February 2005
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Godel on the Constitutional “Inconsistency” that Allowed for Dictatorship
Jerry Dworkin (Philosophy, UC Davis) writes: You may have heard the(well-attested) story that when Godel ws studying the Constitution for his citizenship exam he claimed to have discovered an "inconsistency" that allowed the possibility of a dictatorship. This may have been just craziness, but can you think what he might have had in mind? You…
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The warnings come trickling in…
…as to the horrors on the horizon. First Cheney, now Bush: President George W Bush added a new twist to the international tension over Iran’s nuclear programme last night by pledging to support Israel if it tries to destroy the Islamic regime’s capacity to make an atomic bomb. Asked whether he would back Israel if…
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New Ancient Philosophy Blog
Here, from Michael Pakaluk (Philosophy, Clark). While we have seen blogs on philosophy of biology, free will, epistemology, ethics, and so on, this is the first, I believe, to be focussed on an historical area of our discipline.
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Remedying a Tone Problem
Dadahead (I like that name!) writes: "It occurred to me that the tone of this here blog is almost entirely quite negative. In an effort to remedy this, I have posted cute pictures of animals." The next time someone masks their disagreement with my substantive views by objecting to my "tone," I’ll have to try…
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The Coming Military Draft, the saga continues
Details here; an excerpt: If a new draft law is enacted, the government could start sending new recruits to military training very quickly. The reason: Former President Jimmy Carter put the framework of the current Selective Service system in place in 1980. Although Carter never activated it, as part of the framework, young men must…
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“Letters from the Homefront”
Here; some excerpts: Teri Wills Allison, a massage therapist and a member of Military Families Speak Out, lives near Austin, Texas. I know something about the costs of an unjust war, for my son, Nick–an infantryman in the US Army–is fighting one in Iraq. I don’t speak for my son. I couldn’t even if I…
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Election Law Expert Hasen Turns Down Wash U, Staying at Loyola-LA
Richard Hasen, one of the nation’s leading election law experts at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, has turned down an offer from Washington University, St. Louis. (Professor Hasen is also well-known in the blogosphere for his informative Election Law site.) It’s always a healthy sign when a school can retain its top faculty against bids…
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More records
Over 5,000 visitor sessions yesterday, a record. And an average of more than 4,000 visitor sessions per day last week (Monday through Sunday). Obviously the Paul Campos Fan Club is playing a big role in the increased traffic, but I suspect the main explanation is that we are approaching the season when students are making…
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Sectarian Strife at “The Conservative Philosopher”!
The sordid details here. (And the contrary perspective here, with a further reply here, and then comments from an observer here.) It’s like the 1930s at City College all over again, except instead of Trotskyites and Stalinists, it’s religious conservatives and other elements of the far right at each other’s throats. Yikes!
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What it takes to get a pay raise at Columbia
Columbia Provost Alan Brinkley says: “It is true that getting an outside offer is the best way to increase your salary.” It’s rare that top administrators speak so candidly. (Thanks to Iman Singh Bhullar for the pointer.)
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Hiring Practices at Less “Elite” Universities
Another philosophy graduate student writes: I read with interest the comments concerning gappy CV’s and found it piqued when discussion turned to less elite universities. I, as many graduate students, imagine that I will be headed for a school in the bottom 30-50 or below and would appreciate it if you’d be able to open…
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Yale Law School Makes Bid for NYU’s Feldman
Yale Law School has an offer out to Noah Feldman, an expert in public and comparative law (with a special, and fairly unique, expertise in Islamic law and philosophy), at New York University. Feldman is also visiting this semester at Harvard Law School. After a busy year of recruiting at Yale last year (John Donohue…
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Is Logic Now Marginal to Philosophy?
Richard Zach (Philosophy, Calgary) discusses the issue here, as well as the issue of employment prospects for logicians.
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The Truth (at last!) about Intelligent Design
Here; an excerpt: The people pushing intelligent design are godless interlopers who want our children taught that the Bible got things wrong….They suggest that the Earth is billions of years old and that animals have evolved pretty much the way Charles Darwin described more than a century ago. For these folks of little faith, science…
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Philosophers Annual: Best Papers of 2004?
David Chalmers (Philosophy, ANU) invites suggestions of papers published in 2004 that might be considered among "the ten best" of the year. Although Dave is unlikely, himself, to be nominating papers in ethics or ancient philosophy or German philosophy, it’s a reasonable bet that other members of the Annual’s editorial board will take a look…
Andrei Rodin is circulating a letter demanding the liberation of Svetlana Mesyats: https://philomatica.org/2026/05/open-letter-in-support-of-svetlana-messiats/. The prosecution has demanded a sentence of…