James Murphy (not Tooley) on “The Colorado Sex Scandal” (corrected & updated)
CORRECTION: It appears that, contrary to what I initially posted, Professor Tooley did not write the report mentioned in this post. I was provided a link to the report by a source who prefers to remain anonymous, was told it was by Tooley, and it is hosted on Tooley’s site. However, according to this page, the author of the report is one James Murphy. My apologies t..
Philosophers Gift Guide
I thought Daily Nous should get in on the year end list action. But what would be a good list? Top philosophy blog posts? 3 Quarks Daily has that cornered. Best philosophy books published this year? Like I’ve had time to read enough books this year to make a list (I thought of this one but it turns out it came out last year). Fave pop songs of 2014? A bit outside DN..
T-Shirt Update and Charity Poll (updated)
The first ever Daily Nous t-shirt sale is over. An elite group of 38 people with apparently really good taste were lucky enough to secure their shirts during the limited sale period, raising $190 for charity. While the shirts are being made, we have a decision to make: which charity? I’ve selected a few of the suggestions from the previous thread for us to choose am..
New Political Philosophy Prize
David Sobel (Syracuse) announces the creation of the Marc Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy:
The Marc Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy is a biennial essay competition open to scholars who, at the time of submission deadline, are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. or are students currently enrolled in a graduate program. Independent scholars may..
Creativity, Hierarchy, and Authenticity in Professional Philosophy
What would motivate a person to write a dissertation prospectus in the manner of Wittgenstein’s Investigations? And what happens when one does? Bharath Vallabha tells us. Here’s an excerpt:
One of the key ideas of Cavell’s, and Goldfarb’s, interpretation of Wittgenstein is that key moves in philosophy are often the ones made at the very beginning, in the very way..
CU Boulder’s “Reckless” Treatment of Philosophy Department
Wes Morriston, University of Colorado philosophy professor emeritus, has written an opinion piece in The Daily Camera in which he excoriates the university administration’s handling of the various problematic events and revelations there over the past year or so, including what he says was “an explicit threat to dissolve the department by invoking Regent Policy 4H (..
Northwestern U. Student Asks Judge To Reconsider
The Northwestern University undergraduate whose Title IX lawsuit against Northwestern University, for its handling of her alleged sexual assault by philosophy professor Peter Ludlow, had been dismissed, is asking a judge to reconsider his decision, according to an article in The Daily Northwestern.
The student’s new motion is apparently spurred by her acquisition..
APA Pacific Hotel Scam
Michael Brownstein writes in with the following warning:
Philosophers: if you are going to the Pacific APA and have reserved a room at the Westin, beware of a phone call from someone from “Exhibitors Housing Management.” It’s a scam. They will say that the conference rate has been lowered and they’ll try to get your CC info in order to adjust the rate. Somehow th..
Philosophers on Torture
The Report on the C.I.A.’s Use of Torture from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was released several days ago. As we have occasionally done in the past for other events, I would like to open a spot here at Daily Nous for comment on the report, for collecting links to commentary elsewhere from philosophers on this report, for suggestions of philosophical o..
This is It!
Today is the last day of the Daily Nous t-shirt sale! As far as I know, this is the only shirt with this fantastic quote from Socrates on it, and once today is over it will not be available again, until perhaps I make it available again. The shirt is surprisingly popular among the celebrity set, and even with folks who aren’t the biggest fans of Daily Nous. As I exp..
Marquette: An Update (several updates)
The Marquette University administration continues to figure out what to do in response to associate professor of political science John McAdams’s unprofessional and harassing conduct towards philosophy graduate student Cheryl Abbate (previously), the abusive hate mail and commenting it led to, the media attention it generated, the visit by Westboro Baptist Church, a..
Colorful Fallacies Chart
The website Information Is Beautiful has put together a colorful chart of over 50 fallacies, sorted into six different categories. Created by David McCandless, it’s also available to purchase as a poster in multiple languages. Online versions are available in Chinese, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish.
UPDATE: Some of the entri..
Philosophy Tag
So we were busy. But it’s okay. It’s only a game, and that game is philosophy tag. When we were last in session, Michael Bishop (Florida State) had tagged Sarah Conly (Bowdoin) for her book. “Book!” I exclaimed. “Let us return to the humble article.” Well, for someone whose book is called Against Autonomy, Professor Conly is apparently set on doing things her own wa..
Philosophy at Community College
In the Tusculan Disputations, Cicero famously says, “Socrates was the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and set her in our cities, bring her into our homes, and compel her to ask questions about life and morality and the nature of good and evil.” At a community college, my students—aspiring plumbers and harried moms among them—helped me to rediscover th..
