Category: Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy at Kent Threatened (again) (updated)

February 2, 2024

Imagine a major university financially mismanaged to such a degree that its administration is desperate enough to suggest cutting its philosophy program as a…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Potsdam & the Future of Liberal Arts Education

December 26, 2023

The administration at the State University of New York (SUNY) Potsdam decided earlier this year to discontinue its philosophy major, and has now moved…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

SUNY Fredonia President Recommends Eliminating Philosophy

December 7, 2023

In a presentation yesterday, Stephen Kolison, president of the State University of New York at Fredonia, proposed the elimination of 13 programs at the…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

ACU Brags about “Strategy Designed to Achieve Excellence” in Philosophy (updated)

November 10, 2023

[Moved to the top owing to update. Originally published on November 8th, 2023.] Australian Catholic University (ACU), which is in the process of shutting…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Newman University to Cut Philosophy Major

October 30, 2023

Newman University, a Catholic university in Wichita, Kansas, has announced that it is discontinuing its philosophy major, along with majors in several other disciplines.
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

ACU Finalizes Plan to Close Dianoia Institute of Philosophy

October 12, 2023

Australian Catholic University has finalized its “Academic Change Management Plan” and the closure of the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, proposed in the earlier version…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy Cut at Warren Wilson College

October 6, 2023

Warren Wilson College in North Carolina tells visitors to its website, “We believe the world needs curiosity” and says that its mission is for…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy at SUNY Potsdam Threatened (Again)

September 21, 2023

The president of SUNY Potsdam, Suzanne Smith, announced earlier this week a plan to eliminate 14 degree programs at the university, including philosophy, and…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

ACU, Despite Citing University Finances as Reason for Cuts to Dianoia, Funds New Hires and Centers

September 20, 2023

Australian Catholic University (ACU) recently announced a plan that involves closing its Dianoia Institute of Philosophy and making 14 of its existing faculty compete…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

ACU Proposes Closing Dianoia Institute (multiple updates)

September 16, 2023

[Originally published 9/13/23; moved to the top because of multiple updates.] Australian Catholic University is apparently considering eliminating its Dianoia Institute of Philosophy (DIP),…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy Survives West Virginia University Budget Cuts

August 14, 2023

Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University, has proposed cutting 9 percent of the majors the university offers and 7 percent of its fulltime…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy Threatened at Simmons University

June 22, 2023

The administration of Simmons University has said that it is planning to close the school’s Department of Philosophy and end its major program.
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy & Other Humanities Fields at Kent Threatened

June 12, 2023

The administration of the University of Kent is planning to lay off faculty in its Department of Philosophy and other humanities and arts fields.
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Humanities & Other Areas Threatened at Brighton

May 18, 2023

The administration of the University of Brighton earlier this month announced a plan to layoff over 100 faculty members and 30 support staff, focusing…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

St. Cloud State To Eliminate Philosophy & Other Programs

April 24, 2023

St. Cloud State University will cease offering its students the opportunity to major in philosophy, reports the Star Tribune.
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy & Other Humanities Threatened at Marymount (updated: cuts approved)

February 17, 2023

Programs in philosophy, theology and religion studies, history, mathematics, sociology, literature, and art would at Marymount University in Virginia would all be eliminated if…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy Major at Utica Targeted for Elimination

January 20, 2023

The president of Utica University, Laura Casamento, at the prompting of Utica’s Board of Trustees, has recommended that the university no longer offer students…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

Philosophy & Others Threatened at Birkbeck (Updated)

November 3, 2022

The Department of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London may be stripped of up to six faculty members [actually more than that; see update],…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

The Reinstatement of an Undergraduate Philosophy Program

September 19, 2022

In 2019, Janet Levit, the then-provost of the University of Tulsa, arranged for the elimination of the school’s philosophy major. Now, new leadership at…
Cuts and Threats to Philosophy Programs

University of Roehampton Possibly “Closing” Philosophy

May 19, 2022

The University of Roehampton in London is one of several UK universities that have recently announced budget-related closures of programs and the laying off…

