$3 Million Chair in “Applied Critical Thinking”
An anonymous donor contributed $3 million for the creation of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Eugene H. Fram Chair in Applied Critical Thinking, named for a tough professor the donor had there over 30 years ago. One task that comes with the position: “spread the gospel of critical thinking across the university, from engineering to the technical arts to the huma..
Why Study the History of Philosophy?
In his contribution to A Teacher’s Life: Essays for Steven M. Cahn, David Rosenthal (CUNY) raises questions about philosophy’s fit with the humanities and the sciences, framed around the study of history.
A striking difference between those fields we classify as humanities and those we regard as sciences is the attitude within each field toward its history. Learning..
Heap of Links
1. A sculpture of Edgar Allen Poe, crafted by philosopher Stefanie Rocknak (Hartwick), will soon be unveiled at the corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South in Boston. This story’s a triple win: philosopher, art, and, of course, aptonym. Here’s other sculptural work by Rocknak. And here’s a post about how Poe anticipated the idea of the Big Bang.
2. A sea..
Intro to Philosophy…Department
At Texas Christian University, Introduction to Philosophy is team taught—and by “team” they mean the whole department, as a brief article in the school paper describes.
McCormick said she… enjoys the concept of team-teaching because each faculty member has the opportunity to introduce students to the different topics of philosophy they specialize in.
“We’re ea..
Philosophy of Time Gets Down to Business
Here’s a sentence you might never have expected to read:
“Drawing on his research on presentism, he has suggested a variety of ways in which we might refine the product.”
Jonathan Tallant, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Nottingham, has been brought on as a consultant by Time.ly, a Canadian firm that is developing time machines “produces event..
An Undergraduate’s Perspective on Colorado
Allison Blakeney, an alumna of the philosophy department at the University of Colorado, has penned a column for The Daily Camera on her reaction to the recent allegations of sexual misconduct there and her view of what should be done.
Alain Locke Given Place in Congressional Cemetary
This weekend, 60 years after his death, Locke is finally being given a permanent resting place in Capitol Hill’s Congressional Cemetery, where a polished-granite gravestone will sit across from the sandstone cenotaphs honoring early members of Congress and adjacent to the first director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, Warren Robbins.
The History of Racism in Philosophy
Christoph Meiners (1747-1810), a philosophy professor at the University of Göttingen and prolific scholar, initiated “a successful campaign to exclude Africa and Asia from the history of philosophy.” In turn, Wilhelm Tennemann (1761-1819), the most important Kantian historian at the turn of the 19th century, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (who observed that “real..
Experimental Philosophy Advances
Experimental philosophy is a young (and controversial) subdiscipline of philosophy, but enough of it has been conducted that potentially informative meta-analyses are now possible. The first ever x-phi meta-analysis to be published will soon be appearing in Consciousness and Cognition. It is by Adam Feltz (Michigan Tech) and Florian Cova (University of Geneva) and i..
Heap of Links
1. Why study paradoxes? Roy Cook (Minnesota) answers.
2. An argument for the following: “The maxim ‘my country must fight a war to end this episode of political violence and politically-induced suffering’ is approximately equivalent to the maxim ‘the political elites of my country may fight wars at the times and places of their choosing, for the reasons of their cho..
UIUC Board Votes Down Salaita Offer
The University of Illinois’s Board of Trustees voted on Thursday to deny the appointment of Steven G. Salaita to a professorship on the Urbana-Champaign campus, in the latest chapter of a month-old saga that has inflamed academe.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has the story.
UPDATE: Salaita and his attorneys release a statement.
Thoughts About the Analytic/Continental Distinction
The so-called Continental-analytic division within philosophy is not a philosophical distinction; it’s a sociological one. It is the product of historical accident. It is unreasonable to cleave to it, and the insistence on remaining closed to work that is either presumptively “analytic” or presumptively “Continental” is irrational and unphilosophical. Further, rejec..
Philosopher’s Eye / Climate Change
It has been around for a while, but in case you aren’t familiar with it, you may want to check out The Philosopher’s Eye. It’s Wiley-Blackwell’s philosophy blog. They “aim to provide regular thought-provoking coverage of real-world events with a critical, philosophical eye.” Recent features include three video interviews on philosophy and climate change, of Michael ..
Noteworthy Job Ad
I normally don’t link to job advertisements but you should really check out the position they’re hiring for in the Philosophy Department at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople.
