public philosophy
Glasgow Wins APA’s Baumgardt Fellowship
Joshua Glasgow, Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Sonoma State University and director of the university’s Center for Ethics, Law, and Society, is the winner of the 2017 David Baumgardt Memorial Fellowship. (more…)
Hubert Dreyfus (1929-2017)
Hubert Dreyfus, a renowned philosopher and a professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley for almost 50 years, died early Saturday morning. He was 87 years old.
Don’t Turn It Off (guest post by Danielle Wenner)
The following is a guest post* by Danielle Wenner, assistant professor of philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. It’s a response to Monday’s post, “When To Turn It Off.” (more…)
Most Philosophers Favor Efforts To Broaden The Discipline
Last year, Valerie Tiberius, professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, conducted what she called “The Value of Philosophy Survey.” Over 2,500 philosophers responded to the survey, which asked 24 questions, and in her Presidential Address at the Central Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) last month, Professor Tiberius discu..
Mini-Heap
Mini-Heap: the last 10 11 items from the Heap of Links, collected here for your perusal and discussion… (more…)
When To Turn It Off
Here’s a… hypothesis for why many habits of philosophical thinking might not come naturally. The hypothesis is that some tools for critical evaluation run counter to another valuable set of tools: our tools for effective social engagement. These tools help us make sense of what someone is saying by encouraging us to interpret underspecified claims in the most posi..
New Essay Prize For Early Career Philosophers
The philosophy journal Mind, which was established in 1876 and has long served as a prominent venue for analytic philosophy, and which recently broadened its scope to include a greater variety of philosophy, has established a new essay competition. The journal and its publisher, Oxford University Press (OUP), have announced that the winner will receive a cash prize ..
Did Gorsuch Plagiarize? Philosophers & Others Consulted (updated)
Politico has consulted several “experts on academic integrity” to assess whether Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch plagiariazed parts of his book, The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, which was a revised version of his D.Phil thesis, as well as an article in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, while the White House has produced statements from sev..
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..
Central European University Under Threat From Hungarian Government
Central European University (CEU) is a private graduate-level university located in Budapest, and accredited both in the United States and in Hungary. Founded in 1991 by George Soros and currently headed by Michael Ignatieff, CEU has a variety of academic departments and research programs, including a sizable philosophy faculty. Now the university is finding its exi..
APA Issues Statement to Support March for Science
The Board of Officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) has issued a statement in support of the March for Science, a demonstration taking place next month which “champions robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity” and which calls for “science that upholds the common good and for political leaders an..
A Grassroots Organizing Network Among Philosophers (guest post by Todd May)
The following is a guest post* by Todd May, Class of 1941 Memorial Professor of Philosophy at Clemson University, in which proposes the creation of a grassroots organizing network among philosophers and invites other philosophers to consider joining. (more…)
Sexual Harassment, Assault, and Retaliation Lawsuit Against John Searle
John Searle, the Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Language at the University of California, Berkeley, is being sued for sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation by a former female Berkeley undergraduate who worked for him as an assistant at the John Searle Center for Social Ontology. (more…)
Onora O’Neill Wins $500K Holberg Prize
Philosopher and Baroness Onora O’Neill has been named the winner of this year’s Holberg Prize. The prize “is awarded annually to a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to research in the arts and humanities, social science, law or theology, either within one of these fields or through interdisciplinary work,” according to the prize’s website. It was create..
Teach Everyone Logic?
Clifford argued that we are morally responsible not merely for what we do and say, but also for what we believe… When we show ourselves to be uncritical and careless with own our beliefs, we implicitly invite others to do the same. And, perhaps more obviously, we invite others to fool us. We encourage dishonesty and deception. Each time we believe something that ..
Hiring Departments: Don’t Do This
A philosophy department hiring this year publicly announced who it hired (a) before it had received a signed contract from the candidate and (b) without first asking the candidate. Hiring departments, don’t do this. (more…)
Ethics and Education Grant Winners
The Center for Ethics & Education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has announced the winners of its latest round of grants. The grants include awards of up to $40,000 for research projects in philosophy as it relates to educational policy and practice (see this description of the grant program). (more…)
The Quality and Reach of Philosophical Writing
In an epic interview at Emotion Researcher, Martha Nussbaum answers questions about her life and her work and philosophy. At one point, the interviewer says:
Another distinctive aspect of your philosophical work is its ambition to have practical import. In your The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics, you cite approvingly Epicurus’ claim ..
Philosopher’s Comments On Immigration Cause Stir On Campus
Remarks on immigration by Dan Demetriou, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, Morris, have been a subject of controversy at the school recently, according to Inside Higher Ed. (more…)
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…)
When Professors Express Intimidating Opinions
We’ve seen the following: the questioning of a professor’s ability to teach well because of the effect on his or her students of the professor’s expression of a controversial opinion. This was one element of the debate surrounding Steven Salaita’s tweets. For example, he wrote on Twitter, “If you’re defending #Israel right now you’re an awful human being.” Concerns ..
Ethics Professors and Ethical Standards
Should ethics professors be held to higher ethical standards in their personal behavior? A post on that topic by Eric Schwitzgebel (UCR) at The Splintered Mind (which I had put in the Heap of Links last week) asks that question. (more…)
Raymond Smullyan (1919-2017)
Raymond Smullyan, Oscar R. Ewing Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Indiana University, Bloomington, and before that professor of math and philosophy at Lehman College (CUNY), died last week. (more…)
What Should Humanities Institutes Do?
What should humanities institutes at universities do? Among other things, “prompt general efforts toward identifying the varied roles that the humanities can play in 21st-century society,” says Robert Frodeman, a philosopher at the University of North Texas, in an essay at Inside Higher Ed. He argues that institutes should focus on the future and relevance of the hu..
Trump Is A Non-Partisan Problem
Yesterday, Donald Trump commanded:
whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.
I predict that applied mereology will be the hot area to hire in philosophy next year. (more…)
Trump’s Immigration Order (Updated)
NOTE (added 1/30/17): Please use the comments option here to share (a) relevant links, (b) accounts of those affected, (c) relevant updates about events and activities planned, (d) ideas about what to do, and the like. Thank you.
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At the time of this post, over 4,700 academics have signed a petition opposing Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. Yo..
Haslanger Issues Diversity Fund Challenge
Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women’s & Gender Studies at MIT and former President of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association (APA) has issues a challenge to fellow philosophers in a public post on Facebook. Here’s an excerpt: (more…)
When It’s Reasonable To Think Something’s Awry With Your Submitted Manuscript
When you suspect something has gone awry with the manuscript you submitted to an academic journal, when is it appropriate to contact the journal about it? And what are the clues that something has gone awry?
In response to that second question, here are some possibilities: (a) you have not received any acknowledgment that your manuscript has been received, (b) th..