December 2016
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: West, Bruce & Laing, “The Doctor,” 1972
Individually none of these three were obscure–they found fame with Cream (Jack Bruce) and Mountain (Leslie West & Corky Laing)–but their brief early 70s career as a "super trio" is generally (and not wrongly) forgotten, but this is one of a handful of strong numbers from their debut album in 1972 ("Turn Me Over" and "Pleasure" from…
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New Books in December
Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month: Shooting to Kill: The Ethics of Police and Military Use of Lethal Force by Seamus Miller (Oxford University Press, 2016). Memory and the Self: Phenomenology, Science and Autobiography by Mark Rowlands (Oxford University Press, 2017). Norms in the Wild: How to Diagnose, Measure and…
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2016: Philosophers who passed away
The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2016: Jose Benardete, Klaus Brinkmann, Desmond Clarke, William Craig, Clement Dore, Jr., Solomon Feferman, Robert Fogelin, Mary Hesse, Dale Jacquette, Tomis Kapitan, Justin Leiber, Hugh McCann, Hilary Putnam, Jerome Shaffer, Morton White. You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling…
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Hemel and Herzig in the WSJ: Republicans can repeal Obamacare, for a price
Daniel Hemel and David Herzig discuss the filibuster and the future of the Affordable Care Act in the Wall Street Journal.
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Drexel and the “White Genocide” tweet
The school has now issued a more measured statement. (Earlier coverage.)
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The academic tenant from hell
Moral of the story: don't rent to David Peritz.
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Some publications and working papers this year
I appreciate the many blog readers who also read my scholarly writing–it has been one of the best things about the blog for years that it has been a vehicle for sharing my work with other faculty and students across many fields. In that spirit, here are publications–or working drafts–that I made available this year:…
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One piece of good news at the end of an otherwise very bad year
Religion is on the decline in America: Fewer American adults, especially those under 30, attend church — or even belong to a church. They tell interviewers their religion is “none.” They ignore faith. Since 1990, the “nones” have exploded rapidly as a sociological phenomenon — from 10 percent of U.S. adults, to 15 percent, to…
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Some publications and working papers this year
I appreciate the many blog readers who also read my scholarly writing–it has been one of the best things about the blog for years that it has been a vehicle for sharing my work with other faculty and students across many fields. In that spirit, here are publications–or working drafts–that I made available this year:…
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Realism about democracy watch: the falsehoods that huge numbers of voters believe
And not just Trump voters.
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Millions mourn…
…as news breaks that Ted Nugent is still alive.
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“Moral Grandstanding”
From a new paper by Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke in PPA: Our basic contention is that one grandstands when one makes a contribution to public moral discourse that aims to convince others that one is “morally respectable.” By this we mean that grandstanding is a use of moral talk that attempts to get others…
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2016 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December
Here were some of the most popular posts from the last quarter of the year: Going to law school? Thinking about law school? What should you read? (October) Tempest in teapot watch: philosophers are rude and vulgar, and right-wing media eat it up (October) So who should get a Nobel Prize in philosophy? (October) 2016-17 ranking…
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Philosopher Larry Shapiro (Wisconsin) revises his syllabus in case of a law authorizing “campus carry”
This may be a bit too subtle a point for the Neanderthals in the state legislature considering this.
A few things: (1) It may be worth noting, chiefly for the benefit of those impressed by the idea that…