Heap of Links
1. “Scientists that talk philosophy down are simply superficial: they have a philosophy (usually some ill-digested mixture of Popper and Kuhn) and think that this is the “true” philosophy, and do not realize that this has limitations,” says scientist.
2. The Phaedo may be missing some painful, convulsive, gasping.
3. The Critique is a site that aims to bring philoso..
Dan Kaufman Sues University of Colorado
Dan Kaufman, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, is suing his university and several of its employees for $2 million for damages relating to his “banishment” from campus for two months this past spring.
Kaufman has filed four notices of claim, a step required by Colorado law for anyone seeking to sue a public entity, and alleges that he h..
Salaita Decision Reaffirmed
It does not appear that the University of Illinois will be altering the decision to rescind Steven Salaita’s job offer. From a post at the “Chancellor’s Blog”:
The decision regarding Prof. Salaita was not influenced in any way by his positions on the conflict in the Middle East nor his criticism of Israel….
We are a university built on precisely this type of dialogu..
How to Accelerate Refereeing
People have been experimenting on journal referees and have learned some useful information. First off, whatever you do, don’t ask Professor Procrastinate to referee for you. He cannot be trusted. Second, shorten deadlines. Third, offer cash rewards or publicize how long the referees took to do the work.
We randomly assign referees to four groups: a control group wit..
What Are Professional Philosophers For?
Most academic philosophy departments see themselves primarily as housing a specialized academic discipline, and contributing only incidentally here or there to a university’s general education curriculum. The priority needs to be reversed. Frankly, there is little or no need for specialized academic philosophy; if it disappeared overnight, the only ones who would no..
Grad Traps! (Guest Post by Daniel Silvermint)
Grad students of philosophy! And other relevant parties! Behold! Daniel Silvermint, assistant professor of philosophy and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Connecticut, has developed a list of unhelpful thoughts that might occur to you every once in a while. He calls them “grad traps,” and the idea is that if you are able to recognize t..
Ferguson & Philosophy Class
It is the beginning of the school year. Some professors start off their first class with deep puzzles, or thought experiments, or polls. Others begin with definitions of philosophy or by reciting and discussing inspiring passages from great philosophical works. Still others, strangely, hand out syllabi and read through them. There are those, though, that like to bri..
Gillian Bennett, Dementia, and Assisted Suicide
I will take my life today around noon. It is time. Dementia is taking its toll and I have nearly lost myself. I have nearly lost me. Jonathan, the straightest and brightest of men, will be at my side as a loving witness….
We do NOT talk much about how we die. Yet facing death is thoroughly interesting and absorbing and challenging. I have choices which I have revie..
Update on Barnett
David Barnett, whom the University of Colorado is attempting to fire based on claims that he retaliated against a graduate student for her accusations of sexual assault by fellow graduate student (previously), “has been given relief from teaching duties, with pay, until he is given a hearing on the allegations against him,” according to his attorney. Barnett, an ass..
Virtual Dissertation Writers Groups
Joshua Smart, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Missouri, is coordinating the formation of virtual discussion groups for dissertation writers. He writes:
Here’s the basic setup. Interested students can fill out the contact form… and at the beginning of each semester I will email all participants with the information for their three-membered group…
On Being Professional Philosophers and Parents
Helen De Cruz has interviewed seven tenured philosophy professors about parenthood’s effects on their careers. She has a post about it at NewAPPS, which makes for an interesting read, and others are sharing their own experiences in the comments.
Heap of Links
1. What should we think about the ice bucket challenge?
2. Al Mele (Florida State) and Eddy Nahmias (Georgia State) talk about free will and science at Philosophy TV.
3. The challenges for an analytic feminist philosopher of religion.
4. Free for you to use: a Prezi tour through the history of Western philosophy, by Mark Alfano (University of Oregon).
5. Why a philo..
Moral Philosopher Busts Fraudster
Jonathan Glover (KCL) can add “crime-fighter” to his list of accomplishments. The Hampstead & Highgate Express reports:
A fraudster is facing jail after a bungled attempt to dupe a world-renowned philosopher into handing over his bank cards. Nishathur Chowdhury was arrested at the Primrose Hill home of Professor Jonathan Glover, a best-selling author and leading mor..
Loeb Classical Library — Online Soon
Harvard University Press is digitizing the entirety of The Loeb Classical Library and putting it online. While a free trial will be available, permanent access to the collection will be through paid individual and institutional subscriptions. For book lovers, the familiar little red and green hard copies will remain in print. There is an article about the online ver..
