politics
TagInterview with the Philosopher Running for Congress
Too many of us have been denied economic security and equal opportunity. I have spent my life trying to address these societal problems. Now I want to take the fight to Congress.
More Philosophers Should Run for Office… as Independents (guest post by Jay Geyer)
The following is a guest post* by Jay Geyer. Mr. Geyer is a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder, working on moral uncertainty. He has recently declared his candidacy for the Colorado House of Representatives. (more…)
APA & other Academic Organizations Issue Statement on Tax Bill
The American Philosophical Association (APA) today joined with 34 other academic organizations to issue a public statement opposing the provision in the tax reform bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would result in graduate school tuition waivers counting as taxable income. They currently do not. (more…)
NJIT and Rutgers Newark Faculty Demand Alt-Right Colleague Be Fired
Members of the faculty and staff of the Federated History Department at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Rutgers University, Newark have called for Jason Jorjani, a humanities lecturer at NJIT with a PhD in philosophy from SUNY Stony Brook, to be fired. (more…)
Response From A Conservative (guest post by Philippe Lemoine)
The following is a guest post* by Philippe Lemoine, a graduate student in philosophy at Cornell University. It’s a response to a post by Les Green (Oxford) published here yesterday, “Because They Are Universities” (originally published at Green’s blog under the title “Why it is hard to be a campus conservative“). Lemoine’s response, below, was first published at his..
Because They Are Universities
The following is a guest post* by Leslie Green, Professor of the Philosophy of Law and Fellow of Balliol College at Oxford University. It was originally published at his blog, Semper Viridis under the title “Why it is hard to be a campus conservative.”
Political Uniformity and Religion in Philosophy
Q: How do you feel about Trump’s performance thus far? Is this what you expected?
A: I’m very pleased with his performance. (more…)
Claims About Cultural Superiority (including guest post by Mollie Gerver)
All cultures are not equal. Or at least they are not equal in preparing people to be productive in an advanced economy. The culture of the Plains Indians was designed for nomadic hunters, but is not suited to a First World, 21st-century environment. Nor are the single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-“acting white” r..
Philosophy PhDs Worthless According To Proposed Immigration Point System
“Had I received this job offer under the newly proposed plan for immigration reform endorsed by President Trump, I’d have been deported back to Canada.” (more…)
Discriminatory Texas Law Prompts Philosophers To Move Conference
The Public Philosophy Network (PPN) was planning on holding its annual conference next February at the University of North Texas (UNT). It will now, instead, be held in Boulder, Colorado. (more…)
Why A Philosopher of Color Declined To Contribute To A Special Issue On Current Politics
The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (KIEJ) recently published a special issue, Trump and the 2016 Election. In an editorial note, KIEJ editor-in-chief Rebecca Kukla (Georgetown) discusses two things the special issue is missing—articles that present a positive view or are in some way supportive of Trump’s policies or politics, and articles by people of color–..
Majority Of Republicans Say Higher Education Has “Negative Effect” On The Country
The Pew Research Center yesterday published the results of a study showing that “a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (58%) now say that colleges and universities have a negative effect on the country, up from 45% last year. By contrast, most Democrats and Democratic leaners (72%) say colleges and universities have a positive effect, which i..
How Philosophical Work Can Change The World
When I was an undergraduate philosophy student at the University of Pittsburgh, where I was trained in the analytic tradition, it wasn’t clear to me what philosophy meant beyond the clarification of concepts. Yet I have held onto the Marxian position that philosophy can change the world. Any thoughts on the capacity of philosophy to change the world?
So asks Geo..
Oxford Philosophy PhD Candidate Wins New $100,000 Essay Prize
James Williams, a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute who works on the philosophy and ethics of technology design, and who previously worked at Google, is the winner of the inaugural Nine Dots Prize. The prize solicits 3,000-word essay responses to a question, and the winner receives $100,000 and to write a book expanding on the ideas of the essay, to ..
“Philosophy Does Not Compel, Threaten, or Mock”
This past Monday, Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, delivered the 2017 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Jefferson Lecture at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. (more…)
Don’t Turn It Off (guest post by Danielle Wenner)
The following is a guest post* by Danielle Wenner, assistant professor of philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. It’s a response to Monday’s post, “When To Turn It Off.” (more…)
New Philosophy Podcast on Politics and Public Discourse
Why We Argue is a new, interview-based podcast “that explores the triumphs and disasters of American political conversation.” It is hosted by Robert Talisse, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University and is part of the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project directed by Michael Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut. (more…)..
Three Observations About Moral Philosophy Today
Below are three features of contemporary moral philosophy that I’ve observed, and that may be worth discussing. I present them largely without judgment, except to say here that each seems like a mixed bag. Feel free to discuss, evaluate, elaborate, etc. These aren’t the only observations I have about moral philosophy today, but they are ones that recent events have..
APA Issues Statement to Support March for Science
The Board of Officers of the American Philosophical Association (APA) has issued a statement in support of the March for Science, a demonstration taking place next month which “champions robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity” and which calls for “science that upholds the common good and for political leaders an..
A Grassroots Organizing Network Among Philosophers (guest post by Todd May)
The following is a guest post* by Todd May, Class of 1941 Memorial Professor of Philosophy at Clemson University, in which proposes the creation of a grassroots organizing network among philosophers and invites other philosophers to consider joining. (more…)
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…)
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…)
Politically, What Should Philosophers, Qua Philosophers, Do?
A pair of philosophy graduate students write in with a topic for discussion:
Dear Philosophical Community,
Like many of our graduate student and faculty colleagues in philosophy, we are becoming increasingly alarmed by our political situation as the Trump administration has made good on reprehensible campaign promises. (more…)
Dennett on Politics, Philosophy, and Post-Modernism
Daniel Dennett (Tufts) is visiting the UK to promote his new book, but most of this interview with The Guardian is about US politics.
Some excerpts, including a bit about how some philosophy might be responsible for our current political predicament: (more…)
Trump Is A Non-Partisan Problem
Yesterday, Donald Trump commanded:
whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.
I predict that applied mereology will be the hot area to hire in philosophy next year. (more…)
Discussing Politics in the Classroom
Tempted to talk politics in the classroom? It may behoove you to take a look at “Frequently Asked Questions for Faculty in the Wake of the 2016 Election,” a document put together by American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (more…)
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..
Philosopher Wins 2 Million Euros To Study “Limitarianism”
Ingrid Robeyns, professor of philosophy and holder of the Ethics and Institutions Chair at the Utrecht University, has won a 2 million euro grant from the European Research Council to pursue her research on “limitarianism” over the next five years. (more…)