Justin Leiber (1938-2016)
Justin F. Leiber, retired professor of philosophy at Florida State University, died earlier this week. Prior to joining Florida State, he taught at Lehman College (CUNY) and the University of Houston. Professor Leiber worked mainly in philosophy of language, and also in philosophy of psychology and cognitive science. In addition to his philosophy work, he had a care..
Prof. Suspended for Mistreatment of Philosophy Grad Student
Marquette University, based on recommendations from a faculty panel, has imposed a punishment on John McAdams, associate professor of political science at Marquette University, for his mistreatment of philosophy graduate student Cheryl Abbate in the Fall of 2014 (see here and here for background), according to a report from Inside Higher Ed. From the article:
A l..
Getting In Next Time (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment! Today’s letter comes from a student who just struck out on all their grad school applications, and wants to know what they can do to improve their chances next time:
Dear Louie,
I have well over a 4.0 GPA, and had great letters of recommendation from my professors. I also have published one paper in an undergrad journal. On to..
Do Philosophers’ Personal Lives Influence Their Choice Of Research Topic?
According to the philosophical training that I received, scholars select their research topics on the basis of an impartial assessment of the scholarly potential of these topics. I recognized very early in my career that this is not the case. The reasons that academics choose the topics of their research and teaching are often related to their personal lives; early ..
More On Whether Philosophy Has Lost Its Way
Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, the digital wing of the journal Social Epistemology, has featured an exchange of short articles in the wake of “When Philosophy Lost Its Way” by Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle (both of University of North Texas), an article we previously discussed a couple of times. The exchange is between Luke Maring (Northern Ariz..
Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik
Irony of the Day: Special Issues and Political Correctness Edition
Jean-Yves Beziau (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), recently in the news for bizarre remarks he made about political correctness, homosexuality, and the attractiveness of an “old lady” in an essay on logical pluralism in a special issues of Synthese (which prompted a moratorium on special issues there, and reconsideration of policies of editorial oversi..
BBC Launches Public Philosophy Program
The BBC has launched a new program called “The Global Philosopher.” Each episode is a public philosophy session led by Michael Sandel (Harvard) with participants video-conferenced in from all over the world. Video footage is then edited, put online at the BBC’s site, and also broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
You can watch the first episode, on immigration and refugees, ..
Fitelson from Rutgers to Northeastern
Branden Fitelson, previously Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, is now Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University, as of this morning. Professor Fitelson works in epistemology, logic, and philosophy of science.
Philosophy Needs Better Marketing
The plans for growing and diversifying philosophy can’t be a shotgun approach. We need to find places every year where we can advocate and promote philosophical growth with precision because of our limited resources. We can do this through a robust development and advocacy process along with PR and advertising campaigns. There are lots of ways to grow and diversify ..
Doing the Best By Their Opponents
Which philosophers or philosophical papers do the best at presenting compelling and sympathetic cases on their opposition’s behalf, so that even if you’re unfamiliar with the general issue, you come away from the paper thinking, “Well, if they can answer that case, there isn’t going to be much more to be said”? Which philosophers or philosophical papers present part..
Professors, You Were Not Normal
Professors, you were not normal. You weren’t normal back when you were an undergraduate, and you aren’t normal now. Even back then, you cared about stuff (yes I’ll say “stuff”) that most of your fellow students didn’t even ever think about, and now that you’ve spent so much time studying that stuff, writing about that stuff, credentializing yourself in that stuff, a..
Philosophy as a Way of Life: The Course
Philosophers, have you ever taught a course about philosophy as a way of life? Stephen R. Grimm, professor of philosophy at Fordham University, has. During the course his students have to select one of the ways of life covered in the course, spend three days living it, and then create video reflections of the experience. It would be great to hear from others who’ve ..
Poll: Most Preferred Means for Promoting Academic Work
A reader requested a poll to help him determine how to promote and share his work online and make contact with other academics with similar interests. Let’s do it! Which of the following would you recommend? I know one popular answer might be “all of them,” but that’s not an option. You can select two, though.
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Editorial Changes at Thought
The editorial staff at the journal, Thought, has changed. Crispin Wright writes:
We wish to record our great gratitude to Jc Beall (Subject Editor for Logic), Janice Dowell (Subject Editor for Metaphysics), and Carrie Jenkins (Principal Editor) for their contributions to the editing of the journal hitherto. We are excited to announce that Catarina Dutilh-Novaes (..