Bad News for Apple
The big business news this week is that multinational corporation Apple released some new products. A report now reveals a serious problem with one of the devices, the Apple watch.
Retaliation and the Ketland Case (Guest Post by Heidi Lockwood)
Heidi Lockwood is associate professor of philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University. She works on topics in logic, metaphysics, and epistemology, and has also done quite a lot of work, both written and behind the scenes, on issues related to sexual misconduct in the academy. She has guest posted* at Daily Nous before. In the following open letter she addres..
Around the Philosoblogosphere
Here are some discussions going on elsewhere. Feel free to point to others in the comments.
1. The Brains blog is hosting a symposium on “Against Division: Consciousness, Information, and the Visual Streams,” by Wayne Wu (Carnegie Mellon) with commentaries from David Kaplan (Macquarie), Pete Mandik (William Paterson), and Thomas Schenk (Erlangen-Nuremberg).
2. “Wha..
Transcript and Video of Salaita’s Press Conference
The transcript of Steven Salaita’s remarks at today’s press conference is here, and a video of the event, including an introduction by one of his attorneys and comments from several others, is here.
Hacking Wins 2014 Balzan Prize
Ian Hacking (Toronto) has won the 2014 Balzan Prize for Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind. The prize includes 750,000 Swiss Francs (€620,000; $800,000 £490,000). Half of the amount must be designated by the winners to research projects. Hacking was selected
for his fundamental and pioneering contributions to philosophy and the history of social and natural scien..
Common Misconceptions about Philosophy
Wikipedia has a page dedicated to common misconceptions (via Kottke). While the page has sections for history, math, science, and food (among other things), there is no section for common misconceptions about philosophy. Might I suggest we create a list for one? I’ll start:
1. There are no common misconceptions about philosophy.
Varieties of Empathetic Philosophers
“If I could, I would make it so that everyone in the world could genuinely understand the perspective of everyone else; why they are frustrated, when they are, as well as why they are satisfied, when they are. I would like to grant everyone the capacity to see the situation of everyone else, as someone occupying that other person’s viewpoint, and feel what one would..
Salaita Updates
Steven Salaita (previously) will be speaking at a press conference today at 12:30 pm at the University YMCA in Urbana, Illinois. Details here. UPDATE: The text of Salaita’s remarks are here.
The boycott of UIUC has been joined by over 5000 academics, and appears to be having some effect. At least one university trustee has broken ranks.
Gerald Dworkin has a thoug..
Guidelines for Philosophical Discussion
David Chalmers has, with the help of some crowdsourcing, put together a list of “guidelines for respectful, constructive, and inclusive philosophical discussion.” They are “intended primarily for oral philosophical discussion in formal settings: colloquia, conferences, seminars, classes, and so on.”
It is a work in progress, and suggestions and comments are welcome.
AAAS Philosophy Report
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has released a second version of its Humanities Departmental Survey, the aim of which is to “fill critical gaps in our knowledge about the state of the humanities in higher education; specifically, about the number of faculty and students in the field and the role of humanities departments in their institutions and society” ..
The Purpose of Philosophy Class
It is not the purpose of a Philosophy class to transmit information or inculcate skills, however useful that may be. It is to introduce students to the life of the mind, with all the characterological as well as intellectual changes that requires. It is to welcome the young man or woman into a moral sphere in which argument, honesty, and a passion for ideas reign…
Heap of Links
1. Coseru on Pigliucci on Priest, i.e., what does Buddhism really have to say about contradictions?
2. A guide to Plato’s early and middle dialogues, with outlines, interpretive essays, and other supplementary material, has been created by Mark Anderson and Ginger Osborn (Belmont University), and is available for free here.
3. “Exercise. I’m sorry, you pasty, pale..
What Is “Continental Philosophy”?
In the comments to the last heap of links, dmf points to a post on Terence Blake’s blog, Agent Swarm, entitled “16 Traits of Continental Philosophy.” It’s a précis of a series of earlier posts defending the approach of Slavoj Žižek against critiques by Noam Chomsky. I think something like this list would be useful for overcoming certain philosophical prejudices, but..
Heap of Links
1. Human civilization is over, says Noam Chomsky.
2. But in case it’s not: a forum on parenthood and academia, at Times Higher Education.
3. Using statistics in your philosophical work? Need help? You can get free one-on-one stats consulting.
4. “Philosophy emerges in society when it loses meaning and fails to provide a unified and coherent picture of reality” — fr..