Daily Nous

Trolley Problem Solved (Daily Mousse)

After years combing through the details and knotty issues of the Trolley Problem, Judith Jarvis Thomson has come up with what she says is a novel solution. In a new article appearing in the journal Capillus, she first irons out what the problem is:

A trolley is speeding down the track towards five people who are stuck to it and will be killed if the trolley hits th..

Searle Awarded Lifetime Achievement Hat (Daily Mousse)

John Searle was recently bestowed with a lifetime achievement hat by SCALP (Skull Covering Association for Lively Philosophers). SCALP, one of the oldest philosophical societies, is known for its unusual choices, and it lived up to its reputation this time with its selection of a deerstalker, which Searle is sporting in this photo. Previous awards include a shower c..

Objections Raised to Chalmers’ Haircut (Daily Mousse)

A recent conference at Paul Mitchell University took as its focus some new work on philosophers of mind. Dominating the event were several sessions on David Chalmers’ new haircut (‘before’ photo here). A panel on Chalmers and other rockstars favorably compared his transformation with those of David Lee Roth and Jon Bon Jovi. However, there was also some criticism. “..

From Nous to Mousse

A recent argument from David Killoren (Coastal Carolina) has convinced me to shift the direction of the blog. He writes:

Case 1: You’re looking at the Daily Nous banner logo. Case 2: You’re looking at a hair salon’s logo circa 1986. How can you distinguish these experiences? A skeptical problem.

I have tangled privately with this for some time, but now it is time ..

Good News For Rutgers

The Mellon Foundation has donated $1.5 million to create the first endowed chair in philosophy at Rutgers. This was supplemented by a matching gift of another $1.5 million from an anonymous donor. Whoa.

Pointless speculation about who will get appointed to this chair to begin in 3… 2….

APA Members with Disabilities Respond to “Unfounded Accusations”

Three members of the APA Inclusiveness Committee publish a statement “to correct unfounded accusations that the American Philosophical Association (APA) discriminates based on disability against people like us.” (This is in response to a recent petition noted here.)

William Harper Wins Prize from American Philosophical Society

William Harper, a philosopher at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University (London, Ontario), and one of the few philosophers (I’m assuming) to have an asteroid named after him, is the recipient of the 2014 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science. The philosophy of science prize, which includes a $10,000 honorarium, is awarded once every three y..

When Do You Write?

This informative and well-designed poster illustrates the work habits and daily routines of a number of famous “creatives,” including Kant. If it is to be believed, Kant wrote from 6-7am. Wait, what? One hour a day? Well if you add up enough days…

How about philosophers today? When do you typically get your writing done? Answer in the poll below, picking the on..

APA Central Seeks Continental Philosophy

Janice Dowell, program committee chair for the 2015 Central Division meeting of the APA, says that the committee would like to especially encourage submissions in continental philosophy. She writes, “Continental philosophy is often underrepresented on our submitted program and one source of the difficulty seems to be that we receive so few submissions in that area.”..

Philosophy Talk’s “Community of Thinkers”

Philosophy Talk, the philosophy radio show hosted by John Perry and Ken Taylor, is seeking help. “After 10 years of getting roughly 80% of our financial support from Stanford University, Philosophy Talk can no longer count on that level of support from the University.” They have introduced a funding program called “Community of Thinkers” that gives donors special pe..

Heap of Links

1. A philosophy undergrad reflects on anxiety and racial stereotypes in philosophy teaching (via Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins, who shares her thoughts on the post here.)

2. At North Idaho College, the philosophy club arranged an event at which “impassioned students met with faculty to discuss the possibility of adding three classes into the curriculum.” The meeting and ..

Philosophers of Food (Friday Fun)

Think of a philosopher. Now think of that philosopher’s signature food, named in honor of said philosopher. What is it called and what is it like?

examples:

Derek Parfait – amazingly large ice cream sundae, served with a very very tiny spoon, for your total enjoyment.

Peppermint Patty Churchland – this mouthwatering confection will leave you speechless, mainly b..

What’s So Good About Studying Philosophy?

