Society (PBK) have selected Michael Bratman and Margaret Gilbert as the winners of the 2019 Dr. Martin…
Issues in the Philosophy Profession

APA Is Surveying Philosophers on Priorities and Services

June 27, 2019

The American Philosophical Association (APA) is conducting a survey to determine which issues confronting professional philosophers it should prioritize, and which of its services and…
Site Issues

Support Daily Nous

June 27, 2019

“Thank you for the work you put into the Daily Nous—it’s an incredible service to our profession.”

Heap of Links

Is there anything to the concept of “intrinsic human dignity”? — yes, says Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, and "it names a burden as much as a distinction"
“Intuition is the cognitive means by which the conceptual structure of a situation is revealed to us” — whether that situation is a stylized thought experiment or a real world experience, says Marc A. Moffett
“Professors can’t fix the problem on their own” — Victor Kumar on what university administrators need to do address AI's threat to higher education
“The wall between jus ad bellum and jus in bello, which had sustained his theory for almost half a century, was no longer sturdy” — a profile of Michael Walzer, focusing on his thoughts about just war theory and the Israeli-Palestine conflict
We may think that we lose something significant when AI beats us to a discovery — if we do, Daniel Greco says, that seems to imply we gained something significant, too
“Once upon a time there were a couple of handsome naturalistic philosophers working in and around the philosophy of fiction” — thoughts on new directions in philosophy of fiction, from several philosophers
What is the debate over whether trans women are women even about? — Katie Zhou argues that it's about which facts are granted "the cross-contextual significance and stickiness characteristic of gender"
We’re putting human brain cells into mice brains — One moral risk of this, says Mackenzie Graham, is a decrease in our ability to interpret what mice behavior tells us about their experiences and welfare
The Rawls Game — with instructions, background, advice, and downloadable character cards
“The central question would shift from ‘How do we maximize shareholder value?’ to ‘How do different forms of organization distribute power, risk and reward — and which should we strengthen?'” — Chris Marquis on the case for abolishing, or at least radically changing, business schools
Asking “How did I get here?” may help us reflect on the nature of personal identity in ways that asking “Who am I?” cannot — Marya Schechtman's 2024 Central Division Meeting Presidential Address
“Collecting is a game, but what kind of game? It is an imperfect information game of acquisition” — a theory of collecting, from Steven Hales
“A general human tendency: to overestimate how far we have come in the progress of human knowledge” — a lengthy interview with Thomas Nagel
“Many couples do not survive trauma like this” — A profile of Susan Brison—who was brutally attacked in 1990, and who wrote about it in Aftermath—and her husband, Thomas Trezise, who has now written his own book stemming from those events
“Bad AI Consciousness Takes” Bingo Card — Henry Shevlin's area of specialization is becoming a popular topic in popular discourse, and he can't stand the "cavalcade of terrible takes"
Does the principle of sufficient reason imply panpsychism? If it does, do we then ponens or tollens? — Sam Kimpton-Nye on these questions and the "demand for intelligibility"
PTSD flashbacks may be harmful, but they may also be helpfully “resupplying phenomenal experience” to those who, owing to trauma, are “grasp alienated” — Michaela McSweeney on trauma and "madness-as-strategy"
A look at the very first issue of Mind — Brett Mullins surveys its articles on the occasion of the journal's 150th anniversary
The most bizarre plagiarism-related story ever — featuring: a death, an investigator, a dissertation, a mysterious red book, and more
New data on earnings by major and university — though not all universities

All Links →

Latest Comments

Patrick Lin on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
Signed! The Conversation had published several articles that speak to or are related to this important but hidden concern, e.g.: https://theconversation.com/large-language-models-often-prioritize-western-moral-values-overlooking-other-cultures-285660 https://theconversation.com/ais-fluency-in-other-languages-hides-a-western-worldview-that-can-mislead-users-a-scholar-of-indonesian-society-explains-276865 https://theconversation.com/ai-systems-are-built-on-english-but-not-the-kind-most-of-the-world-speaks-249710 https://theconversation.com/how-generative-ai-could-change-how-we-think-and-speak-267118
Patrick Lin on Coordinating the Philosophy Profession’s Response to the Use of AI in Research
Very timely. Best of luck, Barry and team!
Filippo Contesi on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
Not English-only but English is superdominant and so most LLMs default to English. China's LLMs might be different…
philatetelist on Linguistic and Conceptual Justice in AI
This is all news to me. So, is it true that most LLM's are trained on a corpus that is English-only, and then generate non-English output only at…
Matthew Duncombe on Timothy Smiley (1930-2026)
Very sorry to read about this. I only met Tim Smiley a handful of times, but his erudition, intelligence and kindness, and interest in ancient logic made a…
James Mackay on Calls for Papers / Grants / Etc.
Byung-Chul Han and Contemporary Culture. Online (hosted by European University Cyprus). 19 March 2027. Abstracts due 18 January 2027. https://byungchulhanstudies.org/call-for-papers/An online symposium putting Byung-Chul Han’s concepts – burnout,…
Student Philosopher on Where Intuitions Conflict
But the history of philosophy shows us no cases in which adept questioners left their interlocutors in aporia Mad Max – That's Bait
Vinicius Rodrigues on Where Intuitions Conflict
One of my main concerns with your answer to x-phi studies is that it makes having an intuition a difficult thing to pick out in the stream of…
philatetelist on Where Intuitions Conflict
This is a startling hypothesis, because if one and the same individual can have conflicting intuitions about cases, then a philosophically adept questioner should be able to elicit…
Patrick Lin on Death Just Got Out of This Truck (guest post)
“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches.”— Dita Von Teese, American philosopher
Non-classical? on Where Intuitions Conflict
I guess I can see that reading of the call, but then I just know even less what to do with the call. Consider that, at least as…
PhilCon Ed on Death Just Got Out of This Truck (guest post)
That which makes plainspoken language more accessible and meaningful to you is the same mechanism which makes flowery, emotive language more meaningful and accessible to others.
Jason Aleksander on Death Just Got Out of This Truck (guest post)
it is disingenuous to claim that the academic life is somehow purely a life of the mind It's not impolite, but I'm not sure if you thought I…
Kenny Easwaran on Where Intuitions Conflict
I don't think the call is for non-classical logics. I interpreted more as a call for non-classical theories of meaning, such that the words being used to express…
Paul Wilson on Putting the Pub in Public Philosophy
While theology is not (usually) philosophy, a remarkably successful pub-centric public initiative is "Theology on Tap". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology_on_Tap RENEW International