News
Category2016 Philosophy News in Review, Part 4
Here’s the last installment in our look back at some of the most-discussed news, issues, and events in the philosophy profession in 2016. (Here are parts one, two, and three.)
2016 Philosophy News in Review, Part 3
Here’s part three of our look back at the news, issues, and events that occupied the attention of the philosophy profession in 2016 (part one, part two). (more…)
The Prospect of Guns on Campus: One Philosopher’s Approach
Larry Shapiro, professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is taking a novel approach to addressing the prospect that Wisconsin’s state legislature may soon allow students (and others) to carry concealed firearms onto campus: he is offering his students a choice.
2016 Philosophy News in Review, Part 2
Here’s part two of our look back at the philosophy profession’s more widely discussed news, issues, and events of 2016. (Here’s part one.) Only a few items from each month are mentioned, so if you think an important one is missing, feel free to draw attention to it in the comments. (more…)
2016 Philosophy News in Review, Part 1
What were the news stories, events, and issues that occupied the philosophy profession in 2016? Here’s part one of a month-by-month look at some of the more popular and interesting posts here at Daily Nous over the past year. (more…)
Was A Philosophy Instructor Fired To Retaliate For His Wife’s Complaint of Sexual Harassment?
English Professor Michelle Karnes claims that Stanford University did not renew the contract of her husband, philosophy instructor Shane Duarte, in order to retaliate against her for filing a sexual harassment complaint against a senior faculty member. Karnes is now associate professor of English at Notre Dame, and her husband has secured a position there as well. ..
Large-Scale Replication Experiments in Destructive Obedience and How to Resist (guest post by Mark Alfano)
The following is a guest post* by Mark Alfano, associate professor of philosophy at Delft University of Technology. It originally appeared on his blog.
“Our smug self-assurance that genocide, democide, and other crimes against humanity only happen in other countries may be our undoing.”
APA Issues Statement on 2016 US Presidential Election
The board of officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) today issued the following statement on the 2016 U.S. presidential election:
Leading up to the United States presidential election one month ago and in the weeks since, the nation has experienced increasingly divisive rhetoric and a rise in bias-based attacks on members of vulnerable groups. In..
Cosmopolitan Racism, Trump, and Philosophy (guest post by Bharath Vallabha)
The following is a guest post* from Bharath Vallabha, former assistant professor of philosophy at Bryn Mawr College.
“Trump is actually much more aligned with the dominant norms of academic philosophy in America than with the KKK”
Orwell, Rawls and Trump: Citizenship and Democratic Culture (guest post by Martin O’Neill)
The following is a guest post* from Martin O’Neill, senior lecturer in politics at the University of York.
“A necessary condition for the long-term survival of a liberal, democratic regime is the lived commitment of the people to their shared political values.”
Hoping against Hope: a Perspective on the US Elections from the Periphery (guest post by Loubna El Amine)
The following is a guest post* from Loubna El Amine, assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University.
“If a Trump election feels tragi-comical to many Americans, this has been true of elections in our own countries for so long that both the tragedy and the comedy are now lost on us.”
Beyond Bullshit
The following is an excerpt from an essay by Jacob Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory, Professor of Political Science, and associate member of the Department of Philosophy at McGill University, published by the Niskanen Center. (more…)
IPFW Faculty Declares No Confidence in Chancellor
The faculty at Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW) have published a notice of no confidence in the university’s chancellor, Vicky Carwein, following Carwein’s decision to close several departments, including the Philosophy Department. (more…)
U. Miami Settles Lawsuit With Grad Student Over Its Handling Of McGinn Case
A philosophy graduate student who last year sued the University of Miami for failing to properly investigate her allegations that (now former) professor of philosophy Colin McGinn sexually harassed and then retaliated against her has now settled that lawsuit with the university, according to her attorney. (more…)
Chicago State’s Sudden Layoffs Include A Tenured Philosopher
Chicago State University has been facing a financial crisis. It relies on the state of Illinois for about 30% of its budget, but, owing to the previous financial and budgeting decisions the university’s administrators had made, along with the state’s “budget stalemate that left higher education without a dime for most of last year—and then provided only partial fu..