The Best Articles on Aesthetics
In a comment on the post about Philosopher’s Annual and articles in philosophy of race and gender, Tom Cochrane (Sheffield) writes:
Note that they haven’t selected article on aesthetics/philosophy of art since 1982 (William Freedman: The Relevance of the Truth-Standard from The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism). And the only other one I see is Stephen Davies ..
The Best Philosophy Articles on Race and Gender
The selections for the latest Philosopher’s Annual, which takes as its goal “to select the ten best articles published in philosophy each year—an attempt as simple to state as it is admittedly impossible to fulfill” have been made. At the Philosop-her blog, Meena Krishnamurthy (Manitoba) notes that the latest volume, unlike any over the past decade, includes article..
Ignorance “Justifies” Ignorance (More on Non-Western Philosophy)
It is… worth inquiring why classical Chinese philosophers are not especially influential in contemporary U.S. philosophy. One possibility is historical accident: Because the dominant culture in the United States traces back to Europe, the classical Chinese philosophers were not taught to, and thus not read by, the succeeding generations. Ignorance thus apparently ..
Hiring and “Unofficial” Information
The recent story about East Carolina’s offer to Colin McGinn has generated a variety of reactions, some of which concern what kinds of information it’s permissible for academic employers to take into account in deciding whether to make someone an offer. Of particular concern here is the status of information about a candidate’s past behavior that could be categorize..
More on McGinn’s Offer
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on East Carolina’s offer to McGinn (previously). The article confirms the earlier report, saying “The philosophy department had chosen Colin McGinn for a one-year appointment, but administrators declined to accept the department’s choice, without saying why.”
The appointment was for the “Whichard Distinguished Professorship” ..
More on the Homogeneity of Philosophy
Continuing on the theme of the homogeneity of philosophy:
I strongly believe that it is central to a thorough education in the human sciences that we be compelled to learn in detail about traditions that precisely and obstinately do not speak to us…. I want to move myself somewhere other than where I started out. I agree that it is most urgent for the ‘white men’ w..
McGinn Offered Visiting Professorship
Colin McGinn, who left the University of Miami last year amid allegations of sexual harassment, was recently offered a one-year Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Department of Philosophy at East Carolina University. Apparently, the faculty in the department were in favor of the offer, however, the vice-chancellor of the university has interfered with the a..
Protevi on Salaita on TV
John Protevi (LSU), who has been leading the contingent of philosophers protesting the University of Illinois for its decision to rescind an offer to Steven Salaita for his controversial tweets about the conflict in Gaza, was recently interviewed about the story on an Illinois television news program. You can see the list of other philosophers involved here.
Heap of Links
1. Do athletes need more philosophy?
2. Bertrand Russell plays himself, being interviewed, as part of a 1967 Bollywood movie. A Buddhist monk explains, and links to the clip.
3. Are people abusing Jonathan Bennett’s earlymoderntexts.com? Eric Schliesser comments.
4. What do our students want from us? For us to challenge them, and for us to care.
5. A review of a new..
Philosophy Banned in Northern Syrian City
The Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist group has banned the study of philosophy and chemistry in schools in the northern Syrian city of al-Raqa and established an “Islamic curriculum” for students, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Friday.
Of course, the absence of philosophy in the schools is probably the least of the problems in that region, but ..
Heap of Links
1. Nicholas Kristof, writing in The New York Times, defends the value of the humanities by explaining how he has been affected by the ideas of Isaiah Berlin, John Rawls, and Peter Singer.
2. CBS will be airing a television drama that “centers on a brilliant bioethicist who is called in at crisis moments to solve the most complicated, dynamic, and confounding medica..
The Homogeneity of Philosophy
In my own department, I tried to stimulate discussion about what could be done to increase diversity. The faculty and my fellow graduate students were, to their credit, perfectly happy to have more women and minorities in the department. In fact, many spoke openly about their desire to see a more diverse department. This desire, however, seemed to be a desire mostly..
On Moderation
Here at Daily Nous, comments are moderated. Over the past several months, I have heard some complaints and received some questions about the moderation here, so I thought I would take a moment to speak to these.
Question: Why do you moderate comments at your blog?
Answer: Because I am no fun. Anti-fun, actually.
Question: No, seriously. Why?
Answer: Because I must hav..
Confusion
“It seems that, if you just present the correct information, five things happen,” he said. “One, students think they know it. Two, they don’t pay their utmost attention. Three, they don’t recognize that what was presented differs from what they were already thinking. Four, they don’t learn a thing. And five, perhaps most troublingly, they get more confident in the i..