Tag: public understanding

Data

The Public’s Opinion about Philosophy in Universities

August 27, 2026

“How important is it for a typical university to maintain a department in each of the following fields?”
Teaching

Writing Philosophy and Developing Curricula with Undergrads

December 6, 2018

Some professors see their students, at least sometimes, as partners in education, but Matthew Slater, professor of philosophy at Bucknell University, does impressive work to make…

Heap of Links

“The best investment in education is to become the most human human—-a challenging, fulfilling, exciting pursuit that connects us across generations” — an interview with Christa Acampora, philosopher and dean of Arts & Sciences at UVA
“What would happen if we tried to live without the mythology of agency at all?” — It's worth pondering, since "agency is just an internal command hallucination," says Alexander Douglas
“Reading List” is a free Mac app for keeping track of papers to read — philosophy PhD student Hayden Kajercline created this productivity tool for researchers, with help from Claude
How should we react to scary predictions about AI? “First: by asking questions” — "If you believe predictions uncritically, it amounts to obeying in advance," says Carissa Véliz
“I feel unbelievably lucky that I was able to make philosophy my profession” — Karen Ng reflects on her path into philosophy, at #first-genphilosophers
The ordinary concept of knowledge “doesn’t work at all the way philosophers said it does” — a round-up of studies shows how weird the philosophers' version of the concept is
1000 or so psychiatrists were asked to diagnose standardized clinical case vignettes. “Two doctors agreed on the diagnosis only 55% of the time” — What does this tell us about psychiatry? Or about other fields in which experts disagree?
Where Aristotle taught Alexander — "this newest dig may be the most revealing yet, offering insight into the specifics of Alexander the Great’s education"
Over 4000 of the Justice Department’s lawyers have left their jobs since Trump’s second term began — The New Yorker on the moral dilemma facing some government employees: resign and avoid complicity, or stay and resist where one can?
Underappreciated philosophy published between 1970-2019 — some old posts to which you can still add works that should be better appreciated
The AI threat to independent student writing is not necessarily a threat to student learning — what's needed, says Joe Cruz, are courses "in which ideas are expressed in real time and analytical thought unfolds as a debate or an oral defense or a group discussion"—and small enough classes to make that work
Would you take a pill that allows you, with no ill health effects, to permanently forgo sleep? — Rebecca Lowe thinks you have no good reason not to, though she neglects to consider that sometimes it's the world that needs a break from you
Fifty essays in the philosophy of paleontology — by Max Dresow at the Extinct blog
“Asking whether [an AI] model ‘has a world model’ leaves much unresolved. Our findings point toward mechanistically studying its world modeling; uncovering the structures it learned [and] the world modeling capacities that recruit these” — further research on the internal representations of AIs
Sixty Years of Philosophy in America — Ernest Sosa's Dewey Lecture from the 2024 APA Eastern Division Meeting
“You’re responsible for other people’s learning of this material, so you better know it at a higher level yourself” — for 20 years, the Socrates Project at the University of Toronto has hired senior philosophy undergrads to run weekly tutorials for introductory students
“Suddenly, my problems stop being problems in the world. They become problems in my head. The problem is no longer: ‘my job is demoralizing, but I can’t leave it’… It’s: ‘I have a chemical imbalance that prevents me from enjoying life'” — Justin Garson on “the pathologizing tendency”
A political theorist and a comedian discuss the American presidency — "The Oath and the Office" is the podcast of Corey Brettschneider & John Fugelsang
An “evidence revolution” has taken place in medicine and other fields over the past 50 years — but, as Benjamin Santos Genta asks, there's still the question: "what counts as good scientific evidence?"
“Behind the scenes at Ethics” — editor Douglas Portmore shares how the journal works

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Latest Comments

Leaver on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
As the name implies I have left the profession! But I don't agree with this. Since … let's say the first cohort past 2008 (roughly 2013-14 or so)…
Jr Phil Prof on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
Definitely! I see many in whom the love of philosophy has been drained and replaced by an obsession with the academic game. Being an academic, and especially a…
Andrew Moon on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
Do things that will keep your love of philosophy alive. Love of status and praise can compete with the love of philosophy, so that you start to love…
Andrew Moon on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
I'd add to this that what matters is not the grade your professor gives, but what sort of impression you make on that professor. And what matters much…
Jr Phil Prof on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
If you tend to be overly self-critical, develop your ability to have compassion for yourself. If you tend to already be very good at that, go out of…
Billy on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
Go for a nice, demanding, and conscientious dissertation advisor: nice so that you aren’t too demoralized to persist, demanding so that you improve, and conscientious so that you…
Caio Cezar Silva on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
Dedicate your research to what you find interesting. Don't feel pressured to take part of trend topics in your area. Although you'll not get many citations, you'll not…
Milan on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
Really think about going abroad after grad school. Applying to international jobs and post-docs in, say, India, China or Eastern Europe, this will significantly increase your chances of…
cecil burrow on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
The problem is that when you are a grad student your incompetence-barometer is typically not yet particularly well-tuned.
Joshua Paschal on A History of U.S. Philosophy Via APA Presidencies (guest post)
Those mistakes are my own, apologies–the data is correct, I just wrote that wrong in the write-up.
Stephen Grossman on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
suicide
Stephen Grossman on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
> What a huge privilege to spend a few years thinking about such difficult and interesting questions! Especially when garbage collectors and dishwashers are taxed for you.
Stephen Grossman on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
I read a part of a philosophy book 19 times beforeI understood it. Philosophy is very abstract.
Stephen Grossman on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
The eye should be focused onto reality. Charity tolerates incompetence. Is that your hidden context??
Jake Wright on Your One Piece of Philosophy Grad School Advice
Your grades don't matter and you shouldn't treat them like they matter. (If your funding is tied to grades, work to get grades that guarantee you won't lose…

Tag: public understanding

The Public’s Opinion about Philosophy in Universities

Writing Philosophy and Developing Curricula with Undergrads