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Arizona’s Legislative Attempt to Recruit Philosophers to Alter State’s K-12 Curriculum

While considering the state budget bill for 2021-22, the Arizona House of Representatives last month approved an amendment to it that would have required the state’s Board of Education to work with the University of Arizona’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom and others to develop a civic education standards for high schools emphasizing “the blessings of liberty”..

Biden Nominates Amy Gutmann as Ambassador to Germany

Political theorist Amy Gutmann, currently President of the University of Pennsylvania, has been nominated by President Joseph Biden to be the next U.S. ambassador to Germany.

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Complementing Defenses of Academic Freedom with Understanding & Advice

As reported earlier this week, there’s a new organization, the Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA), that aims to defend faculty whose academic freedom is being threatened. (more…)

Aristotle’s Sexism & Simplifying Historical Ideas “to Fit a Modern Agenda”

“It is often not a good idea to simplify the history of ideas in order to fit a modern agenda.” (more…)

Danielle Allen Considering Running for Governor of Massachusetts

Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, has announced that she is exploring a run for governor of Massachusetts. (more…)

Philosophers On the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Joseph Biden has defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Trump’s 2016 victory was shocking to many, and his administration has been a remarkably continuous assault on normal expectations for presidential leadership, competence, responsibility, and humanity. (more…)

We Still Have Work To Do

Joseph Biden has defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. (more…)

Legal Philosopher Successful in Defense Against Attack by Poland’s Ruling Party

Wojciech Sadurski, a legal scholar and philosopher of law with appointments at the University of Sydney and the University of Warsaw, has successfully withstood a defamation lawsuit by Poland’s ruling right-wing “Law and Justice” (PiS) party. (more…)

Election Open Thread / Ad Hoc

(Moving this up on the page because, well, what else are we going to talk about?)

Rachel Katler’s Ad Hoc comic this week (below) is perfect for today, election day, and so I thought it would be good to combine it with an open thread about the election.
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The Professional Status of “Pro-Life” Positions on Abortion

Should junior job seekers try to avoid outing themselves as “pro-life”? (more…)

Notre Dame President and Philosopher Contracts COVID-19 after White House Visit

John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame and member of the univerity’s Department of Philosophy, has contracted COVID-19 after visiting the White House at the end of last month for the ceremony announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. (more…)

What Academics Can Do Now to Prevent a Coup Later

The U.S. presidential election is five weeks away and there are worries that Donald Trump will not leave office should he lose, or that he will interfere with or stop the counting of votes if he believes continuing counting would reveal he lost. (more…)

What’s Utopian When The Status Quo is Unrealistic? (guest post by David Estlund)

“In these moments, we should appreciate that unrealistic political thought, including political philosophy, is of profound practical importance, and that it is overly discouraged—both in the culture, and even in the halls of academia…. We, at least some of us, must always be thinking beyond what seems realistic or feasible, about what would be better. That’s how..

“Liberal Bias” in Academia: Media Narrative vs. Social Science

“Available data do not support the claim that university professors are excessively and disproportionately liberal, much less that a majority of students are being educated by left-wing professors. So why do so many people have the impression that they are?” (more…)

Trump Administration Abandons Plan to Revoke Visas of International Students with Online-Only Schedules

The Trump administration has withdrawn a plan proposed earlier this month to withhold or revoke visas of international students at U.S. schools whose courses have all been moved entirely online. (more…)

Illusion and Agreement in the Debate over Intolerance

A good number of very smart, interesting, and creative people signed onto an open letter, published in Harper’s this week, applauding “wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society” while lamenting “the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.” (more…)

Homeland Security To Ban International Students From U.S. If Their Colleges Adopt Online-Only Instruction

The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as tra..

Bioethicists and Others Call for Action from U.S. Federal Government on COVID-19

“We are a group of bioethicists and health care leaders, familiar with the ethical challenges that arise in pandemics. We write to encourage actions on the part of the federal government that will enhance the public’s health, protect the health of individuals, especially the vulnerable, and preserve the nation’s vitality.” (more…)

Being a Good Philosopher-Activist

“Philosophers have an important role to play in bridging theoretical reflection with everyday life.” (more…)

Academic Freedom and Expertise at Federal Institutions of Higher Education (and Elsewhere)

The Hatch Act is a law that forbids employees of the executive branch of the United States federal government from taking part in certain forms of political activity, usually in regards to supporting particular candidates or political parties in elections, while acting in their official capacity. What does this mean for academic experts on political matters who are ..

Philosopher Running for U.S. Senate

Richard Winfield, a philosophy professor at the University of Georgia, is running for Senate. (more…)

“Frustration, Mediocrity, and Drama”

A year in the academic life of the typical Nigerian philosopher is a long one defined by frustration, mediocrity (either self-imposed or externally imposed) and drama. (more…)

Using Contemporary Politics and History to Judge Contemporary Political Philosophy

To what extent can the dominant political philosophy developed over the past half-century fruitfully address the political problems we face today? (more…)

A Way Philosophy Differs from the Other Humanities, or a Caricature of the Humanities?

Professors of the humanities make judgments about value. Art historians, literary scholars, musicologists, and classicists say to our students: These works are powerful, beautiful, surprising, strange, insightful. They are more worth your time and attention than others… Yet such judgment violates the principle of equality. So humanists have to pretend we’re not do..

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