News
CategoryTrial Starts Today for Philosophy Lecturer Who Tossed Away Tear Gas Canister Thrown by ICE (updated)
The trial of Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer in philosophy at California State University Channel Islands, begins today. The trial concerns his actions at a protest during a Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid of a cannabis farm near the university. (more…)
Top University in Iran Bombed
Early this morning, Sharif University of Technology, Iran’s leading technical university, was bombed. (more…)
Hume’s Tomb Vandalized with “Satanic” Symbols
David Hume’s tomb was one of a few sites at a cemetery in Edinburgh that have been vandalized with “disturbing occult-style paraphernalia,” according to The Guardian. (more…)
Lessons from a Legal Analysis of the Renee Good Shooting (updated)
What’s one thing that could make ICE agent Jonathan Ross’s lethal shooting of innocent US citizen Renee Good even worse? If it were legally justified.
High School Student’s Death by Suicide Seems Related to Ethics Course Discussion
A “16-year-old who tragically leaped to his death at New York City’s famed Regis High School had gotten into hot water after taking a controversial stance in his ethics class,” according to The New York Post. (more…)
US Issues Clarification on New Visa Fee
The Trump administration has issued an update to the president’s recent proclamation about new visa fees, with implications for current international students and faculty. (more…)
Will There Be Midterm Elections?
According to a site that aggregates data from several betting markets, bettors think there’s a 63.9% chance that the Democratic Party will regain control of the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections scheduled for November 3rd, 2026. (more…)
If Anthropic Used Your Work, You Could be Entitled to Compensation
The settlement in the copyright lawsuit against Anthropic provides authors of books they trained their AI on with compensation. (more…)
Columbia Philosophy Major Again Faces Deportation Threat
Last April, Mohsen Mahdawi, then a philosophy major at Columbia University, was attending a US citizenship application interview in Vermont when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wearing hoods and masks took him from the building, put him into an unmarked car, and drove off. (more…)
What Will Academia.edu Do with Its New Rights to Your Name, Likeness, and Voice? (updated)
Users of the Academia.edu service are cancelling their subscriptions in response to perceived overreach by the firm in its recent update to its terms of service. (more…)
Will US Universities Pay $100,000 for H-1B Visas?
The Trump administration announced on Friday that as of yesterday, new applications for H-1B visas will only be accepted if accompanied by a $100,000 payment. (more…)
Philosophers File Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Cases on Transgender Athletes
A group of 24 philosophers has submitted an amicus curiae brief for two US Supreme Court cases concerning laws about the participation of transgender athletes in sports. (more…)
Class Action Lawsuit against AI Firm for Copyright Infringement
If versions of any of your books are on LibGen or similar online collections of pirated material, there is a chance it was used as training data for AI, and you may be able to join a lawsuit about it. (more…)
The APA Board & the Gaza Petition
At the end of last month, a petition was launched to move the Board of Officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) to issue a statement about Gaza that would, “Unequivocally condemn the ongoing atrocities and war crimes against Palestinians” and “Express solidarity with Palestinian scholars, intellectuals, and students who are enduring immense suffering..
Stanford’s Student Newspaper Sues Federal Government
The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s independently run student newspaper, and two of its student staff, are suing Marco Rubio, in his capacity as Secretary of State, and Kristi Noem, in her capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, for violating their First Amendment rights. (more…)
Philosophy Professor Reportedly Assaulted & Abducted During ICE Raid on Farm (updates)
Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer in philosophy at California State University Channel Islands, was reportedly “piled on by multiple agents all at once” as “he tried to help a man in a wheelchair” who was having difficulty moving after Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents threw canisters of tear gas at them and their fellow protestors, with, accordi..
Philosophy Major Snatched by ICE During Citizenship Interview (updated)
Mohsen Mahdawi, a philosophy major at Columbia University who is due to graduate later this semester, was attending a US citizenship application interview in Vermont on Monday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wearing hoods and masks took him from the building, put him into an unmarked car, and drove off. (more…)
Philosopher: Missed Class to Get an Abortion? Not Excused.
A philosophy professor and a finance professor at the University of Texas at Austin have joined with the state in a lawsuit against the Federal government, particularly the US Department of Education’s “Final Rule” regarding the interpretation of Title IX, which aims to prevent “discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal fin..
An Open Letter from Gaza Academics
“We have come together as Palestinian academics and staff of Gaza universities to affirm our existence, the existence of our colleagues and our students, and the insistence on our future, in the face of all current attempts to erase us.” (more…)
NYU Philosophy Graduate Students Call for Divestment
“Six months on from the brutal Hamas attacks of October 7th, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed… Some 1.9 million people… have been displaced. Over two hundred aid workers have been killed during the conflict. At least 103 reporters are dead… Gaza is facing a famine. As long as it continues to invest in war, NYU is implicated in this devastation. D..
Administration Sets Police on Peaceful Student Protestors
Milagros Peña, president of Purchase College, State University of New York, authorized campus and local police to forcibly break up what appears to be a peaceful gathering of student protestors, in a continuing trend across the country. (more…)
Columbia Philosophy Grad Students Condemn Campus Arrests
“We call for the reversal of student suspensions and for departments to refuse to comply with university investigations or sanctions of students and employees participating in non-violent political action.”
University of California Faculty Statement on Protests
“We believe that the ability to protest nonviolently is essential to our democracy and a basic human right that must be respected and protected.” (more…)
Campus Protests about Israel and the Palestinians (several updates)
This post is for discussion of the ongoing campus protests against Israel’s response to the October 7th, 2023 attack on it by Hamas, and in support of the Palestinians. (more…)
APA-led Class Action Lawsuit Prevails
In February, a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit known as American Philosophical Association et al. v. District of Columbia. (more…)
Florida Philosophy Grad Student Seeks Legal Aid for Asylum Case
Shadi “Soph” Heidarifar is a doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Florida. She’s also suing the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for neglecting her asylum case. (more…)
Leverhulme Trust to Investigate One of Its Philosophy Fellows at Cambridge (updated)
The Leverhulme Trust, a philanthropy in London which provides grants and fellowships to scholars across a range of disciplines, has launched an investigation of one of its early career fellows who works in philosophy at the University of Cambridge. (more…)
Further Progress on Vesuvius Scrolls
“Epicureanism says hi, with a text full of music, food, senses, and pleasure!” (more…)