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CategoryWhen Is an Area of Inquiry “Political”?
Certain subfields of philosophy, such as feminist philosophy, philosophy of race, and philosophy of disability, are sometimes accused of being improperly “political.” Lately, I have seen several defenses of these subfields that consist in saying that all or most philosophy is political. For example, Magicalersatz at Feminist Philosophers writes, “I can’t see any sen..
$3 Million Chair in “Applied Critical Thinking”
An anonymous donor contributed $3 million for the creation of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Eugene H. Fram Chair in Applied Critical Thinking, named for a tough professor the donor had there over 30 years ago. One task that comes with the position: “spread the gospel of critical thinking across the university, from engineering to the technical arts to the huma..
Updates on Salaita
For the most recent information about the efforts to reverse the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s decision to rescind Steven Salaita’s offer, see Corey Robin’s blog. According to him, six departments have voted no confidence in the university’s administration, seven professional associations have condemned the decision, and many scholars, including a num..
Heap of Links
1. Hindu philosophy of religion.
2. A series of posts on Cusa and Hegel.
3. Artificial wombs are already being tested and developed, and according to some, will be widely used in a few decades. They’re a little controversial.
4. Physicist Lawrence Krauss squares off against philosophers Angie Hobbs and Mary Midgley on the relationship between philosophy and scienc..
Philosophers Propose Boycott
Related to the earlier post of links to philosophers writing about the current conflict in Gaza and associated issues, some philosophers and political theorists are supporting “a principled refusal to associate with Israeli academic institutions that have not explicitly condemned the occupation.” They lay out their reasons here. (via Katharine Jenkins)
(Note: for ..
When Is Philosophical Agreement Suspicious?
Last week, in the post about philosophy of religion, I wrote:
For a few reasons, it is not a sociologically surprising fact that most philosophy of religion in the West today is conducted by Christian theists. But it is certainly philosophically surprising (bordering on philosophically suspect) that, of all the possible options for religious belief (which include n..
David Enoch on Israel and Gaza
Some means — even though they’re best for achieving a goal — might be so evil that the goal should be dropped, as long as we’re not forced to pursue it. If the only way to promote freedom from repression is terror, this could be enough to justify dropping this legitimate goal.
David Enoch, professor of philosophy and law at Hebrew University, weighs in on the curren..
APA’s Code of Conduct in IHE
Inside Higher Ed has an article on the APA’s creation of a task force to look into whether to create a code of conduct for the profession, and if so, what such a code would look like. Several philosophers were interviewed for the article.
Philosopher to Head NEH
William D. “Bro” Adams, a philosopher who taught at Santa Clara University, UNC Chapel Hill, and Stanford, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the 10th Chairman for the National Endowment of the Humanities. Here is some background about him:
Adams earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Colorado College and a Ph.D. from the University of Califo..
Digitizing the Geometry of Spinoza’s Ethics
Torin Doppelt, a PhD candidate in philosophy at Queen’s University, has created Spinoza’s Ethics 2.0, a an interesting digital humanities project that “provides a representation of the structure of the geometrical demonstrations of Spinoza’s Ethics” (via Philosophy Matters). I asked him if he could say a little more about the project for Daily Nous readers. He write..
World Cup Philosophy
Existential Comics covers the Germany v. France game.
The goal by Sokratis in the soccer game between Greece and Costa Rica is sort of like what happens in this scene in Monty Python’s Philosopher’s World Cup (via Kay Mathiesen).
Guillaume Attia is running a philosophy version of the World Cup, in which you can vote for your favorite team.
UPDATE: Philosophy Refe..
Robert Parris Moses Interview (Famous Philosophy Majors)
Robert Parris Moses “became one of the most influential leaders of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s and afterwards. Martin Luther King called his grassroot organizing an inspiration.” He went to Stuyvesant High School, majored in philosophy at Hamilton College, and earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Harvard. Recently, Paul Jay at The Real News c..
Rutgers And OUP Collaborate On New Lecture And Book Series
The Department of Philosophy at Rutgers University has teamed up with Oxford University Press to create a new lecture and book series. (more…)
Don’t Get Overloaded by “Opportunities”
A half-dozen academics have contributed brief essays to a collection at Times Higher Education on how to handle the academic workload and how to appropriately manage their time—especially in regards to accepting or declining various “opportunities.”
Some choice quotes:
“Why don’t you just say no, non-academic friends asked? Because, I explained, when you don..
