April 2021
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American College Health Association recommends all colleges mandate vaccination for COVID before fall enrollment
This is obviously sensible, and will give ammunition to schools in benighted states who will no doubt face opposition from local politicians of a certain flavor. Colleges already mandate vaccinations for many illnesses, the only thing new here is the disease. (Thanks to Jeff Roland for the pointer.)
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On the etymology of the “N-word”
This is fascinating and informative.
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Philosopher Manon Garcia (Yale) discusses her new book on…
…"why women’s submission in a patriarchal system is understandable, rational, and pleasurable, though not in their best interests."
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Linfield University is a disgrace
MOVING TO FRONT FROM THIS MORNING–UPDATED It is not "cause" for firing a tenured faculty member that he was "insubordinate" and harmed the university's reputation by making allegations of sexual misconduct. I hope a lawyer can help vindicate his legal and contractual rights. ADDENDUM: Reactions to Lindfield's outrageous misconduct. (Thanks to Jonathan Kramnick for the…
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Excess mortality due to COVID (directly or indirectly)
Useful representation of the data by sociologist Kieran Healy (Duke).
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Dembroff v. Singer
The Twitter smear merchants have been working overtime since The New Yorker interview with Peter Singer, but this exchange is really something: The anecdote sounds aprocryphal to me, inconsistent with everything I've heard about Peter Singer. (This is a more likely explanation.) I have no shortage of harsh criticisms of Peter Singer's work (for example),…
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Texas House authorizes public universities in Rio Grande Valley and El Paso to establish up to two new law schools
The bill still has to get through the state Senate. Texas established a new public law school at the University of North Texas (near Dallas), which began admitting students in 2014, but is only still provisionally accredited by the ABA. Texas acquired an additional public law school when Texas A&M University acquired the former Texas…
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The actual contents of the “Journal of Controversial Ideas” reviewed…
…by Leslie Green (Oxford & Queen's/Canada). From his apt conclusion: There are immoral and outrageous ideas that cause no controversy whatever, raise no twitter-storms: ideas that not only don’t put your job at risk, but that actually lead to promotions, chairs, salary increases, and fellowships in our academies. As we learned from Gramsci—and Mill—there is…
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On the Blake Bailey biography of Philip Roth
This is the best piece I've seen about this controversy, by Katha Pollitt at The Nation.
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Death threats for denying free will?
Sadly, some philosophers have received them, but it provides the occasion for an informative article in The Guardian about free will, quoting many philosophers. (Thanks to Joshua Selby for the pointer.)
I’m a software engineer who works at “AI adjacent” startups, and I think this article is a bit dramatic, but…