October 2018
-
New books in October
Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month: The Virtues: Justice edited by Mark LeBar (Oxford University Press, 2018). The Evil Within: Why We Need Moral Philosophy by Diane Jeske (Oxford University Press, 2018). Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages: Science, Rationalism, and Religion by T.M. Rudavsky (Oxford University Press, 2018). Oxford…
-
APA members should also nominate Shane Wilkins for the positions mentioned below
Dr. Wilkins (reachable at wilkins-at-fordham-dot-edu) kindly gave permission to share the following; I hope one or more current APA members will also nominate him (today!), since those are apparently more effective than self-nominations: I just nominated myself to serve on two APA committees: the Non-Academic Careers Committee and the Public Philosophy Committee. I would welcome…
-
Want to write a computer science paper?
Now you can! (Maybe computer science isn't a Wissenschaft?) (Thanks to Joe Hatfield for the pointer.)
-
89-year-old prisoner murdered upon transfer to a new prison
There are many threats to the "rule of law" these days, but notorious prisoners being murdered while in state custody should feature among the threats law professors are taking seriously.
-
Trump can not revoke birthright citizenship by executive order, nor can Congress by statute
A quick reality check on the latest viciousness to come out of the mouth of the deranged monster-child. (You need to delete the "s" from https to get this link to work–amazingly, Typepad won't let me change it. Here is the link: https://www.dorfonlaw.org/2018/10/can-trump-eliminate-birthright.html ) UPDATE: A statement from leading constitutional law scholars about this malevolent…
-
The invisible migrant caravans
A useful bit of humane reporting about migrants.
-
The peverse and pointless elitism at the core of the APA leadership
A senior philosopher writes: I've been a long-time APA member and I have to say that my membership was an overall plus to my career. For example, a co-author was someone I just happened to meet in an elevator in Chicago, and we became life-long friends and collaborators. But I have to say that Mohan…
-
On the collapse of literary studies as a discipline in the 1980s and after
English professor Michael Clune (Case Western) comments at length (in an article behind the CHE paywall, alas [UPDATE: a CHE editor kindly sent along a non-paywalled link, which will be good for a week]); an excerpt: The literature program — especially at the most prestigious universities — became a kind of twilight zone. No longer…
-
Chicago’s Martha Nussbaum wins this year’s Berggruen Prize in Philosophy
Announcement here. Past winners are Charles Taylor and Onora O'Neill.
-
Nominate Justin Kalef (Rutgers) for an APA leadership position
A propos this, Professor Kalef has expressed interest; would some APA members please nominate him for one or more position (nominees must then accept or decline a nomination). UPDATE: As philosopher Mohan Matthen (Toronto) points out, self-nomination is also permitted. So any folks who share some of the cooncerns about the APA we have been…
-
‘Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education’: what’s the story?
A philosopher elsewhere writes: I would be grateful to read any comments from your readers on the impact that programs sponsored by "The Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education"(https://excellenceinhighered.org) have had on campuses — and especially on Philosophy Departments. Campus institutes sponsored by this Foundation are described as concerned with "education for a good life,"…
-
Michigan State College of Law to actually become part of Michigan State University
I had not realized they weren't already!
-
Journals that publish the best work in moral/political philosophy, poll results (Part 1)
Not quite 300 folks voted in last week's poll. Several readers wrote that they thought it was a mistake to include generalist journals that publish some moral/political papers along with the specialist journals; others pointed out omissions, including Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy, Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, Social Theory &…
-
Oseroff apologizes to Professor Stock and others for his on-line conduct
Here. Good for him! ADDENDUM: A reader points out that Mr. Oseroff has deleted his apology. Here is the full text: "I have seen many comments shared online, even in the philosophy community, that I have found objectionable because I believed they targeted the trans community in the weeks leading up to the Gender Recognition…
Georgy Maksimovich pointed me to this article in Russian: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2026/05/25/antisovetskie-filosofskie-kontratseptsii