Raiders of the Lost Death Mask
For the past few years philosopher Sean Kelly (Harvard) has been on a quest to locate the missing “death mask” of Blaise Pascal. You didn’t even know it existed, let alone that it was missing, did you? The news story does not say that Kelly will be making use of the death mask in a bizarre cult ceremony in a secret temple located beneath Emerson Hall. But it doesn’t..
Comedians on Philosophers
Modern Day Philosophers is a series of podcasts of comedians talking about philosophers. It is hosted by comedian Danny Lobell, and has featured a variety of conversations with comedians discussing and learning about a variety of philosophers, including Lewis Black on William James, Janeane Garofalo on Tom Regan, Bill Burr on Adam Smith, Fred Stoller on Heraclitus, ..
Pretty Penny Paid for Plato
Blackwell’s bookshop in Oxford has sold its most expensive book ever: a two volume edition of the complete works of Plato, in the original ancient Greek, published in 1513. The price? £75,000. The mystery is: who bought it? The only clue the article gives is that the purchase was made by “an overseas institution.”
“Significant” Women Philosophers
Charles Murray (American Enterprise Institute), speaking at the University of Texas yesterday, reiterates that “he had found no ‘evidence’ to prove that any woman had been a ‘significant original thinker in any of the world’s great philosophical traditions.'” Story here. Gifs of people facepalming themselves here. I wonder what he thinks we would learn from such a c..
You’ve Got To Know When To Tollens…
Professional poker player Sam Holden will be walking away from the table to pursue a degree in philosophy at the University of Kent. Story here.
At his blog, Holden writes:
Over the past few years, before properly considering life after poker, I’ve tried to embrace my inner geek. I find myself listening to debates, podcasts, lectures and speeches whilst playing o..
Impoverished Graduate Students
“The poverty of graduate school is often joked about. How many professors reminisce fondly about just scraping by in grad school? How many people joke about the number of people they fit in their hotel room at the conference or how many times they had to eat ramen?” For some students from poorer families, though, the poverty of graduate school is no laughing matter…
Philosophy in 1000 Words or Less
Andrew Chapman, a philosophy graduate student at University of Colorado, has started a website called 1000-Word Philosophy, a collection of introductory philosophy essays, each 1000 words or less. From the site’s about page:
Professional philosophy can seem abstract, esoteric, and hyper-specialized. But we all ask and try to answer philosophical questions myriad time..
4 Out of 5 Top “Global Thought Leaders” Are Philosophers
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) recently released its 2013 list of “Global Thought Leaders” and 4 out of the top 5 are philosophers, as Peter Singer reports. How is the ranking done? “In our analysis, the importance and influence of a thinker and/or idea is measured not only by how well they come across in a particular segment or on a specific platform such ..
Nagel on Wallace on Regret
Thomas Nagel, who wrote, among other things, The View from Nowhere, reviews R. Jay Wallace‘s The View from Here in the London Review of Books. The book is about the “complex interaction and competition between the attitudes of affirmation and regret that are almost inevitable as we look back on our lives and celebrate or deplore the conditions and choices that have ..
Anthony Brueckner (1953-2014)
Anthony Brueckner, a professor of philosophy at UC Santa Barbara, has died. Professor Brueckner worked mainly in epistemology. He is the author of Essays on Skepticism and many articles (I recall a time when it seemed like every issue of Analysis had at least one article by him in it). Those interested may care to read an article Brueckner wrote with John Martin Fis..
How Political Should the APA Be?
An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses whether professional academic organizations should take overt stances on the political issues of the day. The American Philosophical Association is not mentioned in the article, though others are, such as the American Economic Association, the American Political Science Association, and the American History A..
The Anthropology of the College Professor
Anthropologist John Ziker (Boise State) applied the tools of his trade to the species homo academicus and reports the first of his findings on how professors use their time. Some excerpts:
On average, our faculty participants worked 61 hours per week. That is 50 percent more than a 40-hour workweek. It’s a good thing they love what they do. They worked just over 10 ..
World’s Largest Philosophy and Music Festival
I don’t know what the other competitors for this title are, but apparently the world’s largest philosophy and music festival, How The Light Gets In, will be taking place from May 22nd to June 1st in Hay-on-Wye in Wales. It is indeed a big event. Philosophers on the roster include Simon Blackburn, Nancy Cartwright, John Harris, John Heil, Angie Hobbs, Ted Honderich, ..
Solutions to the Jobs Problem?
