June 2018
-
Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Toad, “Vampires,” 1972
I've been enjoying the Swiss hard rock band Toad's entire second album, Tomorrow Blue (we featured one tune a couple of weeks ago), and here's another gem from that same album:
-
New Books in June
Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month: Aesthetic Marx edited by Samir Gandesha & Johan F. Hartle (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017). After God–The Normative Power of the Will from the Nietzschean Perspective by Marta Soniewicka (Peter Lang, 2017). Technic and Magic: The Reconstruction of Reality by Federico Campagna (Bloomsbury Academic, 2018).
-
‘Die Zeit’ picks up the Ronell story
Here. (I'll translate some of this in the next few days, there's some interesting bits, especially the quote from Judith Butler, who is now backtracking from the infamous letter she wrote.) UPDATE: Reader Jared Riggs kindly translated the entire article and invited me to share it; it looks quite good to me on a quick…
-
Cudd from BU to Pittsburgh
The philosopher Ann Cudd (political philosophy, philosophy of economics, decision theory), Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, as well as Professor of Philosophy at Boston University, has accepted appointment as Provost of the University of Pittsburgh, where she also earned her PhD in philosophy!
-
Title IX investigation at Baylor Philosophy?
I'm told that's the context for this message from philosopher Thomas Ward at Baylor (a philosopher elsewhere called it to my attention; this philosopher reports that the allegations concern philosopher Trent Dougherty at Baylor, which is consistent with what I've heard from others as well). ADDENDUM: Probably not unrelatedly, the Baylor Department has formed a…
-
An informative article on the Ronell case at NYU
An actual investigative journalist at Haaretz has written an illuminating piece about the Ronell case and the Butler letter. It's the first piece to include some actual information about the complainant maligned by Ronell's friends in the now infamous letter: Insofar as is known, the…doctoral student designated as M. and Ronell had an adviser-advisee relationship…
-
Kurth from Wash U/St. Louis to Western Michigan
Charlie Kurth (ethics, metaethics, moral psychology), Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis, has accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Michigan University, which has long had a notable terminal MA program–and this appointment is certainly a big catch for them.
-
Democratic Socialist wins nomination of the Democratic Party for Congress
Readers outside the U.S. might not have heard about the surprise victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the Democratic nomination for Congress in a district covering parts of the Bronx and Queens that are heavily Hispanic and African-American. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, consistent with her ideology, supported Sanders over Clinton during the 2016 Presidential race, and is an…
-
What the departure of Justice Kennedy will mean for the super-legislature and the law
This is a pretty good overview. I doubt Roe v. Wade will be overruled, but it will be narrowed and the burdens placed on women seeking abortions will increase in some states (but not others): this will actually mobilize voters for Democrats, which will be good in the long haul, since apart from the religious…
-
Senator Warren on the concentration camps at the border for illegal immigrants
Read it for yourself to see what's going on.
-
Right-wing members of the super legislature known as the Supreme Court vote against public labor unions
The decision is not inconsistent with the long string of cases that treats money as speech (which it isn't, but this case didn't create that rule), but in the process it has to overrule a 1977 decision by a non-reactionary Supreme Court super-legislature. When I find a good analysis, I'll add a link. ADDENDUM: With…
-
On filling out the FAR form, Part I
One of the key parts of the FAR form are the two columns (left and right) for subject areas the candidate is interested in. The left column is far and away the more important: these are the five primary areas of teaching and research interest, though not all five have to be areas of research…
-
‘Civility bullshit’ du jour
This is right. ANOTHER: This is also apt; an excerpt: It is telling that many of those who make their living in the political industrial complex, whether Democrat or Republican or Washington Post editorial page, find the idea of socially shunning people because of their politics to be abhorrent. Their shudders are a symptom of…
-
University of Chicago Law Review podcast on Title IX issues
An excellent recent graduate of the law school (who studied philosophy as an undergraduate), Kathryn Running, along with colleagues on the Law Review, put together these illuminating podcasts about Title IX issues on campus, featuring commentary from a variety of faculty, including me: Title IX and Campus Proceedings, What is the proper standard of proof?,…
Georgy Maksimovich pointed me to this article in Russian: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2026/05/25/antisovetskie-filosofskie-kontratseptsii