August 2016
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Nearly all those who supported Brexit were, indeed, racists
Philosopher Chris Bertram (Bristol) comments.
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The worst practical joke in the history of philosophy Facebook?
Clayton Littlejohn (King's College, London) wins the prize for it. He posted the following earlier today: After considerable deliberation and reflection I've decided that it's time to go to Oxford. It wasn't an easy decision. I love London and will miss all the wonderful people I've met here. This post was liked by more than…
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#MakesMeSick
Les Green (Oxford) skewers a fake apology by an anti-gay bigot.
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Here’s some data that supports destroying religion and sending more people to college
Not quite the conclusion drawn, but look at the chart on which demographic groups lean mostly strongly in an authoritarian direction.
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The philosophy and sociology of mediocrity
Now all they need is for the APA to get behind mediocrity studies! (Thanks to Robert McGarvey for the pointer.)
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The “progressive” contradiction when it comes to crime in general vs. sex crimes
This interesting post (using this case as its starting point) is worth reading, especially given its resonance with issues we've discussed in recent months. An excerpt: I want to argue that this situation demonstrates an absolute fissure in contemporary progressive politics, that there is a direct and unambiguous conflict between our efforts to address mass…
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Philippa Foot’s reply to being addressed as “Sir’ by the AAAS
A measured and penetrating reply!
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Sandy Baum challenges media sensationalism and political hype about student loans
NPR: "There's a new book out about the student loan crisis [Student Debt: Rhetoric and Realities of Higher Education], or what author Sandy Baum suggests is a "bogus crisis." Baum, a financial aid expert and senior fellow at the Urban Institute, claims it has been [sensationalized and exaggerated] by the media in search of a spicy…
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Korman from Illinois/Urbana to UC Santa Barbara
Daniel Korman (metaphysics, philosophy of language), Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign has accepted appointment as Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, effective fall 2017.
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Against replacing democracy with lotteries or rule by “experts”
Philosopher Eric Schliesser (Amsterdam) and a colleague of his in political science there make some good points. UPDATE: Jason Brennan (Georgetown) replies.
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Only 382 resumes in the first (and most important) FAR distribution…
…which is down at least fifty or more 28 from last year (I can't find the number, if someone has it, please shoot me an e-mail). That's good news for the job seekers, as I think early indications are that, like last year, we will see at least 80 new tenure-track academic hires as we…
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Must be a slow news day
New York Times journalist Elizabeth Olson recently reported that the law school graduating class of 2015–which was very close to the size of the class of 1996–had about the same number of private sector jobs 9 months after graduation as the class of 1996. That's a pretty good outcome considering that the economy-wide employment population ratio…
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Appeal for help from philosopher in the flood-ravaged part of Louisiana
Thanks to philosopher Alexander George (Amherst) for passing this on: From: owner-philosop@marnier.louisiana.edu [mailto:owner-philosop@marnier.louisiana.edu] On Behalf Of Istvan S. N. BerkeleySent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 3:20 AMTo: philosop@louisiana.eduSubject: Louisiana Floods Hi there,South Louisiana, where PHILOSOP is located, is in crisis. Last Friday and Saturday it REALLY rained. At my house (I have a personal weatherstation) we…
In addition to many interesting points above, I wonder if welcoming AI into the research process turns off many academics…