January 2017
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Observations on philosophy by a journalist at Scientific American
Reader Samuel Murray calls these interesting pieces to my attention, Part 1 and Part 2 (more coming), by regular SA writer John Horgan. Some striking remarks from Part 1: So what makes good philosophy good? What makes it valuable? We wrestled with these questions last year in my philosophy salon when we considered a fascinating paper…
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Startling development: Harvard Law students think they are more important than they really are!
Some want to play an "indispensable" role in the search for a new Dean. I'm sure student feedback on candidates will receive some weight, but that's about it. Were I a betting man (I am not), I would bet on John Goldberg or John Manning–both current HLS faculty–to be chosen as the new Dean.
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Straight from the fascist playbook: delegitimize the media for telling the truth about President [sic] Trump and his barrage of falsehoods and lies
At least he didn't refer to the media as the Lügenpresse (that must have required some self-restraint). Bannon seems to have forgotten that Trump won because of 100,000 unexpected votes in three states, and that 55% of the electorate didn't vote for his man. (For those who missed it, here's some insight into this weird, stupid…
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Cost-benefit analysis and the late Justice Scalia spell trouble for Trump’s proposed border wall
Interesting analysis by my colleagues Daniel Hemel, Jonathan Masur, and Eric Posner.
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Keep up the pressure on your Senators on Betsy “the reactionary heiress” DeVos
A good sign, details about what to do here.
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Georgia State’s Andrea Scarantino receives 2017 Herbert Simon Award…
…for contributions to philosophy and computing.
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Support Senator Warren’s effort to audit Trump’s finances (UPDATED–NOW MOOT)
MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY: GAO is sending out the following in response to e-mails: Thank you for your message. If it concerns the request that the Government Accountability Office received from Senator Warren and Congressman Cummings regarding the presidential transition, GAO has already accepted this request in accordance with our established procedures for working…
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You can’t teach an old dog new tricks
The first interview with President [sic] Trump.
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JHP Article Prize
Philosopher Jack Zupko (Alberta), editor of Journal of the History of Philosophy, asked me to share this announcement, which I'm happy to do: The Board of Directors of the Journal of the History of Philosophy has awarded the prize for the best article to appear in volume 54 of theJHP to Jean-Luc Solère for "The…
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Attack on tenure watch: North Dakota edition
The state contemplates slashing notice of termination for financial reasons from a year to ninety days.
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The long list of faculty moves, retirements since fall 2014 PGR…
…has been updated (recent additions in bold).
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“We’re the 65” million who voted against Trump
A useful website for keeping track of Trump mischief and calls to action for lobbying your representatives.
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U.S. applications to Canadian universities up as much as 80% in some places
Partly Trump, but partly cheaper tuition and the weak Canadian dollar (vis-a-vis the U.S.) are helping.
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Donald Trump on Citizen Kane, and filmmaker Errol Morris on Trump, Donald Rumsfeld, and Self-Awareness
This is fascinating. Great line by Errol Morris about Rumsfeld: "the least Jewish person ever." (Thanks to Michael Weisberg for the pointer.)
I’m not sure whether an interactive, online logic textbook counts as an open-access philosophy book, but for those who might…