November 2019
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Listening, “See You Again,” 1968
Boston-based psychedelic/hard rock band, this song comes from their one and only album:
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New Books in November
Authors and/or publishers sent me these new books this month: The World Philosophy Made: From Plato to the Digital Age by Scott Soames (Princeton University Press, 2019). The Ethics of Hooking Up: Casual Sex and Moral Philosophy on Campus by James Rocha (Routledge, 2020). Measuring Social Welfare: An Introduction by Matthew D. Adler (Oxford University…
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Blast from the past: Inflated letters of recommendation
Back in 2011, with many comments. Still a problem.
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Yli-Vakkuri from Tartu to Australian Catholic University (Melbourne)
Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology), Professor of Philosophy of Language at the University of Tartu, has accepted a senior offer from the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University (ACU), where he will start in January 2020.
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Philosopher Mark Johnston (Princeton) interviewed…
…at the Oxford Review of Books. It's quite entertaining! I had Johnson the Spring of my senior year in the first course he taught at Princeton, on "Personal Identity." He was very tolerant of my irresponsible behavior with respect to deadlines that semester!
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The Internet, defined
"Costless, rapid communication of lazy, angry thoughts," from philosopher Christopher Morris (Maryland). It could hardly be more apt!
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“WKRP in Cincinnati” Thanksgiving Turkey Drop
This may be the best moment in 1970s sitcom TV, apt for the occasion of American Thanksgiving (you have to get to the end for the full joke):
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A “mathematical proof” that “diversity trumps ability” turns out to be just more diversity blather
MOVING TO FRONT AGAIN, ORIGINALLY POSTED NOV 20–MANY INTERESTING COMMENTS, MORE WELCOME UC Davis mathematician Abigail Thompson–at the center of yesterday's story–also wrote a devastating takedown of Lu Hong & Scott Page's purported mathematical proof that diversity is more important than ability, a bit of blather that often gets trotted out in discussions of "diversity." …
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Mathematician Abigail Thompson now being pilloried for opposing mandatory “diversity statements” in the UC system
Philosophers cheer up: academic mathematics is apparently also full of self-righteous tin-pot dictator wannabes just like philosophy! Professor Thompson, whose opposition to mandatory "diversity statements" we noted last week, is now the target of a petition, which inspired this commentary from a mathematician who asked not to be named: As usual, there is a claim…
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On the Hindu fascists in India
A bracing essay by Arundhati Roy.
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Where untenured tenure-track faculty at the U.S. “top 20” programs got their PhDs, 2019-20
MOVING TO FRONT FROM NOVEMBER 22–UPDATED As prior studies have confirmed, PGR rank is a rather good predictor of professional outcomes, even though that's not what the PGR suveys measure. (Of course, NYU and Rutgers placement, below, would have been wholly predictable from PGR rankings of faculty quality in years past!) I look…
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“[W]hen it comes to global-scale issues, what individuals do is somewhere between 100 percent pointless and 99.9999999 percent pointless” (UPDATED)
Impotent moralistic scolding is a favorite pasttime of philosophers, but when it comes to something like climate change, it's particularly absurd, as philosopher Steven Hales (Bloomsburg) argues (link now fixed): We like to believe that when it comes to the great global issues of our time—climate change, pollution, poverty, mass extinction—that we each can make…
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In Memoriam: James Griffin (1933-2019)
A moral philosopher and philosopher of human rights, Professor Griffin spent most of his career at Oxford University, where he was Emeritus White's Professor of Moral Philosophy. There is a brief memorial notice from Keble College, Oxford here. (Thanks to Matt Lister for the pointer.) I will add links to other memorial notices as they…
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All the bad arguments against impeaching Trump disposed of…
…succinctly by philosopher Michael Huemer (Colorado).
Giovanni Molteni Tagliabue (Italy) Rationalized and Extended Democracy – The REDemo Project. Foreword by Gilberto Corbellini. Firenze University Press 2023.…