humor
Category“Easter Eggs” in Academic Philosophy
Secret features or qualities, hidden messages, subtle references, often humorous—what’s come to be known as “Easter Eggs”—appear in various media, from video games, to movies to Apple’s Siri, to even some recent high profile resignation letters. What about in academic philosophy writings? (more…)
Funding Opportunities and Award Competitions (guest post by Amy Olberding)
The following is a guest post* by Amy Olberding, professor of philosophy at the University of Oklahoma, in which she shares some, uh, unusual funding and awards opportunities. (more…)
Songs That Would Have Been Different If Co-Written With Philosophers
“The Shadow of Your Cave Wall” – Tony Bennett (J. Mandel/P.F. Webster/Plato)
“Being and Time In a Bottle” – Jim Croce (J. Croce/M. Heidegger)
“Abyss On My List” – Hall and Oates (D. Hall/J. Oates/ F. Nietzsche) (more…)
Short Academic Horror Story: Philosophy Subgenre
There are some amusing entries in the Twitter thread #shortacademichorrorstory, which asks for “the shortest academic horror story you can write”: (more…)
The Great Philosophers, Now With Smiles
Have you ever noticed how dour the great philosophers look in their portraits?
Martin O’Neill, senior lecturer in politics at the University of York, decided to put a happier spin on the history of philosophy. Here’s the result: (more…)
The ABCs of Belief (guest post by Willie Costello)
Philosophers are used to talking and thinking about beliefs. Nowadays, thanks to the pioneering work of Tamar Gendler, most of us are comfortable talking about aliefs. But that was just the start of the alphabet…
The following is a guest post* by Willie Costello, a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Philosophy Department at Stanford University. (more…)
The Philosophers In Trump’s Cabinet
“I was totally expecting Trump to tap Zeno for secretary of transportation.”
Thank you, David Sobel (Syracuse). (more…)
Did You Hear The One About…?
Did you hear the one about Heraclitus? Well I bet you haven’t heard this version.
Did you hear the one about Foot? It kills.
Philosophical Malapropisms
“Let me illiterate…”
A student once wrote that when he meant “let me reiterate.” It may be the apothecary of malapropisms. I was reminded of it by a malapropisms quiz at The Paris Review. I didn’t know the origin of the term:
Mrs. Malaprop is the pompous aunt in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 comedy, The Rivals, and the eponym for the word malapropism. As ..
Philosopher App Store Redux
A week after Daily Nous began, on a slow Friday, I put up a post soliciting suggestions for the Philosopher App store. Well, it’s another slow Friday, and the site’s readership has grown quite a bit since then, so let’s have another go at it. Feel free to add your own; as I said last time, you can be playful, but please don’t be mean.
From the old store:
Which Philosophy Ideas Make for Good Costumes?
Which philosophical ideas (or examples) would make for a good Halloween costume?
Yes, Brain in Vat. We all think we’ve thought of that one already. What else?
Eternal Recurrence? You went as that last year! And the year before.
I suppose you could go as anything. Just make a sign that says “p & ¬ p” and walk behind it.
How would you go about dressing up ..
Using Comedy Clips in Philosophy Class
I sometimes use excerpts from comedy routines or shows in my teaching. For example, when I teach Frankfurt’s On Bullshit in my contemporary moral problems course, I regularly use this segment from the Colbert Report:
The Colbert Report
Colbert Report Episode Guide, More Colbert Report Videos, Comedy Central Full Episodes
And in my philosophy and ..
Fallacy Ref Calls It
Fallacy Ref is the creation of Glen Welch, a performing arts critic for Red Publication. It’s “a series of image macros featuring an NFL referee calling fouls on invalid argument tactics and sneaky rhetoric.” Some examples:
I can see these coming in handy. You can read more about the project here and see more of the images on Fallacy R..
Lesser-Known Trolley Problems
Kyle York at McSweeney’s presents a very funny selection of lesser-known trolley problem variations. Here are just a few. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
The Time Traveler
There’s an out of control trolley speeding towards a worker. You have the ability to pull a lever and change the trolley’s path so it hits a different worker. The different worker i..
Lack of Philosophical Progress Owed to Procrastination, Study Hopes to Find
Historians of philosophy and experimental philosophers have teamed up to determine why there has been so little progress in philosophy. “Socrates asked ‘what is the nature of the good life?’ a couple of thousand years ago,” says Jeffrey McDonough (Harvard), “and now, in 2015, my department is stuffed full of people still—supposedly—working on this question and o..
Causes of Deaths of Philosophers
Maintained by Hugh Mellor but apparently last updated in 2005, the Causes of Deaths of Philosophers website humorously speculates about, well, the causes and descriptions of deaths of philosophers. To wit:
Husserl: Phenomenally bad luck
Ryle: Gave up the ghost
Dancy: No particular reason
Sellars: Not given
Benacerraf: Number was up
Wittgenstein: Became the l..
News Scrunchie (Daily Mousse)
1. L. A. Paul has a new article on the lack of rationality involved in hairstyle choices called, “What You Can’t Expect When You’re Expecting To Have Your Life Totally Transformed By a Kicky New Look.”
2. Presence of bald man in first row has rest of audience absolutely riveted during APA session on vagueness.
3. Derek Parfit grows out “mad bangs” to test self..
Martha Nussbaum Cuts Her Own Hair (Daily Mousse)
With a remark that was at once completely unexpected yet in retrospect totally unsurprising, Martha Nussbaum, in the middle of a talk at the World Bank about how Greek tragedy can inform our understanding of same-sex marriage policy in India, revealed that she is her own hair stylist and gives herself regular haircuts. The highly accomplished, glamorous, and toned 6..
Trolley Problem Solved (Daily Mousse)
After years combing through the details and knotty issues of the Trolley Problem, Judith Jarvis Thomson has come up with what she says is a novel solution. In a new article appearing in the journal Capillus, she first irons out what the problem is:
A trolley is speeding down the track towards five people who are stuck to it and will be killed if the trolley hits th..
Searle Awarded Lifetime Achievement Hat (Daily Mousse)
John Searle was recently bestowed with a lifetime achievement hat by SCALP (Skull Covering Association for Lively Philosophers). SCALP, one of the oldest philosophical societies, is known for its unusual choices, and it lived up to its reputation this time with its selection of a deerstalker, which Searle is sporting in this photo. Previous awards include a shower c..
Objections Raised to Chalmers’ Haircut (Daily Mousse)
A recent conference at Paul Mitchell University took as its focus some new work on philosophers of mind. Dominating the event were several sessions on David Chalmers’ new haircut (‘before’ photo here). A panel on Chalmers and other rockstars favorably compared his transformation with those of David Lee Roth and Jon Bon Jovi. However, there was also some criticism. “..
From Nous to Mousse
A recent argument from David Killoren (Coastal Carolina) has convinced me to shift the direction of the blog. He writes:
Case 1: You’re looking at the Daily Nous banner logo. Case 2: You’re looking at a hair salon’s logo circa 1986. How can you distinguish these experiences? A skeptical problem.
I have tangled privately with this for some time, but now it is time ..