October 2017
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Advertising update
There's at least one spot at each level (top, second, third) starting in December, and third-from-the-top spots still available in November. Come January, I'm going to resume a slightly reduced blogging schedule (not as much of a reduction as last summer, however), with posting most but not all weekdays (I have two busy teaching quarters…
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Erwin Chemerinsky answering questions…
…on Reddit!
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So to mark the 25th volume in the “Routledge Philosophers” series…
…Routledge taped this informal interview with me about the series, its aims, forthcoming volumes etc.
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Because it’s a million dollar prize in philosophy, it’s already all over the news…
…but I suppose for completeness sake I should note that this year's winner is Onora O'Neill. Last year was Charles Taylor.
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Trump’s Secretary of State speaks the truth…
…and refers to Trump as a "moron," which, of course, Trump is, and which most of his Cabinet and the leadership of the Republican Party knows. Maybe they all need to say it?
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Making “statistical significance” significant
Philosophers and others discuss.
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If democracy comes to America…
…then this won't be true any longer: The United States is the only major democracy in the world that allows politicians to select their own voters through the process of district line-drawing. Such gerrymandering reduces political competition within districts, perpetuates the tenure of incumbents, and creates legislative majorities in state legislatures and in the House…
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Philosophy of gravity
Philosopher Valia Allori (Northern Illinois) discusses.
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In Memoriam: Glenn Newey (1961-2017)
A political theorist, he was at the time of his untimely death Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Leiden. He was perhaps best-known for his work on Hobbes and on political realism. There is a brief obituary here. (Thanks to Enzo Rossi for the pointer.) UPDATE: Another memorial notice from London Review of…
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It’s true that adult, civilized societies do not allow private citizens to own assault rifles…
…but America is not an adult, civilized society, as is all too clear.
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Jobs limiting applicants to just three letters
Philosopher Barbara Herman (UCLA) writes: As Placement Director, I'm seeing an issue that's of general interest. A number of schools, either because of the structure of Interfolio or their own online application systems, are only accepting three letters of reference for job applicants. They are giving no guidance about whether they are expecting the applicant…
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Academic job placement report
Here it is. I've not had a chance to examine it, though the lead author on the report has an uneven track record and I had heard complaints from others that the placement data was incomplete, but it may be that has been rectified in the final version. In any case, comments are open for…
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Another day in America…
…another mass shooting of random people by a nut who had easy access to military hardware.
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No free speech crisis on campus?
This is an amusing piece, e.g.: Having lost the battle of persuasion, and largely swept from the campus environment, right wing speakers have to be foisted onto universities from the outside. When characters like Ann Coulter, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Charles Murray appear on campus, their appearances are funded by extremist donors and their events are…
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Third World Quarterly, post-mortem from the publisher
Here, describing the editorial process and why retraction is improper. (Earlier coverage.) (Thanks to Victoria Reyes for the pointer.)
I use ChatGPT Luna 5.6 because the Cal State system has a contract with OpenAI. I might prefer to use…