August 2014
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New Books in August
Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books in August: Paul Kalligas, The Enneads of Plotinus: A Commentary, Volume 1, trans. by Elizabeth Key Fowden & Nicolas Pilavachi (Princeton University Press, 2014). Galen Strawson, The Secret Connexion: Causation, Realism, and David Hume, Revised Edition (Oxford University Press, 2014). Russ Shafer-Landau (ed.), Oxford Studies in…
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Have blogs been good for the philosophy profession?
A graduate student writes: I get the impression that blogs are on the whole having a deleterious effect on the balance of power in the profession. The opinionated know-nothings (and insincere posturers) that we now have to pay attention to that seem to have some influence on professional organizations, departmental policies, and professional events (e.g., the…
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AAUP enters the Illinois/Salaita fray–and some more thoughts on Salaita’s contractual claims, which are stronger than I realized
The AAUP has sent a very strong letter that will force the Chancellor to sit up and take notice; on the facts as presently known (and as well-stated in the letter), the AAUP views this as a case of "[a]borting an appointment…without having demonstrated cause" and thus "as tantamount to summary dismissal, an action categorically…
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Peter Momtchiloff, legendary OUP philosophy editor…
…and rock star.
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Political theorist Erica Benner (Yale) interviewed…
…at 3AM. Her work on Machiavelli is quite intriguing!
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Illinois/Urbana Philosophy Department votes “No Confidence” in the Chancellor, President and Trustees
Prof. Kirk Sanders, the Chair of the Department, writes, "The Department of Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign today (August 28) approved the following resolution: Whereas the recent words and actions of Chancellor Phyllis Wise, President Robert Easter, and the Board of Trustees in connection with the revocation of an offer of employment…
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Some questions about the boycott from an Illinois faculty member
A humanities faculty member at Illinois writes with some reasonable questions: First: Under what conditions would the academic boycott of UIUC be ended? I support the boycott — or probably more accurately, I support the goals of those who are boycotting. I was worried before now because I thought and continue to think that there…
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Meanwhile, in other school-related wickedness…
…the Ohio Taliban want to destroy science education in the state. (Thanks to Dean Rowan for the pointer.)
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Salaita v. University of Illinois: the Constitutional Issues
Here. A somewhat revised version of portions of the material from yesterday.
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Signs of a rebound in the legal market?
Some Philadelphia firms are hiking starting salaries.
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Gaming the U.S.News.com COLLEGE rankings
The case of Northeastern. To get a sense of how nuts this is, note that at #49 in the USNews.com list, Northeastern ranks ahead of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Washington in Seattle, both among the top 20 research universities in the United States by normal measures of academic excellence…
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Blacks in philosophy…
…an empirical study. UPDATE: Justin Weinberg (South Carolina) usefully summarizes some of the key findings.
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A very fine letter to Chancellor Wise from the eminent historian Natalie Zemon Davis
Historian David Prochaska at UIUC invited me, with Professor Davis's permission, to share her letter to the Chancellor. Prof. Prochaska noted that, "Natalie Zemon Davis is one of the most distinguished historians at work today. Past president of the American Historical Association, she is the author of 10 books, including The Return of Martin Guerre (translated…
Giovanni Molteni Tagliabue (Italy) Rationalized and Extended Democracy – The REDemo Project. Foreword by Gilberto Corbellini. Firenze University Press 2023.…