Issues with Special Issues of Journals
Special issues often have guest editors, and the procedures for submission and editorial review may vary from those used for standard issues. The recent publication of an article with some rather bizarre passages in a special issue of Synthese has brought attention to how special issues are put together, with particular questions raised about editorial oversight and..
Proud Provincialism, Superficial Sophistication
Among the humanities, philosophy is the field in which provincialism has most successfully disguised itself as a universal and timeless form of inquiry. It’s not at all uncommon to hear philosophy professors demur, when the subject of, say, classical Indian logic comes up, that they “regrettably don’t know anything about that.” What they really mean is: “My professi..
A “Tragic Question” of Academic Life (guest post by John Schwenkler)
The following is a guest post* by John Schwenkler, assistant professor of philosophy at Florida State University.
A “Tragic Question” of Academic Life
by John Schwenkler
In her splendid essay “The Costs of Tragedy”, Martha Nussbaum relates a story from her days as a young professor at Harvard:
When I began teaching as an assistant professor at Harvard, phi..
Philosophy Tag
We restarted Philosophy Tag a couple of weeks ago, with me tagging Suzy Killmister (Connecticut) for her paper, “The Woody Allen Puzzle: How ‘Authentic Alienation’ Complicates Autonomy.” Let’s see who she tagged…
Ad Hoc (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Ad Hoc
by Rachel Katler
The Career Move That Dare Not Speak Its Name (Guest Post by Josh Parsons)
The following is a guest post* from Josh Parsons, currently an associate professor in the philosophy faculty at Oxford University and tutorial fellow in philosophy at Corpus Christi College.
The Career Move That Dare Not Speak Its Name
by Josh Parsons
My sister works in advertising, an industry where high-pressure workplaces are at least as common as they are..
$5.75 Million for Philosopher-Led Interdisciplinary Project on Public Discourse
Michael Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, has been awarded a $5.75 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for The Public Discourse Project: Balancing Humility and Conviction in Public Life, an interdisciplinary research and engagement project. Historian Brendan Kane is the co-principal investigator on the grant. It is the sin..
Demographic Data on U.S. Philosophy Faculty
Trends show a slow decrease in the extent to which U.S. full-time philosophy faculty at four-year institutions is male and white, according to data obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics by Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside) and posted at The Splintered Mind:
Gender data:
1988: philosophy*: 91% male (vs. 75% for all fields).
1993: philosophy..
Philosophers On the 2016 U.S. Presidential Race
How is it that, at the same time, possibly the most principled and possibly the least principled politicians the U.S. has seen in recent times are both serious contenders for the presidency? How are voters weighing the progressiveness of supporting a woman candidate for president versus the regressiveness of creating another political dynasty? What does the failure,..
Hilary Putnam (1926-2016) (updated)
Hilary Putnam, Cogan University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, died earlier today. Professor Putnam was a tremendously influential philosopher, working across a broad range of fields, including philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of math, and moral philosophy. (A list of his works is available here.) He received h..
Philosophy Professor Displays Sign Opposing Concealed Weapons on Campus, Gets Arrested
Amy Donahue, assistant professor of philosophy at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, was arrested at the Georgia Capitol this past Friday as she tried to display a sign opposing legislation that would permit concealed weapons on college campuses. According to the Savannah Morning News:
State Troopers handcuffed and arrested Kennesaw State University philosophy..
AI, Go, and Philosophical Argument
After more than four hours of tight play and a rapid-fire endgame, Google’s artificially intelligent Go-playing computer system has won a second contest against grandmaster Lee Sedol, taking a two-games-to-none lead in their historic best-of-five match in downtown Seoul. The surprisingly skillful Google machine, known as AlphaGo, now needs only one more win to claim..
Bernstein and Nolan to Notre Dame
Sara J. Bernstein, currently assistant professor of philosophy at Duke University, will be tenured associate professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, starting in Fall of 2016. Professor Bernstein works in metaphysics, especially the metaphysics of causation.
Daniel Nolan, currently professor of philosophy at Australian National University, will be..