Eleanor Dickey, professor of classics at University of Reading, has been soliciting possible responses to the problem of the high ratio of PhD holders to academic jobs. She writes, “I received nearly a hundred responses, most containing heart-rending tales of woe as well as exciting ideas for tackling the issue. Clearly the problem is a major one, and the people suf..
Dungeons and Dragons and Derrida
For the readership in that part of the Venn diagram where the “Dungeons & Dragons”, “Continental Philosophy”, and “Sense of Humor About Yourself” circles overlap: “The Orc-Paladin relationship is nothing more than an oppressive power structure, which can be traced back to the medieval relationship between the priesthood and the lepers.” (Note the mouse-over text is ..
AAUP’s Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession
There’s lots of information and analysis in the AAUP’s Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, which was released today. Find it here.
UPDATE: Analysis at Inside Higher Ed and a searchable table at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Helping Those Who Leave: What Can Departments Do?
For various reasons–personal, institutional, cultural, structural, etc.–some academics decide that the better course of action for them is to pursue careers outside of academia. Most PhD programs in philosophy, as far as I know, are not particularly interested in, or well set-up to be, helping their current students or recent graduates pursue non-academic careers…
One Month!
I started Daily Nous on March 7 — one month ago today. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues in the profession for their encouragement of this project. I am also very appreciative of those of you who have sent in news items for me to post. Please keep doing so! Occasionally I have had posts that ask for your opinions and input; I am grateful to those who ..
The Sad Prospects for Reasoned Agreement
“And what kind of man am I? One of those who would gladly be refuted if anything I say is not true, and would gladly refute another who says what is not true, but would be no less happy to be refuted myself than to refute…”
That is Socrates (Gorgias 458A). I put that quote on all of my syllabi, as a reminder to my students of what I like to call the “philosophical d..
A Defense of the History of Philosophy
Graham Priest (CUNY, Melbourne) presents a brief defense of the history of philosophy over at the OUP blog.
One of my friends said that he regards the history of philosophy as rather like a text book of chess openings. Just as it is part of being a good chess player to know the openings, it is part of being a good philosopher to know standard views and arguments, so..
Philosophy of Choking
Massimiliano Cappuccio, an assistant professor of philosophy at United Arab Emirates University, has received a grant for over $100,000 for “examining the theory of ‘the choking effect’ – when less experienced athletes crumble under pressure – and looking for ways to overcome this.” Details here.
Nancy Snow (Marquette) Wins $2.6 Million to Study Virtue
Nancy Snow (Marquette University) has won a $2.6 million grant from the Templeton Religious Trust for a project called “The Self, Motivation, and Virtue.” More info here and on the Marquette Philosophy Department’s home page.
Chang on Sexual Harassment in Philosophy
Ruth Chang (Rutgers) is interviewed at 3am Magazine. Apart from a good discussion of her work on incomparability, the interview also includes some thoughts from Chang on sexual harassment in philosophy. Here’s one excerpt:
It’s not that we have to blog about it or call up the victim, whomever we might believe him/her to be, but even casual remarks to colleagues in a ..
Aphorisms, Quips, and Tweets
Epictetus, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein — they’re just some of the philosophers known for putting big ideas into small packages. They are great to read, yet the aphoristic or epigrammatic style is not very common among philosophers today. Sydney Morgenbesser comes to mind as a more recent master of the philosophical quip (e.g., “Of course pragmatism is true; the trouble..
A ____________ of Philosophers (Friday Fun)
A pride of lions, a murmuration of starlings, a dazzle of zebras, an eloquence of lawyers, a pack of lies — the English language has some unusual names for collectives. Sometimes the collective names apply only when the members of the groups are engaged in certain actions, for example, a group of ducks swimming is a raft of ducks, while a group of ducks flying is a..
Rawlsian Links
Bookforum’s Omnivore has an assortment of links up about Rawls, distributive justice, and related topics.
Philosophers and Science in the News
Were Einstein’s complaints about quantum theory evidence of his senility? Some people think so, but Thomas Ryckman (Stanford) says no, defending Einstein and the importance of philosophy to physics, as reported at phys.org. Also, over at Huffington Post there’s a story on how the idea of a multiverse might be owed to 13th Century philosopher Robert Grosseteste.
Philosophy in Childrens’ Books
Once upon a time, there was a website called History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, run by a man named Peter Adamson. On the website was a blog that Peter Adamson wrote. And on that blog, boys and girls, was a very nice collection of philosophical excerpts from childrens’ books. Take a look and live happily ever after. The end.