July 2013
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Another reply to the open letter from faculty elsewhere
Professor McGinn has posted this reply, which makes some fair points (amidst some rhetorical excess of its own) that go to respects in which that letter was not well-drafted. I do think the author is mistaken, however, on the retaliation issue: in fact, the university has a legal obligation to defend a complainant in a case like…
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Diamond on Campos on the economic value of a law degree
This is amusing.
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A pretty good statement by Obama on the Trayvon Martin case…
…here. Almost enough to make you forget that he's a serial violator of civil rights, who has laid the foundation for the fascist state of tomorrow! Almost.
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Professor Simkovic will be guest-blogging here next week
He will be addressing some of the criticisms of his co-authored work on the economic value of a law degree, as well as correcting many of the errors about the content of the piece that have been put into circulation by people who most likely did not read the paper, or, if they did, plainly…
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An open letter of support from faculty and students at the University of Miami
Prior to yesterday's open letter from faculty elsewhere, faculty and students at the University of Miami sent me their own letter in support of the student complainant in the McGinn case, and asked me to share it with the professional community. Here it is: An open letter of support and solidarity from members of the…
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“Ebola could lead to death, sometimes fatal”…
…and other student writing gems.
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Philosophers call on University of Miami to defend the student in the McGinn case
Here. I should disclose that I declined to sign the letter (as did my colleague Martha Nussbaum), but not because of lack of sympathy with its basic point. (I now speak for myself, not Martha, though I believe she shares some of these concerns.) I think the letter is too vague about what it asks,…
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Big year for philosophers at the British Academy
Four have been elected as Fellows: the new regular Fellows are John Gardner, the Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford, and John Hawthorne, the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy, also at Oxford (Hawthorne is also a part-time Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California); the two new Corresponding Fellows are Philip Pettit (Princeton/ANU) and Robert…
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Solnit on Snowden
This is a good read.
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The case of Frank Richter and the peculiarities of the German academic system
Frank Richter, a highly-regarded computational linguist at the University of Tuebingen, is at risk of losing his job. Why? Because, like large numbers of middle-rank (non-professorial) academics in Germany, his "time is up." Marion Zepf, a student at Tuebingen, writes: Frank Richter, an outstanding, internationally renowned researcher in computational linguistics and an excellent lecturer, is…
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Beautiful libraries
Nice set of photos, including lots of university and college libraries from around the world including Washington/Seattle, UC San Diego, the Sorbonne, Oxford, Chicago, Vassar, and many others.
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Simkovic v. Tamanaha on the economic value of a law degree
This round to Simkovic. UPDATE: This is also helpful.
There is a lot to reflect on here but, having already commented enough, I won’t. Just one thing on climate…