This piece in the UC Berkeley alumni magazine brings together the answers of a number of people, from current students to professors to people who have pursued a wide range of careers outside of academia. This quote from John MacFarlane, chair of the Department of Philosophy at Berkeley, is great:

“There’s a kind of pre-professional way of looking at it as, ‘Well, th..

How Should Journals Instruct Referees?

“How, then, can philosophy become more inclusive and less boring?” Over at the Philosopher’s Cocoon, Marcus Arvan suggests that one way might be to have journals give referees different instructions from what they typically do.

The APA’s New Journal

Amy Ferrer continues her series of guest posts at NewAPPS with some details about the new Journal of the American Philosophical Association. Among other things, she writes:

As our editorial statement indicates, we favor clear, succinct papers that go out on a limb, papers that take a chance, papers exhibiting fresh perspectives on familiar problems. This is of a pi..

Concrete Suggestions for Breaking the Silence

There has been quite a bit of talk lately regarding speaking out about problems in the profession. This prompted one reader to send in the following request:

I would appreciate a post that invites suggestions, concrete suggestions, about how a woman who has been sexually assaulted or harassed might actually speak out. This includes women who have been harassed/assau..

Oxford Tutor Jeffrey Ketland Fired

Jeffrey Ketland, a philosophy fellow and tutor at Pembroke College at Oxford University, who was accused of harassment of a BPhil student who later committed suicide, has been fired from his position.

Will a Philosopher be the 2014 “World Thinker”?

Prospect Magazine’s “World Thinker” competition is underway. Among the 50 candidates are 14 people listed as philosophers: Elizabeth Anderson, Nick Bostrom, Judith Butler, Patricia Churchland, Daniel Dennett, Jürgen Habermas, Rae Langton, Thomas Nagel, Martha Nussbaum, Derek Parfit, Janet Radcliffe-Richards, Amartya Sen, Roberto Unger, and Slavoj Žižek. You can vote..

Harman & Martin on Mitochondrial DNA Transfer in the NY Times

Elizabeth Harman (Princeton) and Adrienne Martin (Penn) have a short letter to the editor in the New York Times in response to this article about mitochondrial DNA transfers.

Amy Ferrer Discusses the Site Visit Program

Amy Ferrer, executive director of the APA, discusses the Site Visit Program of the APA’s Committee on the Status of Women in a post over at NewAPPS.

“Waiter, There’s A Fly In My Soup!”

“Yes, I see him, trapped, floating helplessly on the surface of the broth, spinning slowly near the vortex left by your quickly withdrawn spoon, much as humanity rides atop the surface of life, unable to escape its predicament yet unwilling to dive in and explore it, instead knocked about by uncomprehended forces, heads set spinning by God’s hasty retreat, mere obse..

Tim Crane Talks Metaphysics

It used to be that a trip to the bookstore in search of a volume on metaphysics would bring you face to face with titles about spirits, crystals, energy, and the like. But now things are much better. I mean, you’ll still get howlers like this or this or even this when you search for metaphysics at a place like Amazon, but generally the selection is good and there is..

Saying Something if You See Something

Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins has some cautiously encouraging words for junior faculty who have “things to say” about our profession. She knows you are quite possibly nervous, and not unreasonably worried about professional harm, yet:

Philosophers, even senior philosophers, are very far from being a unified bunch with respect to their opinions on current issues in the pro..

Philosophy: The Trivia Game

Perhaps you know how to solve the mind-body problem, or how to prove that eternalism is (and always has been) true, or even which dinner party rules can be known a priori. But do you know which philosophers have appeared in which movies? Or which philosophical claims are linked to which couples of philosophers? Or which nasty line from a philosophical book review wa..

Brandom Interviewed

Jeffrey J. Williams conducts a wide-ranging and thoughtful interview with Bob Brandom in the journal Symploke. The interview (PDF) covers Brandom’s thoughts about the enterprise of philosophy, its analytic and continental traditions, its major figures, as well as reflections on his own life and career.

From the interview:

Jeffrey J. Williams: What would you say, in..

Saint Louis University has received a grant of $2.7 million from the The John Templeton Foundation to explore the subject of intellectual humility. Contributions by SLU bring the total grant to over $3 million. The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility project will focus on a variety of philosophical and theological issues relevant to the topic of intelle..