NCAA’s Report on Academic Fraud at UNC
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) released its report on academic fraud involving student athletes at the University of North Carolina (previously), according to reports at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and the New York Times. According to the Chronicle, the report focuses “most prominently” on former philosophy professor and..
One of the Kipnis Complainants Speaks Out
The following guest post* is by one of parties who filed a Title IX complaint against Laura Kipnis (Northwestern). The author wishes to remain anonymous.
Thoughts from One of the Title IX Complainants
a guest post by Anonymous
Laura Kipnis is right. Those involved in the Title IX complaints at Northwestern, responding to her essay “Sexual Paranoia Strikes Ac..
Strategies for Keeping Warm in the Classroom
It has happened to all of us. It has happened to someone who someone you know heard about from someone else: a perfectly competent professor disciplined for saying something totally innocuous in class after being reported to the administration by oversensitive students.
We talked about this a bit here. In “Professors Running Scared? A less dramatic rendering of p..
New Blog on the Ethics of War
The Ethical War Blog is a new group blog hosted by the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace. The Centre’s Jonathan Parry writes:
The Ethical War Blog will publish short and timely opinion articles on war-related topics in the news, written by specialists in the field, in an accessible and digestible format. The blog launches with five articles, with n..
Ludlow to Face Hearing; Accuser Regrets Coming Forward
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a new article (paywalled) on the complaints at Northwestern University regarding Peter Ludlow and the recent discussion of those complaints by Laura Kipnis in a pair of articles (for CHE). According to CHE, “Northwestern has banned from the campus, he said, and has scheduled a hearing for next month on whether he should be fire..
Michael Martin (1932-2015)
Michael Martin, professor of philosophy emeritus at Boston University, has died. Martin worked mainly in philosophy of religion, and is known for his defenses of atheism, in such works as Atheism, Morality, and Meaning and various edited collections, including the Cambridge Companion to Atheism. He also wrote a few plays. Following an initial appointment at the Univ..
A Reminder About Comments
Since Daily Nous has been getting a bit more traffic over the past few days I’d like to draw people’s attention to the comments policy. Check it out, please. In general, the idea is to try to keep the comments section worth reading, even for people who haven’t participated in it. For some further thoughts from me about moderating comments here, see this. Thank you f..
Philosopher Named “Global Cities” Fellow
Michael G. Tiboris, currently a lecturer at San Diego State, has been awarded a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). He will be a “Global Cities Fellow” at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
The primary responsibility of the Global Cities Fellow is to work with the studies team to develop policy-focused research, writing, and pub..
A Problem With Studying One’s Own Oppression (updated)
Joseph Heath (Toronto) describes an obstacle to inquiry:
The problem is that, when you’re studying your own oppression, and you’re obviously a member of the oppressed group in question, people who are basically sympathetic to your situation, but who disagree with your specific claims, are going to be extremely hesitant to challenge you, because they don’t want to..
Serial Hyperspecializers and How They Think (guest post by Elijah Millgram)
This is the second in a series of guest posts* by Elijah Millgram (Utah) based on themes from his new book, The Great Endarkenment: Philosophy for an Age of Hyperspecialization. The first post appeared here last week. (more…)
Philosopher Arrested For Protesting Fracking
Adam Briggle, associate professor of philosophy at the University of North Texas, has been arrested for engaging in a protest at a Vantage Energy fracking site in Denton, Texas.
Three Denton residents could face criminal trespassing charges after they were arrested early Monday morning in front of the entry to a gas well site on the city’s west side… The trio j..
Are We Being Chilled Or Should We Just Chill?
In previous posts (here, here, and here) I have expressed some skepticism about the idea that academic liberty is on the decline. Yes, there are occasional stories of violations of academic liberty; Steven Salaita, whose job offer was rescinded, comes to mind. But we have to be careful here. A (defeasible) rule of thumb is that if you are hearing a lot about an even..
Distance Education and PhD Admissions
The University of London’s International Programme (UoLIP) is a distance learning program that’s administered by Birkbeck College that offers a BA in philosophy. How does it work? A student in the program writes:
The philosophy BA comprises twelve modules, one of which is a 7,500 word dissertation. UoLIP students receive materials for the modules they’re working ..
Diversity in Moral and Political Philosophy Journals
Alex Guerrero (U. Penn) looked at four leading journals in moral and political philosophy to see how they have been doing in terms of racial and ethnic diversity over the past decade. Some findings:
- 0.9% of authors 1.6% of editors are racialized as black
- 1.2% of authors and 0% of editors are Latina/Latino
- 4.9% of authors and 4.3% of editors are Asian
- 18.2%..
