gender
TagJustifying the Inclusion of Race, Gender, Sexuality (etc.) in Philosophy Courses
Some university administrations are (as we have seen) trying to prevent professors from teaching about topics related to gender, sexuality, and race. (more…)
Texas A&M Administrators Will Cancel Your Course If You Don’t Tell Them Exactly Where And What Its Race And Gender Parts Are*
Texas A&M University (TAMU) administrators cancelled “Ethics in Public Policy,” a graduate course in the university’s Bush School of Government and Public Service, because they rejected as too vague its professor’s explanation of when and how race and gender issues may come up in the course. (more…)
The Charade of Banning “Advocacy”
“Leaders at these institutions want to ban only certain topics from discussion. To do so, they have issued vague directives that no one knows how to interpret.” (more…)
On Social Metaphysics
“What do we want the theory for?” (more…)
Philosophers File Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Cases on Transgender Athletes
A group of 24 philosophers has submitted an amicus curiae brief for two US Supreme Court cases concerning laws about the participation of transgender athletes in sports. (more…)
Be Careful What You Teach: Trump’s Minions May Get You Fired
A lecturer in the English Department at Texas A & M University was fired from her position after a student in one of her courses complained that she was “not entirely sure is legal to be teaching… because according to our president, there’s only two genders… and also this very much goes against not only but a lot of people’s religious beliefs.” (more…)..
New: “Being Trans in Philosophy”
A new zine, Being Trans in Philosophy, launched today, featuring testimonials from many trans philosophers and philosophers with trans family members. (more…)
Author Gender in Elite Philosophy Journals (guest post) (updated)
What percentage of the authors in elite philosophy journals are women? (more…)
Philosophers’ Books among those Banned from US Naval Academy Library (updated)
In January, Donald Trump issued an executive order banning various books on race, gender, and other topics from public schools for kindergarten through grade 12. Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the US Naval Academy that, though it is a college, the order applied to its library, too. (more…)
While Tables Burn: On the (Non) Existence of Trans People and the Failure of Philosophy (guest post)
“There are indeed consequences when we punch down or pretend that what is, in fact, a hostile attack, is merely ‘inquiry for inquiry’s sake.’ Aside from the emotional wounds we inflict on actual people, philosophical discourse matters beyond that. It did matter in this case.” (more…)
The Double-Binds of First-Generation (and other “Different”) Academics
Jennifer Morton (University of Pennsylvania) is the author of the latest contribution to #first-gen philosophers, a collection of reflections by philosophers who were among the first in their family to go to college. (more…)
Mentoring Workshop for Early Career Women in Philosophy
The Mentoring Workshop for Early Career Women in Philosophy is seeking both mentees and mentors for its next installment, which is taking place in June, 2025. (more…)
21 Yale Philosophers File Amicus Brief on Case about Medical Care for Transgender Minors
“Amici are professors of philosophy who are trained to identify flaws in arguments. Philosophers assess arguments in a variety of ways, but most relevant here is by examining the logical structure of arguments. This requires identifying the premises underlying arguments as well as the ways that arguments can attempt to hide those premises.” (more…)
Defamatory Remarks Prompt Resignations & Legal Restructuring at Philosophical Society
Four members of the executive committee of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB) resigned in the wake of complaints that Impact, the society’s journal, published defamatory remarks about a philosophy graduate student. (more…)
Statement from Philosophy Professors & Graduate Students on University of Waterloo Attack
A statement from philosophers in response to the knife attack on the professor and students in a philosophy of gender course at the University of Waterloo this week, in which they “affirm our commitment to academic freedom, and condemn all uses of violence, intimidation, or derogation that attempt to undermine philosophical examinations of gender and sexuality” has ..
Three Stabbed in Philosophy Course at Waterloo (multiple updates)
Three people were hospitalized following a knife attack that took place this afternoon in a University of Waterloo philosophy course. The suspect was arrested. No fatalities have been reported.
Remarks about Graduate Student Raise Questions about Journal’s Editorial Policies
The Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain is investigating the editorial processes at one of its journals, Impact: Philosophical Perspectives on Education Policy (Wiley), after its latest issue included defamatory remarks about a graduate student in philosophy. (more…)
New Editorial Team at Philosophia (updated)
In the wake of controversies over Philosophia‘s publishing of articles on “Jewish Influence” (see here), its editor’s decisions regarding referees (see here), and its editorial processes (see here), the journal will soon have a new editor. (more…)
Intergroup Dialogue in the Philosophy Classroom (guest post)
“Over 70% of our students… reported being more likely than before to listen to someone who held an opposing viewpoint…” (more…)
Implicit Attitudes, Science, and Philosophy (guest post)
“Philosophers, including myself, have for decades been too credulous about science, being misled by scientists’ marketing and ignoring the unavoidable uncertainties that affect the scientific process…” (more…)
OUP Responds to Letter Regarding Gender-Critical Feminism Book
Oxford University Press (OUP) has responded to an open letter circulated earlier this month (the first letter covered in this post) that voiced concerns about its decision to publish next month a book about gender-critical feminism by philosophy professor Holly Lawford-Smith (Melbourne). (more…)
OUP’s Decision to Publish “Gender-Critical” Book Raises Concerns of Scholars and OUP Employees
Two open letters are circulating regarding the decision of Oxford University Press to publish Gender-Critical Feminism, a forthcoming book by Holly Lawford-Smith, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Melbourne. (more…)
Do Men and Women Philosophers Argue Differently?
There is no statistically significant gender difference in the argument types used by frequently cited contemporary men and women philosophers in their articles, according to a new study that uses corpus linguistic analysis to search their works for “indicator pairs” of words that are likely to differentiate between deductive, inductive, and abductive arguments. (m..
Demographics in Philosophy Seeks Web Developer
The Demographics in Philosophy project is seeking a volunteer web developer. (more…)
Percentage of Women Graduating with Philosophy Degrees Increases
In 2020, 39% of undegraduates leaving colleges with degrees in philosophy were women, up from 35% in 2017, reports Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside). (more…)
Philosophy’s Popularity as a Second Major Among Women
In the United States, “among students whose first major is philosophy, 36% are women” while “among students whose second major is Philosophy, 43% are women.” (more…)
Conference Series On Oppressive Speech Disinvites Trans-Exclusionary Philosopher
Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS), a publicly-funded research institute in Berlin that is holding a series of conferences on oppressive speech between now and May, has removed a philosopher from its program after complaints about her planned talk. (more…)
The Race and Gender of U.S. Philosophy PhDs: Trends Since 1973 (guest post)
The following is a guest post* by Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside) on trends in the race and gender of people earning Ph.D.s in philosophy in the United States over the past 47 years. (more…)