January 2021
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A new shade of blue
MOVING TO FRONT FROM JANUARY 28: UPDATED Who knew it was possible? (Thanks to Phil Gasper for the pointer.) UPDATE: Philosopher Mark Eli Kalderson (UCL) writes: Just a quick comment. The discovery of a new blue pigment is not the discovery of a new shade of blue. The former is some material stuff, the latter…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Bolder Damn, “BRTCD,” 1971
This is the lead number from the one and only album of this Florida hard rock band:
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2021 Rescher Medal for Contributions to Systematic Philosophy to go to Thomas Nagel (NYU)
Past winners include Ernest Sosa, Alvin Plantinga, the late Hilary Putnam, Ruth Millikan, and Philip Kitcher, among others. The 2021 Rescher Medal lecture will be held on February 5, 2021. For more information, please contact Thomas Berry at tberry@pitt.edu.
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On being the victim of a stalker, and then being defamed for the stalker’s crime
In 2016, I was the victim of a stalker who tried to frame me for a crime; I sought help from the police and spent time and money on lawyers and forensic investigators trying to identify the perpetrator, without success. Anyone paying attention at the time realized that I was also a victim, but, unfortunately,…
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Danks, Harrell from Carnegie-Mellon to UC San Diego
David Danks (philosophy of science and cognitive science, machine learning, ethics of AI), Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University, and Mara Harrell (philosophy of science, philosophical pedagogy), Teaching Professor of Philosophy at CMU, have both accepted tenured offers from the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. Danks will be…
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Another COVID study: for Pfizer 2-dose vaccine, majority can still be infected after just one shot
Here; the crucial bit: Last week, Israel released preliminary data on the effects of vaccination for infection. Early indications suggest that after vaccination, as many as 70% of people can still be infected by SARS-CoV-2 after the initial dose of the Pfizer vaccine. More data is needed to confirm the effects on transmissibility among the…
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Biologist Jerry Coyne encounters the New Infantilism
It's a central tenet of the New Infantilism that if a student says something in public, only other students can comment critically. If a professor criticizes a student's public words or deeds, that is "bullying." The well-known evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne describes his encounter with the New Infantilism.
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America is doomed, part 421: the millions of “seditionists” in our midst
This makes for a bracing read: For want of a better term, I’m calling all of them seditionists—not just the people who took part in the riot, but the far larger number of Americans who are united by their belief that Donald Trump won the election, that Joe Biden lost, and that a long list of…
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Blast from the past: “What not to read” if you’re a conservative Republican
Back in 2013. A number of philosophers are verboten.
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The latest in mysterious rankings
Reader Steve Kreizl kindly called my attention to the "Academic Influence" website. Even after reviewing their supposed "methodology," I can't figure out the results. Whatever it is, it is not a ranking of influence in the field of philosophy (otherwise Saul Kripke and Timothy Williamson would not be runners-up for the top twenty-five). It's also…
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Classic works of philosophy, shorter versions
Philosopher Fred Rauscher (Michigan State) "won the Internet" yesterday with his contribution to the thread on "abridged classics." His contribution deserves separate posting: Heraclitus, Fragments:Man unwittingly makes same point twice Plato, Meno:Geometry lesson somehow requires ghostly realm Plato, Republic:Conversation, conversation, spelunking, more conversation Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics:Philosopher asks which life is best, answers “mine” Augustine, Confessions:Man…
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Lectures recorded because of COVID that might be available to the public?
MOVING TO FRONT FROM JANUARY 21–SOME INTERESTING CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE COMMENTS, MORE WELCOME Reader Neil Webb writes: One of the consequences of Covid is that lectures have been delivered online. While many of those lectures will only be available to students within an institution some are available to anyone with internet access. Would you mind…
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Blast from the past: In praise of terminal MA programs
Back in 2015. This post generated a generally high quality discussion in the comments as well.
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Leshem v. USC
The appellate court reverses, and sends it back to to the trial court: Download B296102_OPF_Leshem. Professor Leshem's case continues (earlier coverage).
Giovanni Molteni Tagliabue (Italy) Rationalized and Extended Democracy – The REDemo Project. Foreword by Gilberto Corbellini. Firenze University Press 2023.…