May 2004
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What Historians Think about the Bush Presidency
Jessica Wilson has the details.
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Philosophy at one Community College
There is a nice profile of the flourishing philosophy program at Bergen Community College in the May 21 Chronicle of Higher Education; if you or your institution subscribe, you can access it on-line here.
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What foreign languages are most useful for philosophy graduate students?
An undergraduate philosophy teacher asks: “In your opinion, for potential doctoral candidates in Philosophy, what is the most useful foreign language by specialty?” I’ve opened comments (no anonymous posts!). I’ll begin with a few observations of my own. For the undergraduate still undecided about his or her particular interests in philosophy, the safest bet is…
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John Gray on Iraq
Conservative political theorist John Gray has a quite interesting essay about Iraq here; since he is a Brit, his conservativism is largely uninfected with the parochialism and nationalist chauvinism we associate with his American counterparts. A sample: “In toppling Saddam, the Americans destroyed an essentially Western regime, not unlike the Stalinist Soviet Union in its…
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Strictly for Austinites: Looking for a School for your Kids, starting as early as age 3?
Rigorous academic curriculum, no idiotic standardized testing (no TEKS), non-religious school, splendid teachers. If you’re interested, e-mail me at bleiter at mail dot law dot utexas dot edu. There are spaces for the fall.
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Why Won’t the Media Report the “Good News” from Iraq?
This item will warm the hearts of all right-wingers who have been pissing and moaning about the failure of the media to report the “good news” from Iraq. A sample: “Somewhere in Iraq today, a young woman has learned to bake a cake. But because the media insists on covering beheadings and torture, we will…
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Philosophy Job Placement in the UK–Some Pertinent Observations
Ralph Wedgwood (Philosophy, Oxford) writes: I was looking at your list of “tenure-track hiring in philosophy” in 2003-04. It occurred to me that strictly speaking, no UK hires are “tenure-track”, just because tenure in the strict sense doesn’t exist in the UK (e.g., my Oxford Fellowship will have to be renewed after the first 4…
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“Strange Doctrines” on “Instapundit”
Here. To which I add: yes.
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The Metaphysics of Free Will in The New York Times
Here is David Brooks commenting on Dylan Klebold, one of the two high school students who shot up the Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, killing many classmates, before killing himself: “My instinct is that Dylan Klebold was a self-initiating moral agent who made his choices and should be condemned for them. Neither his…
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Kerry-McCain?
Here’s a scathing, and often amusing, take on the subject. A sample: “‘The enthusiasm of Democrats for Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, is so high that even some who have been mentioned as possible Kerry running mates…are spinning scenarios about a “unity government,” effectively giving Mr. Kerry a green light to reach across the political…
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A Defeat for the Minnesota Taliban…
…and a victory for science, education and children. Pharyngula has the details. Meanwhile, the pathological liars at the Discovery [sic] Institute are pretending it’s a victory–just as they did when they were squarely defeated in Texas in the fall.
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In Memoriam: Alan Gewirth
UPDATED MAY 18 Alan Gewirth (1912-2004) The informative University of Chicago memorial notice is now available here.
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More Perspective on the Academic Job Market in Philosophy
The posting on the academic job market in philosophy has already generated a lot of positive and interesting feedback, some of which I’ve secured permission to share. Keith DeRose (Philosophy, Yale) writes: “I liked your weblog post on job prospects in philosophy. Overly pessimistic misinformation on the topic is perhaps not as harmful as overly…
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Some Perspective on the Philosophy Job Market
“Here’s an exciting career opportunity you won’t see in the classified ads. For the first six to 10 years, it pays less than $20,000 and demands superhuman levels of commitment in a Dickensian environment. Forget about marriage, a mortgage, or even Thanksgiving dinners, as the focus of your entire life narrows to the production, to…
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Program/Abstracts for “Nietzsche and Ethics” Conference (Sussex, Sept. 10-12) Now Available
I just discovered that the program of the “Nietzsche and Ethics” conference–which is the subject of the 14th Annual Meeting of the UK’s Friedrich Nietzsche Society, which will be at the University of Sussex this year, September 10-12, 2004–is now on-line here: click on “programme” for the schedule, and “abstracts” for short summaries of many…
I am very pleased to have stumbled upon this site. I am Andrew & Lynne’s nephew, Peter. My mother was…