Percentages of U.S. Doctorates in Philosophy Given to Women and to Minorities, 1973-2014 (guest post by Eric Schwitzgebel)
The following is a guest post* from Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside). It also appears on his blog, The Splintered Mind.
Percentages of U.S. Doctorates in Philosophy Given to Women and to Minorities, 1973-2014
by Eric Schwitzgebel
The Survey of Earned Doctorates is a questionnaire distributed by the U.S. National Science Foundation to doctorate recipients at a..
Steup to Leave Purdue to Become Chair of Colorado (updated)
Matthias Steup, currently professor of philosophy and head of the Philosophy Department at Purdue University, will become chair of the University of Colorado Philosophy Department starting in fall of 2016. Steup works in epistemology and metaphysics. A press release about the appointment is here.
UPDATE: David Boonin, currently interim chair at Colorado, writes:
..
The Social Dimension of the Professor-Student Relationship
In a comment on a previous post, Natalie writes:
I would really like to see a post/some discussion about how different people manage the socialising-with-students thing. Thinking of my own lecturers, mentors, etc, they mostly fell into one of two extreme groups—either no socialising at all, or ill-thought out (and sometimes inappropriate) socialising—and so I..
Unsolved Problems in Philosophy
Did you know that Wikipedia has a “List of Unsolved Problems in Philosophy” page? It lists only 20 problems (philosophy’s doing better than I thought!) including: “the problem of the criterion,” “the mind-body problem,” “the hard problem of consciousness,” and “the problem of induction.” Ironically, mereology and universals are left off of the list. (Admittedly, it ..
Being Asked To Write Your Own Recommendation
Yes, this is “letters of recommendation” week at Daily Nous. On Monday, there was an inquiry from a student about how to write letters in support of faculty. Yesterday, we began a discussion of what not to include in letters of recommendation. Today, we turn to the egregious practice of recommenders asking recommendees to write their own letters of recommendation, w..
Chaospet (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Chaospet
by Ryan Lake
What NOT to Say in Your Letters of Recommendation
Sometimes one comes across a letter of recommendation in which the author, presumably with good intentions, nonetheless says something that is bizarre, inappropriate, counterproductive, or downright creepy. In the interests of grad school applicants, job seekers, tenure candidates, etc., as well as those writing letters for them, I am opening up a thread here for ex..
On Students Writing Letters for Faculty
A graduate student in philosophy writes in with the following query:
I’m a philosophy PhD student and avid reader of Daily Nous. I particularly enjoy reading the posts that provide advice for graduate students, and I was wondering if you had considered having a post on how to write letters of support for your supervisors and/or faculty members? It’s something tha..
The Purification of Philosophy
institutionalization of philosophy made it into a discipline that could be seriously pursued only in an academic setting. This fact represents one of the enduring failures of contemporary philosophy.
So argue Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle (both of University of North Texas). Philosophy’s institutionalization in the modern research university was a kind of “pu..
SEP, IEP, NDPR, Wi-Phi Weekly Update
Here are the past week’s additions and updates to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi Wireless Philosophy, appearing here via special arrangement with Philosophical Percolations. They were first posted in PhilPercs’ “Saturday Linkorama” along with many other..
Philosophy Travel & Tourism
Guy Crain, professor of philosophy at Rose State College, writes in with the following inquiry:
I’m wondering if there is a resource with collected information about philosophy-related travel/site-seeing. For instance, is it possible to visit John Stuart Mill’s birthplace? What libraries or museums (if any) have first editions of philosophical works on display?..
Overheard at the Eastern
An open thread to report those funny or odd things one tends to overhear at gatherings of philosophers, for folks at the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association.
Play nice, please.
The Paradox of Unanimity
Under ancient Jewish law, if a suspect on trial was unanimously found guilty by all judges, then the suspect was acquitted. This reasoning sounds counterintuitive, but the legislators of the time had noticed that unanimous agreement often indicates the presence of systemic error in the judicial process, even if the exact nature of the error is yet to be discovered. ..
Are Journal Rejections a Hazing Ritual (Ought Experiment)
Welcome back to Ought Experiment! Today’s question is from a philosopher reeling from yet another journal rejection, and starting to wonder if publishing is an arbitrary (or even intentionally cruel) ordeal:
Dear Louie,
My favorite paper was just rejected for the 7th time. Let’s see, I’ve had desk rejections, rejections without referee comments, rejections..
