philosophy
TagHow Bad Is Reviewer 2, Actually? Data from a Philosophy Journal
Does Reviewer 2 deserve that terrible reputation? (more…)
Audio Recordings of J.L. Austin Lecture
Via Eric Johnson-DeBaufre, librarian at the Robbins Library of Philosophy at Harvard University, come a pair of audio recordings of J.L. Austin discussing performatives. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
As usual, here’s the 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…)
Indigenous Philosophy and Philosophers in the US
What’s the state of Indigenous philosophy and Indigenous philosophers in the US? Kyle Whyte (Michigan State University), himself an Indigenous philosopher, has an informative post answering that question over at Philosopher, the blog edited by Meena Krishnamurthy (University of Michigan). (more…)
2017 PROSE Awards and Philosophy
The 2017 Winners of the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) have been announced, and among them, in the “Best New Journal in Humanities and Social sciences” category, is Cambridge University Press for the Journal of the American Philosophical Association (see here for more information). (more…)
David Lewis “Letter of the Month” Series (updated)
“The Age of Metaphysical Revolution,” is a project at the University of Manchester whose aim is “to give an account of how the age of metaphysical revolution arose at the end of the twentieth century through a systematic exploration of David Lewis’ philosophy in its historical context.” (more…)
Poll: Impact of Academic Boycott of the US on Philosophy Conferences
Over 5000 academics have signed on to a statement “pledging not to attend international conferences in the US” so long as the travel ban (which denies entry to the US by people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia) issued by Donald Trump in an executive order on January 27th  is in effect. (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..
Philosophy, Mainstream Media, and the Public
If you are an optimist there is no crisis. Philosophy departments are thriving; even if television isn’t covering philosophical debates Radio 4 is; and the internet offers every kind of philosophy, past and present. Publishers still offer a spectrum of philosophical books. If you are a cultural pessimist, however, the picture looks different. Postwar, we could watch..
Graduate Admissions and the Immigration Order
A philosopher writes with the following query:
In response to their questions, I have just had to write to two people who are applying to our MA program that I can’t tell them whether they’ll be able to attend, even if they are admitted. They are from Iran. There are several others in the same boat. (more…)
A Philosopher’s Key To Grading Papers Quickly
Nick Byrd, a philosophy PhD student at Florida State University, has created a shorthand that he uses for commenting on his students’ papers. He describes it as having the virtues of the “grading shortcuts” method advocated by Rebecca Schuman and the more extensive approach advocated by Marcus Arvan. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the 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…)
Traits of Deontologists and Consequentialists: Appearance and Reality
People who hold deontological moral views appear to others to be more “pro-social,” but actually aren’t, according to a new study. The study, entitled “Are Kantians Better Social Partners? People Making Deontological Judgments Are Perceived to Be More Prosocial than They Actually Are,” is by Valerio Capraro (Middlesex University, London) and seven others, and is ava..
Virtual Dissertation Writers Groups for Philosophy PhD Students
Once again, Joshua Smart, a graduate student at the University of Missouri and instructor at Christopher Newport University, is organizing virtual dissertation writers groups for philosophy PhD students. (more…)
Which Sciences Can Help Answer Philosophical Questions?
Can science help us answer philosophical questions? Hanoch Ben-Yami, professor of philosophy at Central European University (CEU), in an interview at 3:AM Magazine, suggests that the question is too broad. The answers are different for different scientific inquiries. (more…)
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
Here’s the 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…)
Philosophy For Inauguration Day
What passages of philosophy are worth thinking about today, January 20th, the day that Donald Trump is to be sworn-in as president of the United States of America? I imagine that there will be a diversity of suggestions. (more…)
Philosophy at Eastern Illinois Threatened
A committee responsible for assessing how Eastern Illinois University (EIU) should best handle severe cuts to state funding and declining enrollments has recommended, among other things, that the school stop granting bachelor’s degrees in philosophy. The committee, known as “Workgroup No. 7,” was apparently unmoved by previous appeals from members of EIU’s Departmen..
The CIA’s Reports on Philosophers
Via the interesting and often rather amusing Twitter feed of Nolen Gertz, a philosopher at the University of Twente, we learn of what is surely just some of the work that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has done on philosophers. (more…)
Political Philosophy and the “Aggressive Use of the Law to Impose Controversial Rights”
Gerald Gaus (Arizona) reminds us of the law’s limited power for social change in a new essay at The Critique. There is only so much that the legal declaration of a right can do,and when controversial rights are imposed on a society, we should not be surprised by backlash. This is supposed to be part of what explains the electoral success of Donald Trump.
Legal th..
Philosophy as “The Most Minimalistic Art” and the Challenges of Interdisciplinary Work
I was attracted to philosophy because it is the most minimalistic art I can think of. To express ideas, you use only the most minimal, the most reduced resources: no body (as in theatre), no figures (as in pictorial art), no voice or sound (as in music), no story (as in literature)—just thoughts. They are ordered, ideally crystal-clear and sharp, but they are just..
Launching a PPE Program
A philosopher writes in seeking advice on starting a new program at his college:
I teach at a Catholic small liberal arts college. My department teaches philosophy in the core and offers a minor. I’m thinking of pushing for an integrated major common to many colleges and universities called PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). I need to gather evidence, tes..
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…)
Penn State Philosophy Wins $800,000 Grant For Diversity Initiatives
The Department of Philosophy at Penn State will receive an $800,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to continue and expand upon its previous work to promote diversity in philosophy. (more…)
Reconsidering Implicit Bias
At the time of this post, bibliographic philosophy database PhilPapers has 1,975,719 entries. Of these, only 74 works seem to be about “implicit bias”—subconscious bias concerning, for example, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexuality. One might think, then, that the idea of implicit bias hasn’t been of much importance in philosophy. Yet, while there is n..
From Prison in Illinois to Publication in The New Yorker with Help from a Philosophy Professor
Fifteen inmates at Statesville Correctional Center in Illinois took a course on mass incarceration with Northwestern University philosophy professor Jennifer Lackey. It was an interdisciplinary course with a range of guest lecturers, including Alex Kotlowitz, a writer and a senior lecturer in journalism at Northwestern. He gave them an assignment to write about thei..
A Visualization of Influence in the History of Philosophy
“I don’t know a lot about philosophy,” says Grant Louis Oliveira, a data analyst and quantitative social sciences researcher with an undergraduate degree in political science. He continues:
I’d like to change that and more rigorously explore my ideas, but I find the world of philosophy a bit impenetrable, and I don’t think I’m the only one. I know most the big na..
Philosophy In An Inclusive Key
Philosophy In An Inclusive Key, or PIKSI, is a philosophy summer program “designed to encourage undergraduates from underrepresented groups to consider future study in the field of philosophy.” (more…)