December 2015
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Vassar’s Bryan Van Norden discusses Taoism…
…on Philosophy Talk with John Perry and Ken Taylor.
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More blues: originals and covers
Reader Frank Saunders kindly sent along a great set of links to blues "originals" and "covers" (prompted by this). I share a few here. Blind Joe Reynolds plays the "Outside Woman Blues": And so does Cream:
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Texas AG says universities *must* allow guns in dorms
Just awful. The AG's opinion is not binding, but it will give impetus to litigation by the gun nuts. (See the attempt of UT Austin to formulate concrete rules for complying with the law.)
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How the PGR helped one student decide a PhD in philosophy was not for him
A reader (who is "now in management consulting specializing in regulatory affairs…I get to read and interpret complex texts, talk about ethics with with my clients, and make decent money all at the same time") writes with "some thoughts on the PGR, grad school, and getting a job": I came to philosophy late in undergrad…
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My favorite on-line rendition of the “Ode to Joy”
10,000 people in the chorus! This makes life worth living.
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Robert Paul Wolff on the ideology of bourgeois academics like Jason Stanley, Audrey Yap, and other little Stanleys and Yaps
He doesn't mention anyone still alive by name (the essay is from the 1990s), but…. These reflections were prompted…by an incident in a seminar I was teaching on ideological critique. The participants were a group of extremely intelligent and widely read graduate students – all impeccably radical. Despite my heroic efforts to focus their attention…
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California July 2015 Bar Exam results by school
Blog Emperor Caron charts the results. A strong showing by USC grads, not so much by Berkeley grads, relative to the reputation of the school. UC Irvine grads did better than UC Davis and UC Hastings grads. Loyola-LA grads had a typically strong showing, trailing Irvine only slightly. Some ABA-accredited law schools in California, by…
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NEH Grants to Philosophers for 2015
MOVING TO FRONT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON (DEC. 18), JUST TO MAKE SURE IT DIDN'T GET MISSED IN THE MIDST OF THE BRUYAHAHA. Philosophers winning NEH support include: Hugh Benson (Oklahoma), Victor Caston (Michigan), Michael Cholbi (Cal State Polytechnic, Pomona), Samantha Matherne (UC Santa Cruz), Michael Rescorla (UC Santa Barbara), Kai Wehmeier (UC Irvine), and Joan…
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The growth of the humanities over the last half-century
Philosopher Timothy O'Connor (Indiana) calls my attention to this interesting essay. He writes: It provides helpful perspective on trends in student ‘majors’ in higher ed in the US, UK, and Australia from the 1950s forward. Its major theme is the relative stability of the percentage of university students studying the humanities — and so, with…
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Yet another reason Trump is going to lose Iowa (to Cruz is my prediction)
Here. Meawhile Cruz and Christie are both rising in the New Hampshire polls, though I still expect Trump will win New Hampshire, but that may be the last one.
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Thank goodness for Howlin’ Wolf
"Evil" And don't forget Cactus:
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JHP Book Prize for 2014 awarded to Frederick Beiser (Syracuse)
Debra Nails (Michigan State), Book Review editor of JHP, writes: This year's Journal of the History of Philosophy $5,000 prize for the best book in the history of philosophy published in 2014 goes to Frederick C. Beiser of Syracuse University, for his The Genesis of Neo-Kantianism 1796-1880 (Oxford University Press).
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The latest from David Wallace on the Bruya mess
Prof. Wallace has updated his critique here. Section 6, which was added in the second version of his critique, also raises, as Wallace notes, an "academic malpractice" issue. Wallace also offers a useful summary of his take on the issue in light of Bruya's purported response:
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Bruyahaha Update #2: guess what, Bruya tries to respond to David Wallace
The form of his purported reply to Wallace will be familiar to readers of his last attempt to defend himself. Wallace has already replied, in two parts, excerpted below: 1) It is deeply disturbing that Prof. Bruya doubles down on his relegation of his methodology to an appendix, and his appeal to a footnote as a…
I only just learned of Barry’s passing, and I’m enormously saddened at the news. I wrote my PhD on his…