Trump’s Rhetoric and Frogs in Warming Water
Princeton University Press has begun an “Election 2016: Hot Button Issues” series at its blog and its inaugural post, “Donald Trump and Mass Incarceration” is by Jason Stanley (Yale). In the post, Stanley argues that Trump’s articulation of xenophobic, Islamophobic, racist, and harshly retributivist views is problematic not only because his campaign success so far r..
Issues with Graduate Admissions
“Ph.D. programs are one of the few parts of higher education where admissions decisions are made without admissions professionals.” So begins Inside Higher Ed’s discussion of Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity and Faculty Gatekeeping by Julie Posselt (Michigan). Posselt observed ten different U.S. departments as they narrowed down their pool of PhD program..
To φ Or Not To φ (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
To φ Or Not To φ
by Tanya Kostochka
New Philosophy and Dinosaur Blog
Philosophy and dinosaurs. Is it philosophy of paleontology, or just really really really ancient philosophy? Whatever it is, I love this combination. And now there is a way to get your philosophy of paleontology in compsognathus*-sized bites at Extinct — “a resource for philosophers, palaeontologists, and enthusiasts.”
Extinct is a group blog featuring contribu..
Judge Dismisses Kaufman Lawsuit Against Colorado
Last March, University of Colorado associate professor of philosophy Dan Kaufman filed a lawsuit against the university “alleging the school both discriminated and retaliated against him because he has a disability,” following his being banned from campus by the administration. Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed these claims, reports the Daily Camera. In exchange ..
Philosophy and the Internet Public
Though the internet is, in a number of ways, good for philosophy, it isn’t always good to philosophers. The needless hostility, harassment and scary threats, personal insults, bullheadedness, impatient demands, etc., widely broadcast for all to see (and discussed a bit here) can be a deterrent to participation and a nasty “reward” for engaging with the public.
Ex..
Welcome the APA’s New Blog
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has launched its new blog. Though I had urged as a possible name “APAplexy” (during a particularly turbulent time here, comments-wise), and others had chimed in with other options such as “APAcalypse,” “APAria,” “APAdosis,” etc., the blog is called “Blog of the APA” (BAPA? BOT-APA?). Lead editor Lewis Powell (Buffalo), in..
Philosophers, Physicists, Others Win €2.5m to Study the Large Hadron Collider
An interdisciplinary team consisting of academics working in philosophy, physics, history, and sociology have won a 2.5 million euro grant to fund a three year project about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It first started up on 10 September 2008, and remains the lat..
SEP, IEP, NDPR, Wi-Phi Weekly Update
The winter holiday has slowed things down a little, here and elsewhere in the philosophy world. Normally, I’d post the past week’s additions to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi Wireless Philosophy, yet only the first two have any updates: They were first ..
A Modest Proposal: Slow Philosophy (guest post by Jennifer Whiting)
The following is a guest post* by Jennifer Whiting (Pittsburgh).
A Modest Proposal: Slow Philosophy
by Jennifer Whiting
In his review of Moral Prejudices by Annette Baier, Colin McGinn claimed that Baier had proposed that universities accommodate the demands of women’s reproductive clocks by allowing women to postpone tenure decisions until the age of 50 ..
New Heights (Lows?) in Philosophy Job Application Requirements
A correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous brought to my attention the job advertisement of California State Sacramento, and sent along the following commentary:
As those on the market all know, the application process can be a hassle. In addition to all the intellectual investment and tedious editing that goes into putting together a decent portfolio, depar..
Mind Chunks (Daily Nous Philosophy Comics)
Mind Chunks
by Pete Mandik
Favorite Philosophy of the Year 2015
A reader asks:
Was wondering if you could write a post asking for people’s favorite philosophy articles/books of the year.
Sure!
People, what were your favorite philosophy articles or books published in or around 2015?
Done.
Now it’s your turn, people…
Best Philosophy Blog Post Winners Announced
3 Quarks Daily has announced the winners of its 2015 prize for best philosophy blog post:
- Top Quark, $500: Vidar Halgunset, Slow Corruption
- Strange Quark, $200: Daniel Silvermint, On How We Talk About Passing
- Charm Quark, $100: Lisa Herzog, (One of) Effective Altruism’s blind spot(s)
Of the top two posts, Judge John Collins (Columbia) writes: “they w..