May 2018
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L. Mollica did not like Professor Stock’s essay…
…or my mentioning it. (L. Mollica is identified at the site as a trans woman.) The intellectual level of their response speaks for itself. (And don't worry, L. Mollica, calling someone a "bully," is not defamatory as I've explained before: " in our era of cyber-cry-babies, the label 'bullying' is so widely abused (for reasons…
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Anti-university “free speech” legislation will divert education funds to demagogues and facilitate monitoring, intimidation, and harassment of academic communities (Michael Simkovic)
The Goldwater-Koch legislation is profoundly hostile to the vision of universities as special institutions—places of learning, of the pursuit of knowledge for the betterment of society, of refinement and culture. Anyone with an affinity for this vision of universities should actively and unequivocally oppose the Goldwater legislation and related proposals to strip universities of autonomy…
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Today in Trumpian depravity: immigrant children taken from their parents at the border
I guess the idea is to create a disincentive for illegal immigration. But why just take the children? Why not shoot at least one in front of the parents and other parents? Swiftian satire will soon be unable to keep up with Trump. In any case the border patrol officers involved in this should, as…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Toad, “Stay,” 1971
The Swiss "Bad Company" one might say, a hard rock outfit, that never got much recognition outside the homeland, which is a shame. Here's a number from their debut album that gives a good feel for the band:
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Deciding between graduate school in philosophy and law school
A recent philosophy graduate gave me permission to share his questions, which might be of interest to others: I am currently deciding between graduate school in philosophy (I graduated in honors philosophy from [school name omitted] in 2015) and law school. In the long run I am considering whether to pursue philosophical or legal academia.…
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Skeptical academics and journalists reject Koch-Brothers-backed claims of “free speech crisis” on campus (Michael Simkovic)
Few would consider Stanford University left-wing. Stanford University hosts the controversial, conservative Hoover Institution.[1] Stanford has raised more than $40 million from conservative donors. Stanford is a major military contractor. Stanford’s last acting president (and long-time provost) argued for affirmative action in hiring in favor of conservative faculty, deploying barely coded, neo-McCarthyist phrases like “the threat…
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Philip Roth on Trump
This is all certainly apt (it makes reference to his novel The Plot Against America, in which it is imagined that the pro-Nazi Charles Lindberg was elected President of the U.S.): “It is easier to comprehend the election of an imaginary President like Charles Lindbergh than an actual President like Donald Trump. Lindbergh, despite his…
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Pyramid of the capitalist system
This is classic (attention most philosophers: your'e in the second row from the top):
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18% jump in LSATs taken during 2017-18…
…and an 11% increase in students registered with LSAC to send their credentials to law schools. It's clear the bottom of the application pool is now a couple of years past, how much larger the pool will grow remains to be seen.
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A slightly odd request: recommendation of an Austrian defamation lawyer?
The lawyer has to be able to read English because, even though the possible defamer is in Vienna, the defamation is in English. Recommendations gratefully received: bleiter-at-uchicago-dot-edu.
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It is unconstitutional for Trump to block followers on Twitter
This was a predictable but also amusing decision. Note that it probably means any public official with a twitter account can not block anyone.
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Mexican philosophy workshop at UCSD
This looks interesting, sorry it's 2,000 miles away!
I respond to this report here https://jasonstanleyantifascist.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophical-muddle-that