September 2003
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9/10/03 State Board of Education Hearing…
…is reported on in this entertaining article. The quotes from UT physicist and Noble Laureate Steven Weinberg are particularly good. The word “on the street” is that the effect of the testimony of the pro-evolution/anti-Intelligent Design Baptist ministers and the heavy-hitting real scientists has swayed the two Republican Board members who haven’t signed on to…
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New journal: Journal of Moral Philosophy
The new Journal of Moral Philosophy has now completed filling its editorial board, and is continuing to accept submissions for its debut next year.
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Law School Faculty Moves
This is the time of year when law professors are deluged with publications from law schools announcing their new faculty hires. I think I’m one of the 8 or 9 law professors in America who actually reads these things (well, given my avocation, I have to, you know). Every now and then an interesting gem…
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Fodor on McDowell
A reader tells me that Fodor’s review of McDowell’s Mind and World is available in his collection In Critical Condition which is available via this MIT site, but for a fee. Here’s the concluding paragraph of the review: “Ever since Descartes, a lot of the very best philosophers have thought of science as an invading…
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“Don’t Crap on My Car”
Tired of birds fouling your vehicle? Even if not, you’ll still laugh out loud at this site, courtesy of a British ad agency. Click on “View Highlights” and then “clip 1.”
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The Meaning of “Texas Taliban”
I have received a handful of irate e-mails protesting the use of the term “Texas Taliban,” including one from the spouse of one of those so criticized in an earlier posting. (UT law professors have more visibility than law professors at comparable schools in other states, I fear.) Why do I use the term “Texas…
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More Talibanism, American-Style
No parodies allowed in the Taliban’s America it appears. UPDATE: Two readers suggest that this site is, itself, in fact a parody! As one put it, “I think you’ve been had.” Indeed!
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Which philosophers will be read in 100 years?
I was struck by philosopher Chris Bertram’s remark, regarding Davidson’s death, that “a succession of philosophical giants” have died recently, mentioning David Lewis, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Bernard Williams. The death of David Lewis (1941-2001) was the first memorial notice posted on the Update Service, back on October 16, 2001. Since then the following…
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Oklahoma Taliban
A stellar graduate of the UT Law School writes in with the following story (from 1978): “Having wandered through your Texas Taliban archive, I thought you might enjoy a slightly-older anecdote: “In third grade at [name omitted] Elementary School in [city name omitted], Oklahoma (former HQ of [company name omitted] and so populated with a…
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Another Perspective on Last Year’s Hirings
Brian Weatherson, a philosopher at Brown, has offered his own comments about last year’s hiring, partly in response to some of mine. He offers a useful and somewhat different perspective, which prospective students may find helpful. Our main difference may have to do with breadth of coverage as an important feature of a strong graduate…
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More Derrida Jokes
A colleague in Australia writes that his infant daughter “is walking with ease, and starting to talk: only one-word phrases so far, but she can string meaningless noises into sentence-long strings with all the mannersms and facial expressions of understanding (she’ll grow out of that phase soon enough, and avoid ending up like Derrida!).”
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Houston Chronicle editorial on keeping creationism out of school textbooks
A solid editorial from the Houston Chronicle, which even borrows a few ideas from my Austin-Statesman essay from July. The Texas Taliban are bad for business.
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Jerry Fodor is great
Thanks to Brian Weatherson, I discovered that Fodor’s characteristically delightful demolition of one of Putnam’s recent confused forays in to philosophy of mind is on-line. Can someone point me to an on-line version of Fodor’s TLS (or was it also LRB?) dismembering of McDowell’s 1994 Mind and World? Many philosophers do good work in demolishing…
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Leiter’s Comments on 2002-03 Hiring Season
What follows are some personal observations on the significance and import of the faculty moves that have transpired in the last year. These reflect neither a survey nor vetting by the PGR Advisory Board. Rather, this is the kind of advice and analysis I would give to a student I was advising (and which I’ve…
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Philosophical humor
This is very funny: Louis Witteringswine, Tractatus Fuselagico-Umbilicus
All about class.