APA 2014 Guide to Graduate Programs
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has released its 2014 Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy. The guide provides information on faculty, program strengths, placement, financial aid, and demographics. The APA notes: “All data in the guide are self-reported by representatives of the institutions, and data are included only for institutions that complete..
The Ethics of Friending in Academia
In a column at The Chronicle of Higher Education, David Perry discusses some of the complications for people in academic organizations using social media like Facebook. How should we engage with others on social media? Here are his suggestions:
Be aware of workplace hierarchies and your position in them.
You get to choose whether to “friend up” to people more..
Oregon Philosophy Faculty Removed from Courses (Updated)
“One by one, objecting faculty members are being removed as instructors of record for classes that they teach with graduate teaching fellows or classes taught by GTFs that the department supervises” reports The Register Guard. As Oregon University’s graduate student teaching fellows strike (previously) continues, the university’s administration is now engaging in a..
Absolutely Gorgias Shirts
Maybe that is overstating it, but regardless, the Daily Nous charity fundraiser shirts are still on sale (until Friday). All the profits from each shirt are going to charity (nominations for which one, discussed here). Get ’em while you can! (And no, I have no idea how Angela Merkel got her hands on one of these.)
2014 Philosophical Gourmet Report Released
The 2014 edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) has been released. The PGR is a reputational survey of a selection of PhD-granting philosophy departments based on questionnaires completed by around 230 philosophers. The release of the PGR was slightly delayed this time around, owing to considerable controversy about its editor-in-chief, Brian Leiter, its ..
Famous Philosophy Majors Poster (updated with new link)
Catherine Nolan, a philosophy graduate student at SUNY Buffalo, has created a great poster featuring names and photos of well-known people who majored in philosophy, called “Who Has A Degree In Philosophy?” UPDATE: new link here.
She writes: “Some people commonly found in lists of philosophy majors (e.g. Woody Allen, David Duchovny) aren’t on this poster because ..
PhD Program Wikis — Information, Not Rankings (updated)
Shawn Standefer has created a wiki of PhD programs in philosophical logic. It “provides an unranked list of PhD (and (eventually) terminal M.A.) programs that have strengths in philosophical logic. Links are provided to the websites, CVs, and PhilPapers profiles of the relevant faculty at each program. Additionally, when known, the specialties and willingness of fac..
Virtual Worlds and Video Games in Philosophy Teaching
Do any of you use virtual worlds or video games in your teaching of philosophy, and if so, how? In conversation the other day a colleague expressed an interest in creating a virtual world in which an epidemic was taking place, and having students immerse themselves in it to learn about addressing some of the various ethical challenges that confront agents in such si..
T-Shirt Charity Fundraiser!
Available to order now through Friday: the first (and possibly last) Daily Nous t-shirt! It’s a black shirt, all-cotton, that features a design with a quote from Socrates — one that captures the heart of the philosophical disposition — along with some of the surrounding text. I am selling it to raise funds for a charitable cause. No, the charitable cause is not ..
Oregon Grad Students Warned of Deportation (see updates)
The University of Oregon administration has told international graduate students that they will be deported if they join the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation strike, according to UO assistant professor of philosophy Mark Alfano. Additionally, the administration is attempting to undermine the strike by decreeing that undergraduates taking courses that use teachin..
New Hires at University of Oslo
Herman Cappelen, currently Arche Chair at the university of St Andrews and Director of the Arche Philosophical Research Centre, has accepted a position as professor at the University of Oslo, starting August 2015. In Oslo, Cappelen will also be a research director at the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature (CSMN). He will retain a part-time continuing position at..
Allen Phillips Griffiths (1927-2014)
Allen Phillips Griffiths, emeritus professor of philosophy at—and one of the founders of—the University of Warwick, has died. Professor Griffiths worked in a wide range of philosophical areas, including ethics and political philosophy, epistemology, and philosophy of psychology. There is a brief memorial notice here. Update (12/17/14): a longer obituary is now ..
The Most Disruptive Philosophical Idea
On the occasion of its 85th anniversary, Businessweek put together a list of the 85 “most disruptive” ideas during the past 85 years. Containing some predictable entries like the birth-control pill and email, as well as some odd ones such as kitty litter and name-brand jeans, the list offers not one philosophical idea. It is, of course, a business magazine; no surpr..
Separating Philosophy from Religious Studies and Theology (Updated)
In research on higher education, philosophy majors, religious studies majors, and theology majors are often grouped together. This is because the questionnaires used to create the main data sets on which this research is based group these majors together. This is not merely weird, given how different these fields are, but possibly detrimental to the reputation of ph..