March 2015
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Open thread on issues in the profession for the week of March 23, 2015
Post your comment only once, it may take awhile to appear. Let me suggest as one possible topic an earlier thread on the empirical literature on implicit bias and stereotype threat. What I took from that thread is that the evidence for stereotype threat is quite weak, but the evidence for implicit bias is quite…
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BLS Employment Projections Are Unreliable (Michael Simkovic)
Labor economists have long cautioned against the misuse of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment projections. In 2004, Michael Horrigan at the BLS explained that the BLS projections should not be used to value education or to attempt to predict shortages or surpluses of educated labor. Instead, the value of education should be measured based on…
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Is philosophy in the doldrums?
I, myself, thought Frankfurt's observation reasonable–there's certainly some nice work being done here and there, but nothing agenda-setting comparable to the figures Frankfurt mentions–but unsurprisingly, lots of younger philosophers dissented from the proposition that their field is in the doldrums. So what do readers think? I'll open a discussion afterwards. <div><a href="http://www.micropoll.com/a/mpview/1075246-4831447">Click Here for Poll</a><BR><a…
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The myth of a “resurgence” in the problem of consciousness
Galen Strawson (Texas) comments. Is he right? (Thanks to Arthur Smith for the pointer.)
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The sound of Nietzsche’s voice…
MOVING TO FRONT FROM MARCH 19–SEE UPDATE …reconstructed. Very weird, I have no idea whether the method is legitimate. (Thanks to Justin Remhof for the pointer.) UPDATE: It appears to be a hoax…or rather, "performance art"! (Thanks to Glenn Branch for the pointer.)
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The end of liberal Zionism?
Philosopher Samuel Fleischacker (Illinois/Chicago) comments.
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The right-wing war on UNC-Chapel Hill
It is likely to come to other reactionary states before long.
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NYU needs to pick their foreign partners more carefully
This was inevitable, and is probably just the beginning.
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Amsterdam offers Chair to Schliesser
Eric Schliesser (early modern philosophy, philosophy of economics), currently at Ghent University, has been offered the Chair in Political Theory in the Political Science Department at the University of Amsterdam. (Schliesser is particularly well-known for his work on Adam Smith, among other topics.) Professor Schliesser tells me he will "almost certainly" accept this position.
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McPherson from Virginia Tech to Ohio State
Tristram McPherson (ethics, metaethics), Associate Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, has accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ohio State University, effective September 2015.
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Another philosophy major turned chef
Here. (Thanks to Ruchira Paul for the pointer.)
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In Memoriam: Larry Schlam
Professor Lawrence Schlam of Northern Illinois University College of Law passed away March 7. Schlam was one of the original members of the NIU Law faculty. He was 72.
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Blast from the past: “On academic bad manners”…
…featuring Fodor, Sterelny et al.
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The Perils of Prediction (Michael Simkovic)
How can we test predictions about the future when we don’t yet have data showing what will happen in the future? One answer is hindcasting. You already believe in hindcasting if you believe in the science behind global warming (see also here and here). “Hindcasting” (or “backtesting”) is using historical data to test prediction methods…
I only just learned of Barry’s passing, and I’m enormously saddened at the news. I wrote my PhD on his…