September 2020
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The Supreme Court is about to become more conservative (Michael Simkovic)
With the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Republican control of the White House and Senate, the Supreme Court will likely soon become more conservative. Given Republicans' penchant for increasing the value of appointments by choosing relatively young appointees, the court's conservative shift is likely to persist for decades unless Democrats achieve sufficient electoral…
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Job search at U of Toronto law school scuttled after politically motivated interference by a sitting judge
Those are the allegations, and, if true, would represent a serious breach not only of judicial ethics but of academic freedom at the University of Toronto. Job searches should be conducted and positions filled based on academic considerations, not the political concerns of members of the public, even if they are alumni and donors.
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Meanwhile, America’s democratic back-sliding continues…
…with craven political hacks meddling in public health advice for partisan ends. Of course, this is exactly what the U.S. accused China of doing at the start of the pandemic. UPDATE: I guess the NYT story was too much of an embarrassment! At least that democratic institution–a moderately free press–is still functioning on some issues.
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After Princeton President does ritual “mea culpa” for “systemic racism,” U.S. Education Department announces investigation…
…since federal money, of which Princeton gets plenty, are conditioned on non-discriminatory practices by the receivnig institution. Unfortuntely, President Eisgruber (who is, himself, a lawyer, but apparently didn't consult any in this instance) in his public statement a few weeks ago made a number of careless (and probably false) claims that, predictably, would invite scrutiny…
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Most states are doing badly on COVID benchmarks
No state meets all four benchmarks; I'm lucky that Illinois is one of a handful that meets three of the benchmarks. I doubt this would be happening if we hadn't thrown the Republican plutocrat bum out of the Governor's office in the last election. The Democratic plutocrat now in office is at least competent on…
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In Memoriam: Jeffrie G. Murphy (1940-2020)
A leading contributor to philosophy of law, especially philosophy of criminal law, and moral philosophy, Professor Murphy taught at the University of Arizona for a number of years before moving to the Arizona State University faculty in 1981; he ultimately held appointments in both the philosophy department and law school. The ASU memorial notice is…
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Possible new antibody-based treatment for COVID
Interesting, and hopeful.
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Interview with Dutch publication about Trump
I talked with a reporter for the Dutch news magazine HP/De Tijd, some of this will make its way into a story they are running in October. I'll post the full interview here, in case of it's of interest. The reporter's questions are indented and numbered, my responses are prefaced by BL. President Trump takes…
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2020 Hiett Prize in Humanities goes to a philosopher, Zena Hitz (St. John’s, Maryland)
Announcement here. Nice to see Professor Hitz, a fierce champion for the humanities and philosophy, recognized. (Thanks to Scott Newstock for the pointer.)
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Climate change by county in the U.S.
Fascinating maps and data, by U.S. county. Crudely, the South and the Southwest are in for trouble, the Midwest and Great Plains will fare better over the next 25-50 years.
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Philosophers on Twitter lists
Amusing, although those who are sadly deceased (like Hubert Dreyfus and Roger Scruton) should be dropped.
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Statement in defense of “Critical Race Theory” by the five Deans of University of California law schools
This is in response to recent bluster by the monster-child who is President of the United States. What the Deans say is fair, but it's predicated, I suspect, on a mistaken assumption that the President's reference to "critical race theory" was a reference to the academic literature known to law professors, which I've seen no…
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Columbia Marching Band trolls the NY Times
Amazing. The NYT will come to regret running this story, I suspect.
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Student-maintained Philosophy admissions for 2020-21 spread sheet…
…here. (Thanks to Linds Whitaker for the pointner.)
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TAs, resident advisors at Michigan strike over health and safety issues…
…including Michigan's stunning failure to do adequate testing. The University Administration is, foolishly, playing hardball, asking a court for a preliminary injunction against the strikers, which could in theory bankrupt the union and worse. President Mark Schlissel at Michigan is about to go down in academic infamy if he keeps going down this route. (As…
If you were the head recruiter for a professional basketball team, would you require height and weight measurements for prospective…