July 2021
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Great moments in the blues and their rock ‘n’ roll covers: Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues,” 1936
Robert Johnson (1911-1938) may be the most famous of the bluesmen of the first half of the 20th-century, and many of his songs have been recorded by rock musicians from the 1960s onwards. Here's the original of the song Cream made famous for a new generation: And the cover, by Cream, live in 1968:
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Spinoza’s death mask…
…discovered by a Barnard undergraduate, who is also the daughter of philosopher Paul Franks (Yale).
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University of Mississippi reaches confidential settlement with fired outspoken history professor
News story here; earlier coverage.
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New Facebook group for those interested in “Experimental Jurisprudence”
Here. (Thanks to Roseanna Sommers [Michigan] for calling this to my attention on Twitter.)
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Richard Painter: “either dishonest or blinded by righteousness” (updated)
That was Penn lawprof Jonathan Klick's apt assessment (noted earlier this week) based on his own experience of having Painter "Twitter shit" on him and his work. Based on recent events, I will go with "dishonest." Fear not, dear readers, I do not plan on regularly reporting on the unhinged Twitter behavior of this character,…
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In Memoriam: Richard Double (1948-2021)
Professor Double, who taught for many years at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where he was emeritus, was best-known for his work on issues related to free will. The family shared this obituary: Richard Double, emeritus professor and former chair of philosophy at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, died on July 29, 2021. Double was a tireless…
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Infection and vaccination in Singapore
Bear in mind that Singapore has fairly high vaccination rates (55% are full vaccinated, 75% have had at least one shot). From the article: Vaccinated individuals [BL: not all fully vaccinated] accounted for three-quarters of Singapore's COVID-19 infections in the last four weeks, but they were not falling seriously ill, government data showed, as a…
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In Memoriam: José A. Giannotti (1930-2021)
An important figure in Braizlian philosophy for many years, Professor Giannotti wrote very widely on both the Anglophone and Continental traditions in philosophy, including books on Mill, Marx, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger, among others. He spent most of his career at the University of Sao Paulo. The Portuguese wikipedia page gives information about his life and…
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Blast from the past: Jason Stanley on the idea of “pluralism” in philosophy departments
Back in 2007, with comments from others.
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Philosopher Thaddeus Metz (Pretoria) discusses “Meaning in Life”…
…at Brain in a Vat.
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“The Long Haul of Long Covid”
Philosopher and bioethicist Gregory Pence (Alabama) comments.
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UChicago’s MA programs in humanities and social sciences
Students thinking about these programs ought to read this. Students wanting to continue on for a PhD in philosophy would generally be much better off at one of the good terminal MA programs in philosophy. (Thanks to Chris Morris for the pointer.)
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Philosopher Amia Srinivasan (Oxford) profiled…
…in British Vogue no less!
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Against moral philosophy (and morality)
From an essay by philosopher Ronald DeSousa (emeritus, Toronto): Morality, I now believe, is a shadow of religion, serving to comfort those who no longer accept divine guidance but still hope for an ‘objective’ source of certainty about right and wrong. Moralists claim to discern the existence of commands as inescapable as those of an…
I don’t disagree with David Wallace, the things he says are to my mind obviously true. But I have a…