August 2006
-
Could Mencken Write for a Newspaper Today? (Leiter)
Last week’s item on "The Manchurian Clergyman" made me seek out one of my collections of the writings of H.L. Mencken, a man who might well take credit for the modern artform of "merciless rhetorical spankings of fanatics, villains, and ignoramuses." But, I wonder, could Mencken write a column for a newspaper today in America? …
-
From Legal Realism to Naturalized Jurisprudence
I’ve posted the penultimate draft of the introduction to my collection of papers on Naturalizing Jurisprudence: Essays on American Legal Realism and Naturalism in Legal Philosophy, which Oxford University Press will publish (simultaneously in both cloth and paper, happily) in 2007 (during the Spring, I hope). The introduction, "From Legal Realism to Naturalized Jurisprudence," gives…
-
How Many Universities? Part 2 (Wolff)
Has Australian Education minister Julie Bishop been reading this blog? If so, she needs to read it more carefully. It has been reported in the THES (p. 11 of the print edition, August 18th) that she has argued recently that Australia needs only 12 universities, rather than its current 37. But with a population of…
-
Electrolux et Veritas (Edmundson)
If you happen to hear a "giant sucking sound," it could be emanating from the book-readin’ contest (US News, Aug. 20) going on now between the President and his kabuki-demon brain, Karl Rove. The tally so far is 60 books (estimated to amount to 27,000 pages) for the President to Rove’s mere fifty. The pages…
-
Was There Really a UK Terror Plot? (Leiter)
MOVING TO THE FRONT from Aug. 16: see Update. ================================== A former British Ambassador is skeptical: I have been reading very carefully through all the Sunday newspapers to try and analyse the truth from all the scores of pages claiming to detail the so-called bomb plot. Unlike the great herd of so-called security experts doing…
-
All in the Golden Afternoon…. (Edmundson)
Lewis Carroll fans will treasure this excerpt from a transcript of the President’s news conference yesterday afternoon: QUESTION: A lot of the consequences you mentioned for pulling out [of Iraq] seem like maybe they never would have been there if we hadn’t gone in. How do you square all of that? BUSH: I square it…
-
Average Faculty Salaries for 2005-06 (Leiter)
Via the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription access only), covering 4-year institutions for the academic year 2005-06. The average full professor of philosophy (note: philosophy is lumped with religious studies) earned $82,030, compared to $76,413 for an English professor, $80,706 in History, and $84,059 in Mathematics. The average new Assistant Professor of Philosophy earned $46,780,…
-
On the Ground in Afghanistan (Leiter)
The real situation, from an interview with a member of RAWA: Q. Is it still mandatory for women in Afghanistan to wear the burqa? A. No, it’s optional but in most regions and specially areas under the fundamentalist armed commanders, women prefer to wear it for security purpose. A lot of women don’t want to…
-
Bush’s “Moral Vacancy,” Once Again (Leiter)
Doctorow was right, and Ruchira Paul has the latest evidence.
-
Average and Marginal Environmental Cost (Wolff)
How bad for the environment are different forms of transport? It is common to assume that air and road travel are much worse than rail. Maybe this is right, but how exactly is it to be calculated? There are many types of environmental impact, and it is not obvious how they should all be taken…
-
“Originalism Redux” Redux (with a reply to Solum)
I notice that several of the law blogs are busy talking about "originalism" again. Accordingly, I thought it might be timely to remind folks that originalism, the reigning pathology of American constitutional law, is the theory of constitutional interpretation without any theoretical justification. I am confident that this little problem will not dissuade any of…
-
If You Can’t Beat Em’, Stone Em’ (Nadelhoffer)
As everyone knows, public schools are the tools of the Devil–that fiendishly educated tempter. So long as we keep our children locked in their rooms and scared to death of the world outside their insulated bubbles, we can keep Satan out of their tender little hearts and minds. Of course, we end up keeping history,…
-
What Advice for Student Bloggers Starting Law School?
A Pitt law professor seeks ideas.
-
Draft Faculty Lists for Fall 2006 PGR: August 18 Version
MOVING TO FRONT FROM AUGUST 14: Last call to update faculty lists for 2006 survey! ================= I’m uploading a new version, and creating a new comments section (no anonymous posts–and post your corrections here, please don’t e-mail me, unless it is a confidential matter), of the draft faculty lists for the fall 2006 PGR surveys: …
-
Friday Poem: “Choices”
Choices I Looking back over his decisions He wondered why he had made them Had he blundered his way thoughtlessly Or responded to emotional forces He could not fathom Or had someone chosen for him II He…
I just want to address this comment: > What initially presents itself as impressive intelligence can, upon closer inspection by…