Cohen, the Latke-Hamantash Debate, and Incommensurability
Owing, sadly, to Ted Cohen’s death, I learned of the Latke-Hamantash debate, an academic debate, begun in 1946, over the relative merits of these two Jewish foods. Here is one of Cohen’s contributions to the debate. To me, the latke seems the clear winner here, but I imagine this must be the semi-finals and that the winner will eventually square off against the matz..
Latest on the Ludlow Story
The Chicago Reader sums up some of the latest news on the sexual assault allegations surrounding Northwestern University philosophy professor Peter Ludlow. The article includes a few brief excerpts from an interview the author conducted with the student.
Adrienne Martin (University of Pennsylvania) to Claremont McKenna
Adrienne Martin, associate professor of philosophy at University of Pennsylvania, will be moving to Claremont-McKenna to take up the Murty and Shankar Professorship of Philosophy, Politics & Economics. Professor Martin is known for, among other things, her work on hope.
Candidate Whose Offer was Rescinded Responds
W, a candidate for an assistant professorship in philosophy at Nazareth College whose offer was rescinded mid-negotiation responds to criticisms in this article at Inside Higher Ed and also at The Philosophy Smoker. Karen Kelsky, of the website The Professor is In, offers her opinion and some advice about negotiation in light of W’s experience, as does Katy Waldman ..
On What Matters (and How to)
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, whose recent book, Plato at the Googleplex, has been widely reviewed, pens a column for The Stone in The New York Times on social media, the ancients, and “mattering.”
The Philosophy of the Technology of the Future of Punishment
Rebecca Roache, a philosopher at Oxford and a fellow at its Future of Humanity Institute, is interviewed at Aeon Magazine about the ways in which emerging and future technologies could be used to change how we punish criminals. An article about the interview appears in the Telegraph. Roache also discusses technology and punishment in a blog post here.
Ted Cohen (1939-2014)
Ted Cohen, a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago, has died. Professor Cohen worked mainly in aesthetics, the history of aesthetics, and on some topics in the philosophy of language. He is especially known for his work on metaphor and the philosophy of humor, including his 1999 book, Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters.
Sara Bernstein (D..
Open Borders Day
Today is Open Borders Day, which seems to be the creation of the people who run the Open Borders website. The site is well put together, and considers various moral, economic, and practical considerations regarding migration. Though certainly pro-open-borders, they consider various objections, too. The site would certainly be of interest to social and political phil..
Philosophers among the 10 most famous people. Ever.
The NY Times Magazine has an article on MIT’s new Pantheon project, which aims to map “cultural production.” According to it, the top ten most famous people of all time, anywhere, include these philosophers: Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Confucius, and Pythagoras. Philosophy: come for the money, stay for the fame.
Philosophy Majors & IQ
If you were to rank undergraduate majors by average IQ, where would philosophy majors be on that list? Here is one such list, with IQ and SAT scores. I have no clue as to its methodology, but it has philosophy majors near the top. If accurate, it may cut against some claims often made about the benefits of majoring in philosophy.
Petition Asks APA to Develop Comprehensive Accessibility Policy
Shelley Tremain has launched a petition asking the APA to develop a comprehensive accessibility policy and to create an advisory group to oversee its implementation. You can sign the petition, as well as read a response to it from APA Executive Director Amy Ferrer, here.
Philosopher App Store (Friday Fun — an occasional series)
It’s Friday, and it is apparently a slow news day in the world of philosophy, so let’s make some fun. The Philosopher App Store is an idea some FB friends and I had a good time with several months back. At the time, one of them said, “someone needs to to post this on a blog.” Who am I to disagree? Here are some of my contributions from the first iteration of the sto..
Three Philosophers Win ACLS Fellowships
The American Council of Learned Societies has announced the winners of its 2013-14 Charles A. Ryskamp and Frederick Burkhardt Fellowship competitions. Three philosophers are among the winners. Congratulations to Sarah McGrath (Princeton) and Karl Schafer (Pittsburgh) for winning Ryskamp Fellowships, and to Andrew Chignell (Cornell) for winning a Burkhardt Fellowship.
Epistemic Humility
Ellen Fridland, a philosopher at King’s College London, reflects on recent upheavals in the philosophy blogosphere in this brief “Plea for Humility“.
