July 2005
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Friday Poem: “Chance”
Chance Astonished by everything I read even crapAmazed by the mathematics of diversityAnd the accidents which language in perversityCondemns to utterance beneath my ailing penLeaving me the most uneloquent of men Still the logos of chance inspires meWhat chance that you and I as strangersWill in a lifetime write the same poem orThat on one…
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New Blogging Practices
My quasi-hiatus from blogging in July was fruitful in terms of progress on various scholarly projects, and notwithstanding the lack of regular posting, the blog still averaged more than 3,000 visitor sessions per day on the weekdays (though the percentage of repeat visitors was, sensibly enough, down). Henceforth, posting will take place almost exclusively on…
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U.S. Planning Nuclear Attack on Iran?
Details here.
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Philosopher Parsons from Davis to Otago
Josh Parsons (metaphysics, ethics), currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Davis, has accepted a post in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Otago for 2006.
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New Institute of Philosophy at University of London
Tim Crane (Philosophy, UCL) writes to inform me that, The University of London has decided to establish an Institute of Philosophy within its School of Advanced Study (www.sas.ac.uk), starting in the academic year 2005-6. The Institute, which has been made possible by a substantial private donation and matching funds fromthe University, will replace the current…
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Your Handy Guide to Right-Wing Lawyers Who Hate Brian Leiter…or the Company that Eugene Volokh Keeps
(This is not likely to interest philosophers, since our profession is afflicted with very few of these kinds of right-wing cranks–with the emphasis on cranks.) One of my readers had a clever idea that this kind of guide would be amusing for those who browse blogs, since these sorry folks turn up again and again…
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Philosopher of Physics Davey from Kansas to Chicago
Kevin Davey (philosophy of physics), currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas, has accepted a tenure-track offer from the University of Chicago.
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John Howard the Ostrich
Asked by a reporter last week about the (obvious!) connections between the terrorist attacks in London and British participation in the immoral and criminal war in Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Blair was fortunate to have the conservative Australian P.M. John Howard on hand to confuse the issues. Here is Howard’s response, with my commentary interspersed:…
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Friday Poem: “Silence”
Silence Akhmatova’s silenceBurning her wordsTsvetayeva’s silent ropeThe silence of poetsAnd those not poetsWherever black crepe is hung The silence of beingHeavy beyond hearingThe silence of mirrorsAnd walls without doorsThe silence within silenceThat hurries past knowing Celan silent in the SeineLorca’s silent bloodVallejo’s silence sobbingTrakl’s silent flowBeethoven’s silent moatThe silence drowning words And the hypocrite…
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Two More Hires for Birmingham Philosophy
After recruiting Helen Beebee (metaphysics) from the University of Manchester as the new Head of Department, and Alex Miller (philosophy of language, metaphysics, metaethics) from Macquarie University to a Professorial post (details here), the University of Birmingham has now announced two additional permanent lectureship appointments: Lisa Bortolotti (philosophy of mind, psychology, and science; applied ethics)…
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Reason and Rhetoric, Again
When someone made the banal observation that changing views via rational persuasion rarely happens, there was much clucking of blogospheric tongues. And then along comes this: According to Lakoff, Democrats have been wrong to assume that people are rational actors who make their decisions based on facts; in reality, he says, cognitive science has proved…
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Philosopher Gooding-Williams from Northwestern to Poli Sci at Chicago
Robert Gooding-Williams (African-American philosophy and political thought, Continental philosophy) at Northwestern University has accepted a senior offer from the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, to start January 1, 2006. His is the fourth senior departure for the Northwestern department in the past several months (the others are: Terry Pinkard back to…
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New ACLS Fellowship Winners Announced
The complete list is here. Philosophers winning support for their work this year are Paul Franks (Toronto) and Peter Hylton (Illinois/Chicago). Of local interest, Richard Cleary (Architecture) at UT Austin also won an ACLS Fellowship. I’ve been a reviewer for the ACLS the last two years, and it has been an extremely interesting experience, both…
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The Kid in the White House
An insightful analysis; I had wanted to post a lengthy excerpt, but was having odd formatting problems, so I shall have to simply invite readers to read the entire essay. But it is worthwhile.
I’ve only just heard this news and am sorry to read it. I was taught as an undergrad and postgrad…