philosophy
CategoryWhat Predicts Professional Philosophers’ Views? (updated)
A new study looks at correlations between professional philosophers’ philosophical views and their psychological traits, religious beliefs, political views, demographic information, and other characteristics. (more…)
Surprise: There’s Philosophy About That
If you ask a person on the street what philosophy is about, that person may respond with… (more…)
Philosophers On Space Exploration
Last week, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed its rover, Perserverance, on Mars. It is the latest in a series of human efforts now spanning six decades to physically explore and travel to parts of the the universe beyond our terrestrial home. Scientific and engineering matters tend to dominate public discussion of these efforts, yet..
Aristotle’s Sexism & Simplifying Historical Ideas “to Fit a Modern Agenda”
“It is often not a good idea to simplify the history of ideas in order to fit a modern agenda.” (more…)
Philosophical Quality Now and Then
“I find no good reason to think that philosophers today do philosophy better than philosophers 600 or 2000 years ago.” (more…)
Things Philosophers Know About Science That You Don’t
What do philosophers know that others don’t? This post intiates an occasional series that asks philosophers to engage with the “conventional wisdom” on various topics by sharing strongly-supported or widely-held philosophical insights and ideas about them.
Two Letters Attributed to Hume Are Fakes
Two letters attributed to Hume are in fact forgeries completed in the late 1960s, according to a study by Felix Waldmann (Cambridge) recently published in the Journal of British Studies. (more…)
Interactive Visualization of Philosophy on Wikipedia
How does Wikipedia “see” philosophy? (more…)
Computer Simulation as “Core Philosophical Method”
“Modeling and computer simulations, we claim, should be considered core philosophical methods.” (more…)
If You Could Ask A Dead Philosopher…
Suppose you could ask a dead philosopher one question. Who would you ask, and what would you ask them? (more…)
Philosophical Intuitions Are Surprisingly Stable (guest post by Joshua Knobe)
There seems to be a very general pattern whereby the tensions in people’s intuitions tend to be surprisingly stable across both demographic groups and situations. (more…)
Toward a More Expansive Conception of Philosophy (guest post by Angela Potochnik)
To whom are we as philosophers speaking and responding; whom do we judge as being worthy of dialogue and, hopefully, our intellectual contributions? (more…)
No Escape from Metaphysics
I think the contemporary scene is thriving. But you still run into critics of metaphysics. I find these critics genuinely puzzling. Let me try to explain why. (more…)
The Ethics of Social Distancing (and Why It Doesn’t Rule Out Protesting) (guest post by Travis N. Rieder)
“When I began writing this essay, public health-minded folks were arguing that social distancing is morally required, and expressing dismay at the pictures of partiers and beach-goers that surfaced after Memorial Day weekend. Just a couple weeks later, however, attention had shifted to the nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality, which was supp..
A History of Philosophy Journals Using Topic Modeling (guest post by Brian Weatherson)
When you go looking for patterns in over 32,000 academic philosophy articles, what will you learn? (more…)
New Map of SEP Based on Reciprocated Entries
A new visualization of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) displays the connections between each article and the “related entries” listed at the end of it. (more…)
On What Philosophical Issues Have You Changed Your Mind?
Galen Barry, assistant professor of philosophy at Iona College, writes in with a question for Daily Nous readers. (more…)
A Philosophy & COVID-19 Bibliography
Jef Delvaux, a Ph.D. student in philosophy at York University, has undertaken the project of putting together a bibliography of writings by philosophers about the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues. (more…)
The Origins of Analytic Philosophy
“I find the usual story exaggerated, incomplete, and mistaken in various ways.” (more…)
“There is no philosophical essence”
“The question I regularly encountered, and still do, is: Is that still Philosophy?” (more…)
The Role of Philosophy & Philosophers In The Coronavirus Pandemic (guest post)
In a previous post, I asked for suggestions from readers for topics related to the pandemic to post about and discuss here. One suggestion, from Jonathan Fuller (Pittsburgh), was the role of philosophy and philosophers during the pandemic. In the following guest post*, Alex Broadbent, Dean of Faculty of the Humanities, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of Instit..
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 5: 2010s
In this, the last post in our series of underappreciated writing of the past 50 years, we turn to 2010-2019. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 4: 2000s
Our series of posts on underappreciated writings of the past 50 years moves to the 2000s. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 3: 1990s
Continuing our series of underappreciated philosophical writing of the past 50 years, we turn now to the 1990s. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 2: 1980s
Last week we began a decade-by-decade series on underappreciated philosophical writing of the past 50 years. (more…)
Underappreciated Philosophical Writing of the Past 50 Years, Part 1: 1970s
Not everything notable gets noticed, and that’s true in philosophy, too. (more…)
Intuitions, Common Sense, and “Earning the Right” to Judgments about Philosophy
“Intuitions and common sense are not, I claim, a good basis on which to reach philosophical conclusions.” (more…)
Improvement in Philosophy over Time
“If Aristotle lived today, there is no way that he would be an Aristotelian.” That winning line is from a recent critique of the history of philosophy by Michael Huemer (Colorado). (more…)