public philosophy
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Philosophers on Torture
The Report on the C.I.A.’s Use of Torture from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was released several days ago. As we have occasionally done in the past for other events, I would like to open a spot here at Daily Nous for comment on the report, for collecting links to commentary elsewhere from philosophers on this report, for suggestions of philosophical o..
UNC Wins “Excellence and Innovation” Prize
The Outreach Program of Department of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has won a prize for “Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs.” The prize is offered by the American Philosophical Association and the Philosophy Documentation Center. “This prize recognizes philosophy departments, research centers, institutes, societies, publ..
Philosophy on Homelessness
The University of Oregon Department of Philosophy has “Community Philosophy Institutes” on various topics, and one of its current projects is “Homelessness and Home.” Organized by Professor Naomi Zack, who is also teaching a course on the subject, Homelessness and Home aims to “support creative, intellectual, and practical address of the problems of homelessness. Th..
Philosophers on the Israeli – Palestinian Conflict
Jason Stanley (Yale) has a piece in today’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, a German newspaper. It is entitled “An Open Letter to the Protestors on the streets of Berlin chanting ‘Jude, Jude, feiges Schwein, komm heraus und kämpf allein’ ”” which looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reactions to it, as well as the ideas of democracy and pluralism, through the lens ..
Civic Engagement in Philosophy Classes
Ramona Ilea (Pacific University) shares news of an online resource for philosophy professors she has helped create called Engaged Philosophy. The site is a repository of information about incorporating projects of civic engagement into philosophy courses.
When students do civic engagement projects in our philosophy classes, they commit to making changes in their com..
“That Can Really Mess You Up”
That’s Neil deGrasse Tyson on majoring in philosophy. Chris Hardwick, over at Nerdist, interviews the famed astrophysicist and host of Cosmos, and one of the topics is philosophy (starting at 20:19). deGrasse Tyson thinks there is too much questioning in philosophy. Still, he has one question for philosophers: “Why are you wasting your time?” Sigh. There’s no one li..
Philosopher Meets Philanthropist
William MacAskill, Oxford philosophy graduate student and soon-to-be fellow at Emmanuel College at Cambridge University, sits down with Peter Buffett (son of Warren Buffett) to hash out their differences over philanthropy.
Design and Violence
The Museum of Modern Art is hosting a series of debates on issues at the intersection of design and violence.
Too often, and naïvely, we only celebrate the positive impact that design artifacts have on the world. However, design also has a history of violence that, unless linked overtly to political and social suppression and upheaval, often goes unexplored. Humanit..
The Ethics of Driverless Cars
Would you buy a car that would drive you off a cliff, to your death, in order to save the lives of several pedestrians your car would otherwise run over? The world of driverless cars will likely soon be upon us, and with them a number of questions like that and scenarios that make something like this seem simple. Aeon Magazine has a new article from Tom Chatfield on..
Philosophy Talk’s “Community of Thinkers”
Philosophy Talk, the philosophy radio show hosted by John Perry and Ken Taylor, is seeking help. “After 10 years of getting roughly 80% of our financial support from Stanford University, Philosophy Talk can no longer count on that level of support from the University.” They have introduced a funding program called “Community of Thinkers” that gives donors special pe..
Harman & Martin on Mitochondrial DNA Transfer in the NY Times
Elizabeth Harman (Princeton) and Adrienne Martin (Penn) have a short letter to the editor in the New York Times in response to this article about mitochondrial DNA transfers.
When Others Philosophize in Public
Today’s column by economist Gregory Mankiw in the New York Times provides an occasion to reflect on a problem for public philosophy. In the column, Mankiw contrasts a rudimentary form of utilitarianism with a thoughtless version of the precautionary principle. Even if you agree with the policy prescriptions that he concocts from this mix of ingredients, no philosoph..
Canadian Radio Interviews Philosopher of Science
Kevin Elliott, a philosopher of science in the Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University (and before that a colleague of mine at South Carolina), is interviewed on the CBC radio program “Information Morning Fredericton”. The program begins with an excerpt from an interview with a representative of the forestry industry; the segment with Elliott begins at the..