philosopher
TagJosh Parsons (1973-2017)
Josh Parsons, our beloved friend, mentor, and role-model, died on April 11, 2017. He was 44. Our thoughts are with his family, and most especially with his wife, Hannah Burgess. (more…)
UC Berkeley Knew Of Prior Complaints About Searle
John Searle, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, was the subject of at least three sexual misconduct claims filed by Berkeley students in recent years, prior to the filing of the current sexual harassment lawsuit against him and the Regents of the University of California, according to a report by Katie J.M. Baker at Buzzfeed…
Anti-Abortion Philosophy Lecturer Fired
Stéphane Mercier, the visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium whose courses were suspended recently because of a lecture he gave in which he argued against a right to abortion, has been fired. (more…)
Philosophy Instructor Reportedly Abducted
Önder Asan, a philosophy instructor from Ankara, Turkey, was reportedly abducted there on April 1st. Asan had worked at one of the educational institutions* closed down by the Turkish government following the attempted military coup there last July. (more…)
New Philosopher-Run Blog on Imagination
The Junkyard is a new blog dedicated to study of the imagination. Its creator and editor is Amy Kind, professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College (with technical assistance from Eric Peterson, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Kentucky). (more…)
University Suspends Philosopher After Lesson On Abortion (updated)
Stéphane Mercier, a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, was suspended from his position, and had his classes cancelled, following a lesson he gave on the topic of abortion. (more…)
David Braine (1940-2017)
David Braine, a philosopher at the University of Aberdeen, died this past February. Professor Braine worked in a broad range of philosophical fields, including philosophy of religion, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and ethics. (more…)
Richard Tieszen (1951-2017)
Richard Tieszen, professor of philosophy at San José State University, died earlier this week at age 65. Professor Tieszen worked in the philosophy of math, logic, and phenomenology. (more…)
Battaly from Fullerton to Connecticut
Heather Battaly, currently professor of philosophy and department chair at California State University, Fullerton, will become professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, starting in Fall 2017. (more…)
AAUP Issues Report On Adjunct Philosophy Professor Allegedly Fired For High Standards
Nathaniel Bork was an adjunct philosophy professor at the Community College of Aurora (CCA) for six years when he was fired a few weeks into the Fall 2016 semester. As reported here last November, Bork claimed that he was fired for refusing to lower the educational standards in his courses and threatening to complain about curricular changes (the “Gateway to Success..
Thoreau To Be On US Postal Stamp
The United States Postal Service will be issuing a postal stamp commemorating philosopher Henry David Thoreau. The stamp was designed by Greg Breeding and features a portrait of Thoreau by Sam Weber based on an 1856 daguerreotype by Benjamin Maxham. It looks like this: (more…)
Ulrike Heuer from Leeds to UCL
Ulrike Heuer, currently associate professor of philosophy at University of Leeds, will become Reader in philosophy at University College London.
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…)
Marilyn McCord Adams (1943-2017)
Marilyn McCord Adams, a philosopher who held appointments at Rutgers University, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Yale University, UCLA, and Oxford (as the first and only woman to be the Regius Professor of Divinity), has died. (more…)
Long Profile of Daniel Dennett
The New Yorker has published a lengthy article about Daniel Dennett (Tufts), by Joshua Rathman. “Daniel Dennett’s Science of the Soul” delves into the Dennett’s biography and describes some of the philosophical disputes in which his views have been central. (more…)
Philosophers Explain Gorsuch’s Philosophy
Judge for the Tenth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals and Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, having written a thesis for his D. Phil under the supervision of John Finnis, known for his defense of “natural law” theory. (more…)
Susanne Foster (1962-2017)
Susanne E. Foster, associate professor of philosophy and associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University, died on Saturday, March 18 at the age of 55. Prior to her appointment at Marquette, Professor Foster taught at the University of Notre Dame, where she received her PhD (under the direction of Alasdair McIntyre). Sh..
A Philosopher Runs for City Council
Matt Johnson is finishing up his dissertation in philosophy at Temple University, is teaching several courses as an adjunct professor, and is now running for city council in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (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..
Pamela Sue Anderson (1955-2017)
Pamela Sue Anderson, Professor of Modern European Philosophy of Religion at Oxford University, died this past Sunday, from cancer. She was 61. (more…)
Zalta Wins 2016 Barwise Prize
Edward Zalta, senior research scholar at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University and creator of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, has won the American Philosophical Association’s 2016 K. Jon Barwise Prize. (more…)
Cathy Legg Moves from Waikato to Deakin
Catherine Legg, previously at the University of Waikato, will take up the position of Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, from March 2017. (more…)
Hopes For Your Philosophy Book — Its Sensible Ideas And Its Mistakes
Joseph Raz, professor of philosophy and law at Columbia University and Kings College, London, has written reflections on his well-known and nearly 30 year-old The Morality of Freedom for a collection of critical essays by others on it, forthcoming in the Jersualem Review of Legal Studies. Rather than engage point-by-point with the criticisms the other contributors ..
The Ghost of Senator Joe McCarthy Haunts a Philosophy Graduate Student (guest post)
The following is a guest post* by Charles H. Seibert, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. It is about his experiences as a politically-minded graduate student in the 1960s—and the professional consequences that followed. (more…)
Fabian Dorsch (1974-2017)
Fabian Dorsch, associate research professor of philosophy at the University of Fribourg, died unexpectedly last week. He was 42. (more…)
Tom Regan (1938-2017)
Tom Regan, professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, died this morning. Professor Regan was known largely for his work on ethical questions regarding the treatment of animals. He developed a theory of animal rights which he put forward in his well-known book, The Case for Animal Rights. He was also a specialist on the philosophy of G.E. Mo..
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…)
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…)