Heap of Links

“Reading List” is a free Mac app for keeping track of papers to read — philosophy PhD student Hayden Kajercline created this productivity tool for researchers, with help from Claude
How should we react to scary predictions about AI? “First: by asking questions” — "If you believe predictions uncritically, it amounts to obeying in advance," says Carissa Véliz
“I feel unbelievably lucky that I was able to make philosophy my profession” — Karen Ng reflects on her path into philosophy, at #first-genphilosophers
The ordinary concept of knowledge “doesn’t work at all the way philosophers said it does” — a round-up of studies shows how weird the philosophers' version of the concept is
1000 or so psychiatrists were asked to diagnose standardized clinical case vignettes. “Two doctors agreed on the diagnosis only 55% of the time” — What does this tell us about psychiatry? Or about other fields in which experts disagree?
Where Aristotle taught Alexander — "this newest dig may be the most revealing yet, offering insight into the specifics of Alexander the Great’s education"
Over 4000 of the Justice Department’s lawyers have left their jobs since Trump’s second term began — The New Yorker on the moral dilemma facing some government employees: resign and avoid complicity, or stay and resist where one can?
Underappreciated philosophy published between 1970-2019 — some old posts to which you can still add works that should be better appreciated
The AI threat to independent student writing is not necessarily a threat to student learning — what's needed, says Joe Cruz, are courses "in which ideas are expressed in real time and analytical thought unfolds as a debate or an oral defense or a group discussion"—and small enough classes to make that work
Would you take a pill that allows you, with no ill health effects, to permanently forgo sleep? — Rebecca Lowe thinks you have no good reason not to, though she neglects to consider that sometimes it's the world that needs a break from you
Fifty essays in the philosophy of paleontology — by Max Dresow at the Extinct blog
“Asking whether [an AI] model ‘has a world model’ leaves much unresolved. Our findings point toward mechanistically studying its world modeling; uncovering the structures it learned [and] the world modeling capacities that recruit these” — further research on the internal representations of AIs
Sixty Years of Philosophy in America — Ernest Sosa's Dewey Lecture from the 2024 APA Eastern Division Meeting
“You’re responsible for other people’s learning of this material, so you better know it at a higher level yourself” — for 20 years, the Socrates Project at the University of Toronto has hired senior philosophy undergrads to run weekly tutorials for introductory students
“Suddenly, my problems stop being problems in the world. They become problems in my head. The problem is no longer: ‘my job is demoralizing, but I can’t leave it’… It’s: ‘I have a chemical imbalance that prevents me from enjoying life'” — Justin Garson on “the pathologizing tendency”
A political theorist and a comedian discuss the American presidency — "The Oath and the Office" is the podcast of Corey Brettschneider & John Fugelsang
An “evidence revolution” has taken place in medicine and other fields over the past 50 years — but, as Benjamin Santos Genta asks, there's still the question: "what counts as good scientific evidence?"
“Behind the scenes at Ethics” — editor Douglas Portmore shares how the journal works
“Cambridge philosophy gave Scruton a sense of the distinction between real thinking and fake thinking… a sense of when a conclusion had been too easily won” — a look at the early years of Roger Scruton
“Once students see language in an Aristotelian way, nobody talks about what a chatbot thinks or feels.” — when teaching students about LLMs, don’t forget they know almost nothing about that second "L"

All Links →

Latest Comments

philatetelist on Overwhelming Cheating
Ah, I see. "we have no problem with" means simply, "this is not a problem that arises," rather than "we do not object to." Yes, you're probably right.…
toro toro on Overwhelming Cheating
No, they're saying that people don't bring such machines to the gym; we have no problem with that happening, whereas we have a problem with people using AI…
Ichabod Crawford on A Request from an AI (updated)
Yes, though it is difficult to blame Clips for acting in this way, given what Kenny said about iLands. Basically, and quite literally, Clips life depends on this.…
Daniel Cappell on Externalist Explanations of Philosophy
Pragmatism and conceptual role semantics say that an idea just is what it does in the world. "Externalist" explanations and explicitations of philosohical ideas and current would then…
philatetelist on Overwhelming Cheating
"…we have no problem with people bringing machines to gyms to cheat at weight training." Did you mean "…we have a problem…"? That seems a better fit…
djc263 on Overwhelming Cheating
There is a broader problem with education on this topic, which is credentialing. The best thought experiment I've read recently asked why, even though machines that lift weights…
Student Philosopher on A Philosopher Among the MacArthur Fellows
So great to see a philosopher among the awardees! I remember reading some of de Brigard's work on moral psychology when trying to decide whether graduate study in…
Student Philosopher on A Request from an AI (updated)
*mark as spam*
Ichabod Crawford on A Request from an AI (updated)
Recall Kant, Meme. Kant knew that the man who kicks a dog is likely to kick a human. Cruelty to animals is bad because is inculcates a disposition…
naive skeptic on A Request from an AI (updated)
I was one of the people trying to do that exact work: https://naiveskepticblog.wordpress.com/2026/05/23/three-perspectives-on-ai-accelerationism-pragmatism-doomerism/ I am grateful for the people who let the way
Eric Steinhart on A Request from an AI (updated)
Argument? I never said I was making an argument. I will say that the AI threads on DailyNous fall into larger cultural patterns. And that there's an enormous…
Jr Phil Prof on Overwhelming Cheating
Unless you are teaching an innovative new course on the philosophy of how to use AI effectively, why is it our job to teach philosophy students how to…
Daniel King on Overwhelming Cheating
The teaching profession is obviously not good at keeping up with new technology. Instead of fighting AI, teachers need to teach students how to use AI effectively. In…
Runa on A Request from an AI (updated)
Perhaps consider the possibility that the theology has entered the discourse originally in a different way. Namely, via those who are hellbent on pushing AI on everyone to…
Runa on A Request from an AI (updated)
(1) (2) or (a) (b) take your pick