October 2003
-
Philosophers on the Political Compass
Blogospher philosophers have responded to my plea: here is Weatherson (note his comments esp. on the misleading nature of the results), Bertram, and Holbo (and note esp. Cosma’s comments about the possible bias of the survey). (Apologies to others I may have missed.) All the philosophers are in the libertarian/left quadrant, as befits their superior…
-
Solum’s Top 10 Books in Jurisprudence
I was quite astonished to discover this list of the “Top Ten” books in “Contemporary Jurisprudence” compiled by Larry Solum. Here’s the list: H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law, Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights Richard Posner, Economic Analysis of Law Randy Barnett, The Structure of Liberty: Justice and…
-
The US Philosophy Hierarchy Over 50 Years
In the 1950s, the top philosophy program in the United States was, by a wide margin, Harvard (W.V.O. Quine, an aging C.I. Lewis, Morton White, Roderick Firth, etc.), followed by some mix of Cornell (Max Black, Norman Malcom, a young John Rawls, etc.), Michigan (William Frankena, Cooper Langford, Charles Stevenson, etc.), Princeton (esp. after Carl…
-
Political Compass Mania
I appear to have started something (other than the PGR). My little post on “the Political Compass” test, on 10/29 (picking up on Bainbridge’s neglected 10/25 post), and the suggestion that all bloggers should take it, led Professor Bainbridge to reply, which appears to have then led the omnipotent Larry Solum to post the results…
-
Libertarian Utopia in New Hampshire
The New York Times reported that libertarians are looking to create their utopia in New Hampshire, by moving there en masse in order to take over state government. I particularly enjoyed the astute comments of libertarian migrator Jackie Casey. Ms. Casey, who lives with her cat and two 9-millimeter handguns (and wants a machine gun…
-
IN MEMORIAM
B.J. Diggs (1916-2003) A brief profile is here. When memorials are available, they will be posted here and to the Update Service of the PGR.
-
My Political Compass
Thanks to Steve Bainbridge for pointers to this site, which reports my “political compass” here. I’m delighted to note that, according to the Political Compass site, I’m closer to Gandhi, while Steve is closer to Hitler and Thatcher!
-
The New York Times on the PGR
Once again, a writer in the NY Times calls the Philosophical Gourmet Report “the bible” of prospective graduate students, which is either unfair to the bible or the PGR, I’m not sure which. But the author raises some interesting issues that will have to await time for a serious post in a couple of days…
-
Atlantic Monthly “College Rankings”
Sitting for a dozen hours on airplanes yesterday and the day before allowed me to read, with some care, among other things, the November 2003 issue of Atlantic Monthly, their first annual issue on “College Admissions.” Overall, the articles on this subject are extremely informative; I can’t recall better articles on these subjects by journalists.…
-
IN MEMORIAM
John Hart Ely (1938-2003) The NY Times obituary is here, which contains a useful discussion of his best-known contribution to constitutional theory, Democracy and Distrust (1980).
-
Nothing new for a bit…
…I’m on a plane tomorrow, to talk to the folks at George Mason Law on Tuesday about “Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law.” (Evolutionary biology/pscyhology is the hot fad among right-wingers in the legal academy right now, preying on the impressive scientific ignorance of law professors; I’m doing my part to make…
-
“The less they know, the less they know it” post of the week is…
here, where the tediously reactionary Professor Reynolds is handed the rope and then hangs himself with it (i.e., posts it). (The last "paragraph" of the rope [about married men] is irrelevant, by then Professor Reynolds is long gone.) (What a misfortune, and injustice, for the University of Tennessee College of Law that Reynolds should now…
-
Finalists for Berkeley Law (Boalt) Deanship
The four external finalists to be Dean of Boalt are: Christopher Edley from Harvard; Edward Rubin from Penn; Tom Sullivan from Minnesota; and Stephen Yeazell from UCLA. (Yeazell is also the sole external finalist for the Cornell Deanship; there are two insiders in contention there as well.) This is a surprising list, and for one…
-
US Ranks 31st for Press Freedom…
…according to Reporters Without Borders. Seems generous. (And US ranks 135th for Press Freedom in the countries it’s invaded and is now managing as client states.)
I respond to this report here https://jasonstanleyantifascist.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophical-muddle-that