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Philosophers Argue Against Equal Fetal Rights Amendment in Irish Constitution
A referendum is being conducted this week in Ireland over whether to repeal the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, which declares that “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that righ..
Judge Cites Philosophers in Decision on Chimpanzee Case
The State of New York Court of Appeals rendered a verdict yesterday in a case involving the question of whether chimpanzees are persons, and in doing so, cited the work of Tom Regan and an amicus curiae written by several philosophers. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Here’s the occasional collection of 10 recent items from the Daily Nous Heap of Links, our regularly updated list of material from around the web that philosophers may want to check out—AKA Mini-Heap. (more…)
Stubblefield Pleads Guilty (Update: Sentenced to “Time Served”)
Anna Stubblefield, the former professor of philosophy at Rutgers University-Newark whose October 2015 conviction for sexually assaulting a disabled man was overturned last June, has now pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact. (more…)
Mini-Heap
Here’s the latest edition of Mini-Heap—10 recent items from the Daily Nous Heap of Links, our regularly updated list of material from around the web that philosophers may want to check out. (more…)
Philosophers Help Fight for Chimpanzee Personhood
Seventeen philosophers co-authored and submitted to the New York Court of Appeals an amicus curiae brief in support of legal personhood for a pair of chimpanzees. (more…)
Philosophy Professor Charged With Possession of Child Pornography (updated)
A professor of philosophy at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania was arrested last Thursday after child pornography was discovered on his university-issued computer. (more…)
Philosophy for the Police
In 2015, Freddie Gray suffered fatal injuries in the back of a police van. Since then, the Baltimore police department has instituted various reforms, including an educational program for police that includes philosophy and literature. (more…)
Claims About Cultural Superiority (including guest post by Mollie Gerver)
All cultures are not equal. Or at least they are not equal in preparing people to be productive in an advanced economy. The culture of the Plains Indians was designed for nomadic hunters, but is not suited to a First World, 21st-century environment. Nor are the single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-“acting white” r..
Tirrell from U Mass Boston to Connecticut
Lynne Tirrell, professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, will become professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut and have an affiliation with the university’s Human Rights Institute, effective this fall. (more…)
Philosophy Time with James Franco (guest post by Eliot Michaelson)
The following is a guest post* by Eliot Michaelson, Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at King’s College London, about Philosophy Time, a series of philosophy videos he created with actor James Franco. (more…)
McMahan & Singer: Stubblefield Is A Victim Of Injustice (updated)
In an essay at The New York Times’ “The Stone,” two of the most prominent living moral philosophers—Jeff McMahan, White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University, and Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University—argue that Anna Stubblefield, a former professor of philosophy at Rut..
Politically, What Should Philosophers, Qua Philosophers, Do?
A pair of philosophy graduate students write in with a topic for discussion:
Dear Philosophical Community,
Like many of our graduate student and faculty colleagues in philosophy, we are becoming increasingly alarmed by our political situation as the Trump administration has made good on reprehensible campaign promises. (more…)
On Reporting Green-Card Marriages
The latest edition of “The Ethicist,” the The New York Times‘ moral advice column (published last Wednesday), takes as its topic sham green-card marriages. The advice seeker asks current Times ethicist, Kwame Anthony Appiah (NYU), whether she should report that at a wedding of an acquaintance, the bride explained to her that the marriage “was a fraud, one she’d ent..
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
The weekly update took a couple of weeks off during winter break, when there aren’t many updates to update you about, but now it’s back. Here’s 2017’s first weekly report of what’s new at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), and Wi-Phi. (more…)
2016 Philosophy News in Review, Part 1
What were the news stories, events, and issues that occupied the philosophy profession in 2016? Here’s part one of a month-by-month look at some of the more popular and interesting posts here at Daily Nous over the past year. (more…)
APA Issues Statement on 2016 US Presidential Election
The board of officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) today issued the following statement on the 2016 U.S. presidential election:
Leading up to the United States presidential election one month ago and in the weeks since, the nation has experienced increasingly divisive rhetoric and a rise in bias-based attacks on members of vulnerable groups. In..
Who Does Public Philosophy?
The American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Public Philosophy is compiling a list of philosophers who have careers doing public philosophy, either exclusively or concurrently with careers in academic philosophy, and can use your help in identifying them.
There are a variety of ways to do public philosophy, so to be more specific, the committee is lookin..
Snobbery, Outreach, and the Academic
Nancy McHugh, professor of philosophy at Wittenberg University, teaches philosophy in prisons as part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. These classes are held in prison and have 15 regularly enrolled undergraduates (“outside” students) in them and 15 students who are inmates (“inside” students). McHugh recently co-authored a paper with a group that included..
Philosophers On The DNC Leaks
Earlier this month, the website Wikileaks released a collection of over 19,000 emails from seven officials of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). You can search through them here. While Wikileaks will not disclose information about how it obtained these emails, many experts believe that two Russian intelligence groups were involved. The Russian government deni..
Morton White (1917-2016)
Morton White, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, died on May 27th. Over the course of his career he taught philosophy at City College of New York, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. (more…)
Other Two-Body Problems (guest post by Carol Hay & John Kaag)
The following is a guest post* by a couple of philosophers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell—Carol Hay, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Gender Studies, and John Kaag, Professor of Philosophy—on being a couple of philosophers: not just in the same discipline, but in the same department. (more…)
Philosophers On the 2016 U.S. Presidential Race
How is it that, at the same time, possibly the most principled and possibly the least principled politicians the U.S. has seen in recent times are both serious contenders for the presidency? How are voters weighing the progressiveness of supporting a woman candidate for president versus the regressiveness of creating another political dynasty? What does the failure,..
Philosophy Student Arrested in Turkey (updated)
Jülide Yazıcı, a student in the Philosophy Department in Boğaziçi University who was active on social media supporting academics threatened by the Turkish government, was arrested two days ago. According to one source, she was charged with “being a member of an armed terrorist organisation” and “spreading terrorist propaganda.” The specifics of the accusations are u..
Philosophy Professor To Stand Trial in Turkey (Updated with Statement from Professor Öymen and Additional News)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A philosophy professor says he will stand trial next week on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for suggesting in an article that the Turkish leader should go on trial over a range of claims, including alleged corruption and the violation of the constitution.
Orsan Oymen said Wednesday he fac..
Persecution of Academics in Turkey (updated)
Academics in Turkey are facing official accusations of ““terrorist propaganda,” “inciting people to hatred, violence and breaking the law,” and “insulting Turkish institutions and the Turkish Republic” for signing a petition calling for peace and objecting to their government’s treatment of citizens in the country’s Kurdish provinces. In part, the petition reads:
..
Philosophers On Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Spoilers)
The latest Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, opened at the end of last week. It’s a fun movie. But is it more than just that? I asked a few philosophers who are Star Wars fans to write brief reviews of the movie for Daily Nous. Be warned, there are spoilers in these reviews.
I know what you’re thinking: “philosophers writing about Star Wars? Does it get any ner..
Philosophers Form New “Justice Without Retribution Network”
There’s a new project to bring philosophy to bear on policy issues. In this case it is free will skepticism and criminal justice.
Gregg Caruso (SUNY Corning), Farah Focquaert (Ghent), Derk Pereboom (Cornell), and Elizabeth Shaw (Aberdeen) have formed the Justice Without Retribution Network.
The Justice Without Retribution Network (JWRN) will bring together res..