April 2015
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Apparently if you don’t agree with Paul Campos about law schools…
…you're like a Holocaust denier. This latest smear from Crazy Campos was directed at Michael Simkovic, whose grandparents, by the way, were Holocaust survivors. Even when one disagrees with Prof. Simkovic, there's no doubt that a debate that had been far too dominated by clowns like Campos and various amateurs has been raised to a far more serious level by…
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Norbert Hornstein did not like Vyvyan Evans’ book… (MOVING TO FRONT FROM APRIL 17–UPDATED)
…and he's also mystified why a serious journal is devoting an issue to it. If other parts of philosophy had as clear Wissenschaftlich standards as philosophy of language/linguistics does, there' be more protests of this kind. (Thanks to Peter Ludlow for the pointer.) UPDATE: I've heard from one well-known philosopher and one well-known psychologist telling…
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LSAC reports applicants down just 2.6% as of April 17…
…here and see the chart, which suggests we've hit bottom in terms of the applicant pool (barring dramatic economic jolts, that is, which could move things either way). Of course this is a bottom last seen in the 1970s when there were 50 fewer law schools. But given how many law schools have refrained from…
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Yet another egregious attempt to attack tenure at a state university… (UPDATED)
…this time in the form of pending legislation in Iowa that provides that, (1)….If a professor fails to attain a minimum threshold of performance based on the student evaluations used to assess the professor’s teaching effectiveness, in accordance with the criteria and rating system adopted by the board, the institution shall terminate the professor’s employment…
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The surprising positives/negatives of becoming a professional philosopher?
MOVING TO FRONT (originally posted April 21)–MANY INTERESTING COMMENTS, MORE WELCOME This question, from the open thread, deserves separate notice and discussion: Could we start a discussion on what philosophers have found to be the most surprising positives and surprising negatives of becoming a professional philosopher (or PhD grad)? It may help me, and perhaps…
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Lots of interesting reviews at The New Rambler Review…
…which arose in the wake of the collapse of the book review section of The New Republic.
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Louisiana State University preparing to declare a state of “financial exigency”…
…due to impending cuts. Doing so will enable LSU to, among other things, close entire programs and fire tenured faculty, consistent with AAUP rules. Pretty grim. No word yet on programs at risk. (Thanks to Michael Swanson for the pointer.)
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2015 Lebowitz Prize from APA & Phi Betta Kappa awarded to…
…Alvin Goldman (Rutgers) and Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern). The prize and past winners are described here. UPDATE: PBK has issued an official announcement.
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Ludlow’s defamation claim against news outlets loses on appeal
I was just sent a copy of the appellate court's opinion, concerning this case, and it turns out the earlier news article misdescribed the trial court's decision rather badly, making it sound as though the judge thought the article admitted of an "innocent construction" because the "sting" of allegedly groping someone was the same as…
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The annual “the rich get richer” in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences…
…though as with recent years, there is more diversity in institutions whose faculty were recognized. Here they are by total faculty elected this year (those with an unusually large number relative to recent years are marked with an *; those with an unusually low number are marked with an #) Harvard University (10) Stanford University…
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Eight philosophers elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
They are: Marilyn McCord Adams (currently affiliated with Rutgers, emerita at North Carolina and UCLA), David Albert (Columbia), Sally Haslanger (MIT), John MacFarlane (Berkeley), Tim Maudlin (NYU), Hans Kamp (Stuttgart & Texas), and Johann van Benthem (Amsterdam & Stanford). In addition, Patricia Smith Churchland (UC San Diego) was elected in the Neurosciences section. (Past posts…
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Even “The Daily Mail” notices the harm of the Internet…
…that is, the "Pornography SuperHighway."
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Six law professors elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
They are: Noah Feldman (Harvard), David Garland (NYU), Jane Ginsburg (Columbia), Philip Hamburger (Columbia), Lewis Kornhauser (NYU), and Robin West (Georgetown).
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A somewhat more balanced piece on law schools and the legal profession…
…in The Washington Post.
I respond to this report here https://jasonstanleyantifascist.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophical-muddle-that