July 2004
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Blogging Hiatus
The new term is in sight, deadlines are looming, and there will even be a bit of travel. Don’t expect much, if anything, new between now and mid-August at the earliest. Some coming attractions for later in August, besides the usual faculty news and updates: Germany in the 1930s and America Today The Myth of…
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More thoughts on the Kerry speech and the Democratic convention
These from a young philosopher: “I’m watching the DNC on television. It’s a good show. Good production values. I just don’t recognize the Democratic party anymore. “American political culture has become an intellectual race to the bottom. This isn’t populism. It’s the only destructive form of intellectualism I know of. Everyone’s second-guessing themselves hoping David…
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Countries with Highest Per Capita “Highly Cited Researchers”
More data on highly cited researchers, courtesy of the Institute for Scientific Information. Remember: this data does not include the humanities, and is tilted towards research in the hard sciences and medicine. The data also favors scholarship published in English. With those caveats in mind, here are the nations with the ten highest per capita…
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The Sensibilities of which Totalitarianism is Made
Herewith a third year law student at the University of Houston reacting to these pictures of the “free speech” cages and this posting of mine: “Brian Leiter can’t understand how a federal judge could uphold keeping loony protestors waving various protest paraphenalia and working themselves into a frenzy a safe distance from the Democratic convention.”…
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Early Modern Philosophy texts…
…on-line, courtesy of the distinguished philosopher Jonathan Bennett. Very nice. UPDATE: Philosopher Matt Davidson points out something I should have noted more clearly initially: “One thing you might want to note is that he has ‘cleaned up’ the English in Locke, Hume, and Berkeley to try to make the texts more readable by beginning undergraduates.…
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Philosopher Sawyer from Kansas to Nebraska
Sarah Sawyer (philosophy of language and mind, epistemology), currently an assistant professor at the University of Kansas, has accepted a tenured offer from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
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Anyone but Bush for President!
The Democratic convention is over, and John Kerry is now, officially, the only person who has any chance of beating George W. Bush, the worst President in the history of the United States, and the most reviled internationally in the last hundred years. What can we say about this convening of the major opposition party…
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In Memoriam
Francis Crick (1916-2004) The memorial notice from the Salk Institute is here.
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In Memoriam
Corwin Johnson (1917-2004) Professor Johnson joined the UT Law faculty in 1947 (before air-conditioning, which, he said, made those April and May classes in jacket-and-tie a bit uncomfortable!), and although he officially retired in 1988, he continued to teach one or two courses every year since. A distinguished expert in the law of property and…
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Just War Theory
Philosopher Mark Rigstad runs a useful site on “Just War Theory,” with material of interest to both philosophers and lawyers.
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The Religious Right/Secular Liberal Split: Is it an Illusion?
This article suggests as much. Here is the conclusion (but do read the whole thing if you want to comment): “But as liberal practices like divorce, congregation-switching, rock music, sex toys, Medicare and therapy worm their way into the religious heartland, it becomes less easy to pick out distinctively liberal horrors from which to save…
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Why the “Free [sic] Speech Zones” at the Democratic Convention are so Worrisome
Look again at the pictures. We’re all used to seeing protesters kept behind those old police saw-horses with a line of cops in front. But political speech here is literally being caged in a demeaning, intimidating environment, designed to minimize its impact and discourage its presence. Here’s why I find this so alarming: (1) There’s…
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Free Speech at the Democratic Convention
I think I won’t vote for Kerry/Edwards after all; I think I’ll leave the country (any Canadian universities hiring?). Take a look at the “free speech zones” at the Democratic convention. Now we can understand why the federal judge who heard the challenge to these cages–but nonetheless upheld them–remarked that , ‘I, at first, thought…
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“The Future for Philosophy” is now…
…here, or at least actual copies have now arrived in Austin. OUP has produced a very handsome volume, which is gratifying to see after so many years of intellectual labor. I understand that the book will be released for purchase in Europe in the next week, and in the U.S. shortly thereafter–by September at the…
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“Doctors Without Borders” is…
…leaving Afghanistan, another country we “liberated,” because the violence is so out of control–so National Public Radio reported this morning. This humanitarian organization serves and has served in many of the most dangerous and desperate places on earth, but is now forced to leave Afghanistan. (Here is DWB’s statement on the departure.) Meanwhile, in never-never…
I agree with what you’re saying, but I want to bring up a possible non-sequitor: I’m confused by why the…