Abner Shimony (1928 – 2015)
Abner Shimony, professor emeritus of philosophy and physics at Boston University, has died. Professor Shimony was known for his work in philosophy of physics. A detailed obituary is here, and an entry in Wikipedia on him is here.
From the obituary:
After graduating Summa cum Laude in mathematics and philosophy from Yale in 1948, Abner was a student of Austrian..
Assessment and Philosophy Courses
Most of the discussions regarding “assessment” are fine examples of exactly what we do not want to see college producing: vague and uniform truisms, hooked up with measures so meaningless as to guarantee that nothing will ever change. It is the deadened life of the bureaucratic mind. But imagine, as an alternative, academics charting the careers of students who have..
Update from Leiter
In a post at his blog, Brian Leiter responds to the September Statement calling for him to relinquish control of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) by saying that “there may be a lot more to the story.” He also says that he and the Board of the PGR have made “considerable progress the last few days” toward “a plan for the future in which I step down as editor af..
Nominal Versus Real Change
As I noted here, and as he announced on his own site here, Brian Leiter has asked Berit Brogaard (Miami) to serve as a co-editor with him of the Philosophical Gourmet Report, along with another as of yet unnamed philosopher who is currently considering the offer. Of course At this point this is nothing but a nominal change in the management of the PGR. One or two pe..
Agnes Heller to receive Wallenberg Medal
Agnes Heller, a Hungarian philosopher who was, for a while, the Hannah Arendt Visiting Professor of Philosophy in the Graduate Studies Program of The New School in New York (now emeritus there), and prior to that taught at La Trobe University in Melbourne, will receive the 2014 Wallenberg Medal, an award bestowed annually at the University of Michigan “to a humanita..
Why Study the History of Philosophy?
In his contribution to A Teacher’s Life: Essays for Steven M. Cahn, David Rosenthal (CUNY) raises questions about philosophy’s fit with the humanities and the sciences, framed around the study of history.
A striking difference between those fields we classify as humanities and those we regard as sciences is the attitude within each field toward its history. Learning..
Around the Philosoblogosphere
Here are some discussions going on elsewhere. Feel free to point to others in the comments.
1. The Brains blog is hosting a symposium on “Against Division: Consciousness, Information, and the Visual Streams,” by Wayne Wu (Carnegie Mellon) with commentaries from David Kaplan (Macquarie), Pete Mandik (William Paterson), and Thomas Schenk (Erlangen-Nuremberg).
2. “Wha..
Transcript and Video of Salaita’s Press Conference
The transcript of Steven Salaita’s remarks at today’s press conference is here, and a video of the event, including an introduction by one of his attorneys and comments from several others, is here.
Common Misconceptions about Philosophy
Wikipedia has a page dedicated to common misconceptions (via Kottke). While the page has sections for history, math, science, and food (among other things), there is no section for common misconceptions about philosophy. Might I suggest we create a list for one? I’ll start:
1. There are no common misconceptions about philosophy.
Guidelines for Philosophical Discussion
David Chalmers has, with the help of some crowdsourcing, put together a list of “guidelines for respectful, constructive, and inclusive philosophical discussion.” They are “intended primarily for oral philosophical discussion in formal settings: colloquia, conferences, seminars, classes, and so on.”
It is a work in progress, and suggestions and comments are welcome.
What Are Professional Philosophers For?
Most academic philosophy departments see themselves primarily as housing a specialized academic discipline, and contributing only incidentally here or there to a university’s general education curriculum. The priority needs to be reversed. Frankly, there is little or no need for specialized academic philosophy; if it disappeared overnight, the only ones who would no..
Loeb Classical Library — Online Soon
Harvard University Press is digitizing the entirety of The Loeb Classical Library and putting it online. While a free trial will be available, permanent access to the collection will be through paid individual and institutional subscriptions. For book lovers, the familiar little red and green hard copies will remain in print. There is an article about the online ver..
Dennett on Brains and Blame
“Of course my brain made me do it! What would you want, your stomach to make you do it?”
That’s from the text of a brief interview with Daniel Dennett at WBUR’s site.
Civic Engagement in Philosophy Classes
Ramona Ilea (Pacific University) shares news of an online resource for philosophy professors she has helped create called Engaged Philosophy. The site is a repository of information about incorporating projects of civic engagement into philosophy courses.
When students do civic engagement projects in our philosophy classes, they commit to making changes in their com..