humor
TagMini-Heap
Links of the day… (more…)
Bits of Laughing Matter (guest post)
Gerald Dworkin, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, seeks out philosophical humor and has put together a couple of volumes of it (see here). (more…)
Collective Nouns for Philosophers by Area of Specialization
A murder of crows. A cackle of hyenas. A knot of toads. A confusion of philosophers? Or is it a fog of philosophers? Or…? There was some discussion of what we should call a collection of philosophers here several years ago. (more…)
Types of __________ Papers (updated)
Last week, Randall Munroe, author of the famed webcomic xkcd published a comic about “Types of Scientific Paper“: (more…)
Another Mini-Heap
Yet more for the Heap… (more…)
Absurdist Video Edits of Philosophers Talking
Saul Kripke, Kit Fine, Timothy Williamson, John McDowell, Jonathan Schaffer, Graham Priest, Robert Brandom, and other philosophers are the unwitting stars of films created by an unknown YouTuber who is editing footage of them speaking in order to produce bizarre montages, shorts with augmented visuals and music, and other strange and funny videos. (more…)
Philosopharmacology
A few months ago I learned about the brilliant conceptual artwork of Dana Wyse. Since the mid 1990s she has been producing a series of fake pharmaceuticals packaged to look as if they were supposed to be sold at a convenience store in the 1970s or ordered from the back of a magazine or comic book. And she actually sells them—mainly at museum shops and now online. ..
More Philosophy Songs
“Knowledge of the world relies / On what we can see / But experience implies / Nothing yet to be.”
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Philosophy Reality TV
Philosophy has had turns on television talk shows, sitcoms, and sci-fi dramas, but a recent news item might prompt thoughts of the possibility of a philosophy-themed reality-TV show. (more…)
The Status of “Philosophy Labs” this Fall
Mohamed Mehdi, chair of the Department of Humanities and Philosophy at Oakton Community College, updated his faculty on the plans regarding their “philosophy labs” for this coming fall. (more…)
New Voice in the Philosophy-Themed Music Scene
Philosophy-themed music is not the most popular genre, but it shares a lot of the same features of any type of music. (more…)
A Professor’s Video for her Suddenly Online Students, And…
Julia Strand, assistant professor of psychology at Carleton College, is one of many faculty whose courses were abruptly moved online because of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. (more…)
Philosophers’ Scary Nicknames: A Halloween Game
Happy Halloween, philosofriends! To celebrate, I thought we could come up with scary nicknames for well-known philosophers. But there are some rules on how to do it… (more…)
Philosophers’ Pick-Up Lines
“I didn’t know that angels could fly so low. Or that angels even existed anymore now that God is dead… amiright???” (more…)
The Impossibility of Immigrants Refusing to Integrate into British Society (guest post by Hasko Von Kriegstein)
The following is a guest post* by Hasko Von Kriegstein, an assistant professor in the Department of Law & Business at Ryerson University, regarding matters related to Brexit. (more…)
Game of Thrones Quotes for Academic Contexts
Game of Thrones, a well-acted and beautifully filmed sprawling television fantasy of political ambition, royal lineage, revenge, zombies, surprising deaths, random magic, and dragons—entertaining and big but also silly and superficial—is ending tonight. People can’t stop talking about it.
A Parody Issue of Mind… from 118 Years Ago (Updated)
Some people worry that philosophers keep asking the same questions over and over again. If you think that’s bad, you may be upset to learn that philosophers keep telling the same jokes over and over again. (more…)
Mini-Heap!
Yet another Mini-Heap! (more…)
Topic-Appropriate Excuses for Plagiarism in Philosophy Papers
For a paper on time travel: “I didn’t plagiarize David Lewis’s 1976 American Philosophical Quarterly paper. In 1975, he traveled to the future and plagiarized me!”
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Unquestionable Orthodoxies of Philosophy
Philosophy, of all disciplines, should never embrace dogmas—it is supposed to be the quintessentially critical subject—and yet now we’re full to the brim with them. You cannot criticize or even question the current orthodoxies regarding race, gender, or sexual orientation within the institutional framework of academic philosophy.
A Collection of Philosophy Humor
Gerald Dworkin, distinguished professor of philosophy emeritus at UC Davis, has put together another volume of philosophical humor, Philosophy: A Commonplace Book, Volume II. It’s available as an e-book here (as is the first volume). (more…)
Philosophy Horror Films
Halloween is almost upon us, and to mark the occasion, Nolen Gertz, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Twente, Ethicist For Hire, and philosophy comic strip artist, took to Twitter recently to list some philosophy horror films (#philosophyhorrorfilms): (more…)
Funding Opportunities and Award Competitions (guest post by Amy Olberding)
The following is a guest post* by Amy Olberding, professor of philosophy at the University of Oklahoma, in which she shares some, uh, unusual funding and awards opportunities. (more…)
Logical Fallacies Through Funny Videos
There are online lists of logical fallacies , websites dedicated to explaining them, posters, children’s books, various videos, and, of course, memes. That many of the examples used to illustrate fallacies are humorous is no accident, as a lot of humor involves both upsetting expectations (e.g., saying something that deviates from what we think follows from what’s a..
Which Philosophy Ideas Make for Good Costumes?
Which philosophical ideas (or examples) would make for a good Halloween costume?
Yes, Brain in Vat. We all think we’ve thought of that one already. What else?
Eternal Recurrence? You went as that last year! And the year before.
I suppose you could go as anything. Just make a sign that says “p & ¬ p” and walk behind it.
How would you go about dressing up ..
Meet the Daily Nous Cartoonists!
I am very excited to announce that Daily Nous will soon have its own comic strips!
The call for cartoonists generated so many good submissions that I couldn’t pick just one of them—instead, there will be four. Each of the four strips will appear one at a time, on Tuesdays or Thursdays, every other week. The artists (and their strips) are Rachel Katler (Ad Hoc),..
Using Comedy Clips in Philosophy Class
I sometimes use excerpts from comedy routines or shows in my teaching. For example, when I teach Frankfurt’s On Bullshit in my contemporary moral problems course, I regularly use this segment from the Colbert Report:
The Colbert Report
Colbert Report Episode Guide, More Colbert Report Videos, Comedy Central Full Episodes
And in my philosophy and ..
Descartes on Spring Break
Tommy Maranges, AKA Philosophy Bro (@PhiloBro) has written a book. It’s a translation of Descartes’ Meditations. A translation into which language, you ask? Modern vernacular. Or, as the kids say, “as the kids say.”
His version starts off with:
HOLY SHIT FUCK ME, it feels like my eyeballs are going to explode. I barely remember shit and I lost my phone, I blew..