May 2005
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Living Philosophers You Need to Know…
…according to the "new edition" of Ted Honderich’s Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2005). (I should note that I was one of those Professor Honderich consulted on this question, though I can’t now very well recall what I told him [other than that Kit Fine and Timothy Williamson needed to be added], or how many of…
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SSRN Author Page for Brian Leiter is…
…here. While blogging is light, you can download some scholarly papers (though they aren’t quite as wicked as the blog).
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Patriotism in Action
A right-wing blogger notices that the U.S. condones torture and the murder of prisoners and is "outraged" about it. What is more telling about the depraved state of public culture in the U.S. are some of the comments following his posting: see esp. those by "celebrim" and "tom paine."
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Help Oust the Discovery [sic] Institute from the Smithsonian!
The conmen at the Discovery [sic] Institute, as many of you probably know, have "donated" $16,000 to the Smithsonian, in return for the opportunity to show one of their propaganda films about evolution, which, of course, permits them to claim legitimacy by their (paid, of course) association with the Smithsonian. Meanwhile, James Randi, longtime debunker…
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Right-Wing Olin Foundation, Major Benefactor of Law & Economics, is Closing Up Shop
Story here; excerpts with some comments: In the budget offices of the right, the loss of Olin, though long anticipated, is bringing a stab of anxiety, as total annual giving of up to $20 million disappears from think tanks, journals and academic aeries…. Mr. Piereson [longtime director of the Olin Foundation] says that one Olin…
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A curious feature of the blogosphere…
…is that one can learn that one is being discussed at a conference thousands of miles away. I hope to have a few comments on the merits a bit later.
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Biologist Orr on Intelligent Design’s Two Most Sophisticated Salesmen: Behe and Dembski
Patient and characteristically lucid analysis here by biologist Allen Orr. (Thanks to Ian Best for the pointer.) An excerpt from his concluding observations (read the full article for the detailed support): Dembski’s arguments have been met with tremendous enthusiasm in the I.D. movement. In part, that’s because an innumerate public is easily impressed by a…
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British University Teachers’ Union Votes to Overturn Boycott of Two Israeli Universities
More information via Chris Bertram (Philosophy, Bristol). Thank goodness they did the right thing this time.
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Lighter Blogging the Next Two Weeks…
…but not a total hiatus. Things should pick up again circa June 10.
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The Secular History of the United States
One of the more interesting posts in recent months at Left2Right, courtesy of historian James Oakes. His conclusion (for which his post provides the support): The wave of evangelicalism that swept the United States beginning in the 1790s was not really a "second" Great Awaking at all. It was not a continuation of the earlier…
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“An Excess of Civility”
Interesting analysis here of how demands for civility in public life and discourse serve the status quo; an excerpt: I would argue that there is an "excess of civility" today in North America…. -Why is it unheard of for someone to call a politician or corporate CEO a liar? Why do we instead hear terms…
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Theocracy Watch
Even writers for The New Republic are starting to notice: Conservatives have been arguing for years that the religious right is simply misunderstood. These vilified godly folks don’t want to impose their beliefs on anybody else, we’re told. They simply want to defend their traditional beliefs and practices against the aggressive impositions of a secular…
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BU’s Lawrence to be New George Washington Law Dean
A faculty member at George Washington writes that Frederick Lawrence (constitutional law) at Boston University has been appointed the new Dean of the law school at George Washington University. I’ll post a link to a press release when one is available. UPDATE: The GW press release is here.
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German Philosopher Rodl from Leipzig to Pittsburgh
Sebastian Rödl (philosophy of language and mind; Kant and German Idealism) at the University of Leipzig has accepted a tenured appointment at the University of Pittsburgh. Among other topics, Rödl has written on the philosophy of Robert Brandom (also at Pittsburgh), whose work has attracted considerable attention in Germany in recent years.
Georgy Maksimovich pointed me to this article in Russian: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2026/05/25/antisovetskie-filosofskie-kontratseptsii