January 2007
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Why Do I Ever Talk to Journalists? Or More Nonsense in Print about Philosophy (Leiter)
Jason links to the latest New York Times article on the PGR, which is mainly about how well Rutgers did. I spoke months ago to the reporter. He didn’t mention he was going to include this piece of self-serving bullshit in his article: Dr. McLaughlin said that Rutgers is better in analytic philosophy — things…
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Rutgers Philosophy in the New York Times (J. Stanley)
Here. I’m pleased to see the article. But there are a definitely some confusions. I was particularly annoyed by the "definition" of analytic philosophy as ahistorical philosophy, and the absurd insinuation that philosophers at Penn State, Northwestern, and Stony Brook are better historians than the philosophers at so-called "analytic" departments ranked in historical areas in…
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Warburton Blog
Nigel Warburton, a philosopher at the Open University in the U.K., has a blog. Warburton has done a lot to educate the reading public, especially in Britain, about philosophy.
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The Proposed U.S. Troop “Surge” in Iraq (Leiter)
So as everyone knows, Dick Cheney, through his spokesman George W. Bush, has decided that the proper response to the resounding electoral defeat of the President’s policy in Iraq this past November and the recommendations of the bi-partisan committee led by Daddy Bush’s right-hand man James Baker III is to ignore all of it and…
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For Those Who Attended the Eastern APA…
…some information about hotel refunds for the night of the fire is here.
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“When the moral facts are obvious, there is no need for philosophy” (Leiter)
So remarked the political philosopher Brian Barry (as quoted here). This is a view for which, as longtime readers know, I have some sympathy. Who can doubt, though, that in an era when every dimwit and moral leper has his own blog that there are, in fact, legions ready to "dispute" Barry’s example of a…
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Washington Law Dean to Resign at End of Academic Year
W.H. "Joe" Knight, Dean of the law school at the University of Washington at Seattle since 2001, will step down as Dean at the end of this academic year. There is a news item here. My impression, from afar, is that the Law School did much better hiring, especially at the junior level, during his…
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Funniest Law Firm Names
Daniel Solove (George Washington) has the details.
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Harry Frankfurt on The Daily Show (Edmundson)
Harry Frankfurt (Philosophy, Princeton) plugs his new book, On Truth, on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show–after the ad. (Thanks to my colleague Andrew I. Cohen for the pointer.)
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The Wittgenstein Fallacy Continued (J. Stanley)
I’ve received a lot of feedback on my post on The Wittgenstein Fallacy. Since I’m in Miami at the Fourth Annual Graduate Student Epistemology Conference, and the semester is about to begin, I didn’t open comments. But Aidan McGlynn has continued discussion of the matter on Boundaries of Language, and I’ve also received many emails…
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“Nano-Philosophy”…
…the search for "very, very small philosophical questions." Courtesy of Robert Stainton (Western Ontario) and his former colleagues from the University of Waterloo.
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The Saga of the Most Controversial Podium Visitor in America Continues
The first installment was noted here, and now various conservatives and former OLC folks have come to Professor Delahunty’s defense. Some of the comments at the Volokh site are also actually worth reading, which is rare. With my philosopher’s hat on, I can’t resist noting that in his prior career as professional philosopher Professor Delahunty…
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A 10-Year-Old Boy in Iraq Speaks (Leiter)
I recommend reading the whole thing, but here is a brief excerpt: "I am 10 years old but I have not been to school for the past three years because I’m scared of the killings taking place in Iraq. Many of my friends have either been kidnapped or killed…. "Two weeks ago, a close friend…
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The Wittgenstein Fallacy (J. Stanley)
In the comments section two posts down, my friend Aidan McGlynn cites Michael Dummett’s famous quote making what I’ve come to call the Wittgenstein Fallacy. As Aidan writes: Does the push away from conservative careful publishing mark a change in the attitudes held by philosophers, or is it rather a response to external pressures placed…
I only just learned of Barry’s passing, and I’m enormously saddened at the news. I wrote my PhD on his…