…in times of upheaval, in times when the social norms change, there will be many people, many good-‐intentioned and good-‐willed people for whom the injustices of the status quo remain invisible, who don’t really u..
When An Offer Is Rescinded Mid-Negotiation
A candidate received an offer from Nazareth College, a small liberal arts college. She replied with a list of provisions that would “make my decision easier.” Then Nazareth withdrew the offer. The story is recounted in this article at Inside Higher Ed, including the text of the email exchange between the candidate and the college, and discussed in depth at The Philo..
Is “Life” Useless?
I have received lots of advice from friends about the blog, including “get a life.” Turns out this is easier said than done, since defining “life” is notoriously tricky. See this post at Scientific American for some of the problems nailing down the concept, and for further discussion, check out this special issue of Synthese.
#tmi?
You can follow Daily Nous via email by clicking “follow” at the top of the page. You can follow Daily Nous on Facebook by liking its page. Now, in response to several requests, I have made it possible for you to follow Daily Nous on Twitter; the handle is @DailyNousEditor. Sorry kids, I am not setting up a Snapchat account for the site. Yet.
Gillian Russell (Washington University in St.Louis) to North Carolina
Gillian Russell, currently associate professor of philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis has accepted an offer from UNC Chapel Hill and will be joining them as full professor starting in July, 2015. Professor Russell specializes in philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, and epistemology.
Philosophy for Children: How To
It has been said over and over that children are philosophers by nature. Less often said is that they aren’t particularly good philosophers. I don’t mean that as a criticism; after all, they’re just children. So what can we grown-up philosophers do to nurture their philosophical inquisitiveness and develop their reasoning skills–all while making sure they don’t use..
A Discussion of Tone in Philosophy
Leigh Johnson and Edward Kazarian discuss “tone” in recent discussions about issues in the profession over at NewApps. The post, as well as the ensuing discussion, are worth a read. So is the last paragraph of this.
Thirty Takes on Free Will
You really have no choice but to check out this issue of Methode Journal featuring thirty short interviews with philosophers about free will. It’s a terrific line-up, and each interview is downloadable as its own pdf.
Jobs Thread 2013-14 – Update
Are you a philosopher who has been hired this past season? Or are you someone who has hired a philosopher? If so, you can let the philosophical community know with this easy form. The information you submit will then be displayed for all to see in the table below. It can also be viewed in its own window here. (Thanks to Carolyn Dicey Jennings at the NewApps blog for..
How to Reject
The job-seeking process in philosophy is, to put it politely, generally long and drawn out and tiring and discouraging and costly and anxiety-ridden, a perfect storm of stress, self-doubt, and probably a bunch of other things that start with ‘s’ (no suggestions in the comments about that, please). What can those on the hiring side of the table do to make things bett..
The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Youtube Channel
There are a number of interesting videos of philosophy lectures collected on the Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Youtube Channel, including the annual lecture, this past year given by David Chalmers, entitled “Why Isn’t There More Progress In Philosophy?“
The Art of Teletransportation
Take Parfit’s teletransporters, add “someone’s modus ponens is another’s modus tollens,” throw in a dash of existentialism, and you’ll get “The Machine“, an interesting philosophy comic from Existential Comics (there are some other goods ones there, too; be warned that at least one of them is bit racy). See also John Weldon’s animated story about teletransportation,..
What Should a Statement of Professional Ethics for Philosophers Say?
As I noted last week, a petition was started, calling for the APA to create a “Code of Conduct and Statement of Professional Ethics for the Academic Discipline of Philosophy.” Meanwhile, Amy Ferrer, executive director of the APA, responded, saying that the matter will be considered at an upcoming meeting of the APA board of officers, and that it is currently APA pol..
APA Data on Graduate Programs
The APA has released its 2013 Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy, and Andrew Carson at Philosophy News helpfully breaks down the information in a couple of reports, one on degrees awarded and time to degree, the other on attrition and placement. A few things to note: participation in the guide was voluntary and some schools did not participate, the data is sel..
Famous Philosophy Majors in the News: Stokely Carmichael
NPR has a story about a new biography of civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael, who majored in philosophy at Howard University.