Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
Robert S. Cohen (1924-2017)
Robert S. Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy and physics at Boston University, died yesterday, June 19th, 2017. Professor Cohen was known mainly for his work in the philosophy and history of science. (more…)
Killmister & Ripley from Connecticut to Monash
Suzy Killmister and David Ripley, both currently assistant professors of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, have accepted tenured positions in philosophy at Monash University. (more…)
Teaching Controversial Topics In High School Philosophy
Last summer, Landon Hedrick, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska who, while working on his dissertation, teaches philosophy at the Vanguard Classical School in Chicago, wrote in with questions about teaching logic and critical thinking to high school students. He now has some questions about teaching more controversial topics in a high school philosophy clas..
APA Election Results
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the results of its recent election of divisional officers, an at-large member of the APA Board of Officers, and four members of the Graduate Student Council. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the latest from some key online philosophy resources. We check the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), Wi-Phi, and 1000-Word Philosophy for updates weekly and report them right here. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion. (more…)
Quality Control, Methodological Bias, and Persistent Disagreement in Philosophy
Recently, mainstream philosophy journals have tended to implement more and more stringent forms of peer review (e.g., from double-anonymous to triple-anonymous), probably in an attempt to prevent editorial decisions that are based on factors other than quality. Against this trend, we propose that journals should relax their standards of acceptance, as well as be les..
New Study on Gender and Program-Prestige in Tenure-Track Hiring of Philosophers
Market outcomes starting in 2014 and going back 10 years offer no evidence women are at a disadvantage in tenure-track competitions.
That’s the primary finding of a study by Sean Allen-Hermanson, associate professor of philosophy at Florida International University. The study, “Leaky Pipeline Myths: In Search of Gender Effects on the Job Market and Early Career P..
Oxford Philosophy PhD Candidate Wins New $100,000 Essay Prize
James Williams, a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute who works on the philosophy and ethics of technology design, and who previously worked at Google, is the winner of the inaugural Nine Dots Prize. The prize solicits 3,000-word essay responses to a question, and the winner receives $100,000 and to write a book expanding on the ideas of the essay, to ..
Do Philosophers Care Too Much About Fallacies?
I used to teach a course in critical thinking at Ghent University. As behooves a good skeptic, I first presented my students with the usual laundry list of fallacies, after which I invited them to put the theory into practice. Take a popular piece from the newspaper or watch a political debate, and try to spot the fallacies.
I no longer give that assignment. (m..
Bradford Wins 2017 APA Book Prize, Marušić is Runner-Up
Gwen Bradford, associate professor of philosophy at Rice University, is the winner of the 2017 American Philosophical Association (APA) Book Prize, for her book, Achievement, published by Oxford University Press. Receiving an honorable mention for the award is Berislav Marušić, associate professor of philosophy at Brandeis University, for his book, Evidence and Agen..
Philosophers From Women’s Colleges Oppose Eliminating Philosophy At Mills
Philosophers at Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard—all women’s colleges—have authored a letter opposing the proposed elimination of the philosophy department at Mills College. (more…)
Chaospet (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Is Academic Freedom in Israel Threatened by a Philosopher-Authored Ethics Code? (Updated with English Translation of Proposed Code)
Israel’s Minister of Education has proposed the adoption of a code of ethics for academics that some worry poses a threat to the academic freedom of professors there. The code was authored by Asa Kasher, the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair in Professional Ethics and Philosophy of Practice at Tel Aviv University. (more…)
Finding Value in the False Scientific Beliefs of Earlier Philosophers
Anyone who studies the contemporary phenomenon of global warming, or who fears the insidious impact that the smartphone is having on our lives, or who remembers that there are enough nuclear warheads on enough intercontinental ballistic missiles to destroy human civilization with some ease, understands that modern technology threatens, indeed is likely, to overwhelm..
Lakatos Award Winners Announced
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has announced the winners of its 2015 and 2016 Lakatos Awards. (more…)
Philosophy Jobs Per AOS, 2016-17
Over at The Philosophers’ Cocoon, Marcus Arvan (Tampa) reports on the number of jobs advertised over the past year per Area of Specialization (AOS). (more…)
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion. (more…)
Petition Launched to Preserve Philosophy at Mills College
In the wake of news reported last Wednesday that the administration and Board of Trustees of Mills College plans to eliminate the school’s philosophy department and fire its tenured faculty, a petition has been launched to “Uphold Principles of Academic Freedom and Preserve the Philosophy and Journalism Departments at Mills College.” (more…)
Queen Names Philip Pettit a Companion of the Order of Australia
Philip Pettit, distinguished university professor of philosophy at Australian National University and L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University, has been named a Companion of the Order of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the latest from some key online philosophy resources. We check the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), Wi-Phi, and 1000-Word Philosophy for updates weekly and report them right here. (more…)
Stubblefield Convictions Overturned
Anna Stubblefield, the former Rutgers-Newark philosophy professor convicted of sexually assualting a disabled man, has had her convictions overturned by an appellate court, reports NJ.com, on the grounds that she did not get a fair trial. The court determined she should have a new trial, with a new judge.
Learning Through Teaching
Well, given my background I knew virtually no philosophy. So I have taught myself most of the philosophy I know by teaching it. If I wanted to learn about something, I would teach a course on it (keeping a couple of weeks ahead of the students). I have learned a lot of philosophy this way, and it’s been a blast.
That’s Graham Priest (CUNY) in the What Is It Like ..
“Old Barriers Are Coming Down”
There’s another great interview up at What Is It Like To Be a Philosopher?—this time with Graham Priest (CUNY). Interviewer Clifford Sosis (Coastal Carolina) asks Professor Priest about a his life, education, work, and the philosophical world. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: recent items from the frequently updated Heap of Links, collected in groups of 10, here for your perusal and discussion. (more…)
Unscientific Poll Results: Nearly 40% Of Respondents Take Out Loans To Get PhD In Philosophy
A couple of weeks ago I set up a poll asking about whether philosophy graduate students took out student loans while in their PhD programs. This is, of course, not a scientifically sound way of getting at the actual numbers, as the respondents are self-selecting and there is no way to tell if they are at all representative of the broader population. (more…)
Matthew Smith and Adam Hosein Hired By Northeastern
Matthew Noah Smith, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Leeds, and Adam Omar Hosein, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder, have both been hired by the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northeastern University. (more…)