Boxill Denies All Allegations
In October of 2014, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published the results of an internal investigation into an academic fraud scheme in place for years, accusing philosophy faculty member Jan Boxill of involvement in directing students to take “fake” classes and providing them with impermissible degrees of assistance. This was followed by a report by..
Academic Purges In Turkey
The government of Turkey appears to be using the recent attempted coup as an excuse to purge universities of opposition. According to recent reports, the licenses of approximately 21,000 teachers have been revoked, nearly 1,600 deans have been ordered to resign. Additionally, the government has banned academics from travelling abroad. (more…)
Philosopher Becomes Romania’s Minister of Education
Mircea Dumitru, until recently dean (which in the Romanian context is a title more akin to university president, I’m informed) and professor of philosophy at the University of Bucharest, has been appointed the Minister of Education of Romania by the country’s Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos. (more…)
Amazon Prime for Academics
Today is Amazon.com’s “Prime Day,” which is just a big sale for it’s Prime members. You can become a member here, and then take advantage of the sale. Anything that’s good for academics at a good discount? (more…)
Police Shootings of Blacks in the U.S.; What Can Philosophers Do or Say in Response?
News from the past week:
- July 5th, 2016: Police officer shoots and kills Alton Sterling, a black man, while he was seemingly pinned to the ground, unable to move.
- July 6th, 2016: Police officer shoots and kills Philandro Castile, a black man, after he was pulled over for a broken tail light.
- July 7th, 2016: Five police officers killed by sniper fire durin..
How Will Brexit Affect Philosophy in the UK?
According to Times Higher Education (THE), there is some concern among higher education leaders in the UK about the effect that the successful referendum to leave the European Union will have on academic funding. (more…)
Philosophers Discuss Trump
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a “Trump Issue” (may be paywalled) in which several academics, including three philosophers, comment on the U.S. presidential candidacy of Donald J. Trump. They include Jason Brennan (Georgetown University), Aaron James (UC Irvine), and Matthew Meyer (University of Scranton). (more…)
Western Illinois University Loses Its Philosophy Major
The Board of Trustees of Western Illinois University (WIU), following up on its previously announced plans, ignored substantial opposition and voted unanimously this past Friday to eliminate its school’s philosophy major (along with majors in African-American studies, religious studies, and women’s studies).
Western’s interim provost and academic vice president, ..
Pogge Attempted To Halt Investigation
Thomas Pogge (Yale), who has been in the news recently regarding allegations of sexual harassment, tried to halt the investigation into his treatment of and interactions with former Yale student Fernanda Lopez Aguilar, according to a report at The Huffington Post: (more…)
“Students Against Pogge” Group Forms
A Facebook group has been created in the wake of allegations against Yale professor Thomas Pogge called “Students Against Pogge.”
The page states: (more…)
Chair in Atheism and Secular Ethics Endowed at Miami
Retired businessman Louis J. Appignani has donated $2.2 million to the University of Miami for an endowed chair in “the study of atheism, humanism and secular ethics,” reports the New York Times. It is the first position of its kind in the United States. (more…)
Jan Boxill’s Side of the Story
In February of 2015, Jan Boxill resigned from her teaching professorship in the Philosophy Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, following allegations of her involvement in a massive, 18-year long period of academic fraud in which some student athletes were steered towards phony classes that never met and assigned papers that were graded—whe..
Hilary Putnam Donates Brain To Harvard
I was going to make an April Fool’s post titled “Putnam Changes Mind About Dying” but sometimes the news gets in the way of a good joke. According to a report from The Boston Globe, the will of Hilary Putnam, who died last month, included the provision that his brain be donated to Harvard University and displayed in a large glass container on the second floor of Eme..