April 2008
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USC Makes Bid for Salmon at UC Santa Barbara
Nathan Salmon (philosophy of language, metaphysics) at the University of California at Santa Barbara has a senior offer from the University of Southern California, where he will visit next fall. Salmon–who has in the past turned down offers from Michigan and Yale, among other places–would help restore USC’s position as one of the top two…
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Law School Commencement Speakers
Blog emperor Caron compiles a list. "Motley crew" and "eccentric" barely begins to describe the mix!
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The American Penal System: One of “the world’s major human rights disasters”?
It certainly sounds like one.
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Friday Poem: “Reading Sartre’s ‘Baudelaire’ (and other Haiku excuses)”
Reading Sartre’s "Baudelaire" (and other Haiku excuses) IHidden sun todayAugust expectations fadeI too invisible IIWindowsill of daySlowly onward a beetleI watch it glide IIIFalling the ant risesAnd falling rises climbs againSay we two are free…
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Someone Who Thinks Even Less of Leon Wieseltier’s Philosophical Acumen Than We Do!
Here. (Our earlier take here.) From the text: How could someone who knows so little philosophy and is so bad at the philosophy he does know conjure up the arrogance required to make embarrassingly misinformed, sweeping generalizations about it?….I think I found the answer in an old Sam Tanenhaus profile of the pompous fraud: A…
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Longtime Faculty Member Raymond Nimmer Named Dean at Houston
The UH press release is here. I suspect Nimmer is a very fine choice, but it’s a shame they felt the need to mention an increase in US News ranking as evidence! That, unfortunately, just contributes to the illusion that movement in US News is correlated with anything happening in the real world. It’s not.
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Job Placement Information on Departmental Websites
Colleagues in other fields are often impressed by how much information about job placement philosophy departments now make available on their web sites. It was not always that way, alas. About six years ago, I used the Update Service to the PGR–which reached several thousand philosophers–to suggest that departments be more forthcoming about this information,…
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A U.S. Presidential Election Update
At the start of the year, I expressed the worry that, against Barack Obama, the Republicans will "lock up the racist (and racially uneasy) vote by calling attention to the Church to which Senator Obama belongs in Chicago." Last month, as U.S. readers will know, videos of the colorful and scathing pastor of Obama’s Church…
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Ben-Shahar from Michigan to Chicago
Omri Ben-Shahar (law & economics, contracts, commercial law, intellectual property) at the University of Michigan Law School, where he is Director of the Olin Center for Law & Economics, has accepted a senior offer from the University of Chicago Law School. This appointment certainly solidifies Chicago’s status as having the best ‘under 50’ faculty cohort…
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Philosophy Made Easy Through Simple Poems!
This is quite amusing; the poems are by Brian Knudson.
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Schauer from Harvard’s Kennedy School to Virginia
Frederick Schauer, a leading figure in constitutional law (esp. the First Amendment) and legal theory, who has been Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at the Kennedy School at Harvard University since 1990, has accepted a senior offer from the law school at the University of Virginia. That is a really quite major hiring…
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Thoughts from a Berkeley Professor on the Yoo Case
A law professor at Berkeley writes: Your postings on academic freedom and the John Yoo case have been pitch-perfect, from my point of view. Thank you for bringing some sanity to a sad and challenging affair. This is obviously a very painful topic for those of us at Berkeley, for a whole host of reasons.…
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Professor and Associate Dean Douglas Blaze Named Dean at Tennessee
The (other) UT press release is here.
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Advice Sought on Summer Travel in Southern Europe
I have professional engagements this summer in Northern Italy and Spain, and was hoping to spend some time between events with my family at some appealing place (nice beach, good swimming, great food) on the Italian or French Riviera (i.e., inbetween the Italian and Spanish engagements). I would be grateful for suggestions! Many thanks.
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Advice Sought on Summer Travel in Southern Europe
I have professional engagements this summer in Northern Italy and Spain, and was hoping to spend some time between events with my family at some appealing place (nice beach, good swimming, great food) on the Italian or French Riviera (i.e., inbetween the Italian and Spanish engagements). I would be grateful for suggestions! Many thanks.
I respond to this report here https://jasonstanleyantifascist.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophical-muddle-that