SEP, IEP, NDPR Weekly Update
Below are last week’s updates and new additions to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), and Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. They appear here via special arrangement with Philosophical Percolations, where they were first posted, along with many other goodies, by Jon Cogburn, BP Morton, Duncan Richter, James R..
Northwestern and Title IX: What’s Going On (updated)
Title IX issues at Northwestern University are currently receiving a lot of attention, largely in editorial pieces and comments that obscure or omit certain facts. Since these facts may be relevant to your opinion about the events at Northwestern and Title IX more generally, and since the events in question centrally involve a philosophy professor and a philosophy g..
Interviewed
Clifford Sosis continues his series at What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher? (previously here, here, and here) with an interview of, uh, me. For the record let it be known that an earlier part of our conversation was omitted from the published version. I include it here:
Sosis: I’m starting an interview series.
Weinberg: Sounds good. Do you have anyone lined up?..
Ann Cudd from Kansas to Boston
Ann Cudd, currently Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies and University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas, will become Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Boston University, starting this August. Professor Cudd works in social and political philosophy, philosophy of economics, feminist theory, and philosophy of social ..
Answers from Academic Publishers
Two weeks ago I put up a post soliciting questions for academic publishers. If you submitted a question, thanks. Editors at various presses—Peter Momtchiloff, Peter Ohlin, and Lucy Randall at Oxford University Press, Stephen Latta of Broadview Press, Hilary Gaskin of Cambridge University Press, Philip Laughlin of MIT Press, Rob Tempio of Princeton University Press..
Philosophy Tag
Intro Philosophy Books and Race
Nathan Nobis (Morehouse) writes in with a request:
I am seeking help with a small research project regarding race and philosophy. This project would be to (a) make a list of introductory philosophy and ethics textbooks and anthologies and (b) review those books to see what content they have regarding race. This is to find out what readings various anthologies con..
Descartes on Spring Break
Tommy Maranges, AKA Philosophy Bro (@PhiloBro) has written a book. It’s a translation of Descartes’ Meditations. A translation into which language, you ask? Modern vernacular. Or, as the kids say, “as the kids say.”
His version starts off with:
HOLY SHIT FUCK ME, it feels like my eyeballs are going to explode. I barely remember shit and I lost my phone, I blew..
What Counts As Pre-Publication?
Dale Miller (ODU) noticed that Public Affairs Quarterly has the following “Pre-Publication Policy“:
Public Affairs Quarterly will not publish material that has already appeared elsewhere. This is not at odds with authors sharing their papers with selected individuals whose comments they would welcome or who they wish for other reasons to inform about their work. ..
In-Person Philosophy Courses for the Public
Does your institution offer in-person philosophy courses for the public? The Sydney School of Continental Philosophy (School of the Arts & Media, UNSW Australia) and The Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy (University of Melbourne) do. Courses are run during school breaks and in the evenings, are relatively inexpensive, have no prerequisites and no assessment..
The Endarkenment at Home: Benchmarking Academics (guest post by Elijah Millgram)
The Great Endarkenment: Philosophy for an Age of Hyperspecialization is a new book by Elijah Millgram (Utah). In the book, Professor Millgram looks at the implications of our becoming, more and more, “a society of specialists” in which “communication across the barriers between the professions and disciplines is our own very pressing problem,” a problem that “threat..
SEP & NDPR Weekly Update
Below are last week’s updates and new additions to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) and Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. They appear here via special arrangement with Philosophical Percolations, where they were first posted, along with many other goodies, by Jon Cogburn (LSU) in the “Saturday Linkorama.”
SEP Last Week:
- Temporal Logic (V..
Philosophy’s Impact (updated)
The applied philosophy literature is full of insights about practical problems. But in our survey of the literature we find essentially no accounts of how a philosopher is supposed to ensure that these insights have an impact. It’s a bias rooted in the discipline: one has exhausted one’s intellectual task and professional obligation when one deposits a peer-reviewed..
Conference Anti-Harassment Wiki
The Geek Feminism Wiki, a site aimed primarily at people involved in computing and technology, has a “Conference anti-harrasment” page. Brought to my attention by Maarten Steenhagen (thanks!), the site has a sample conference anti-harassment policy, a resource page with suggestions and answers to frequently asked questions, and other information.
In answer to the..