September 2022
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AFA letter to the University of Idaho…
…after the General Counsel advised faculty that–to comply by an Idaho law prohibiting public employees from promoting abortion–faculty in discussing abortion had "to remain neutral" in classroom discussions. The AFA is plainly correct, and Idaho, which is within the jurisdiction of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, will almost certainly lose a legal…
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Survey on disagreement among ethicists
UPDATED (SEE BELOW) Professor Boespflug asked me to share the following with readers: Jonathan Spelman and Mark Boespflug are empirically measuring consensus and disagreement in ethics and they need your help to do it! They need philosophers–especially ethicists–to complete their survey on a variety of ethical issues. If you are able to spend 15 minutes completing…
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“A university is not a kindergarten.”
Biologist Jerry Coyne (Chicago) comments on a famous remark of the former UChicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins, who was a strong defender of academic freedom.
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On certainty and uncertainy in our lives
Philosophers Simon Blackburn (emeritus, North Carolina and Cambridge) and Ruth Chang (Oxford) discuss, along with the owner of IAITV.
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Lawsky’s (final) entry level hiring report for 2022
Here (earlier version). 118 tenure-track hires last year, at 75 schools! That's the highest number in a decade, although still short of the 150+ figure most years prior to the Great Recession.
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Blast from the past: “Jewish poker” philosophy
A classic from 2010.
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Richard Marshall interviews Eddy Keming Chen (UC San Diego)…
…at 3:16AM. Reader comments on issues raised in the interview are welcome. (LINK NOW FIXED.)
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Socialism lite
This essay excoriates (from the left) what passes for "socialism" in certain circles these days, as reflected in the recent 2022 "Socialism Conference" in Chicago, which even included some philosophers (I missed it, happily). Some excerpts, with some interspersed observations: The vast majority of panels were on topics related to police/prison abolition, antiracism, reproductive rights,…
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Florida lawyers take position in court that public university faculty curricula and classroom speech are “government speech,” so regulable by state
Those thinking about taking jobs in the Florida public university system will want to watch this case. If it makes it to SCOTUS, we may find out if Garcetti extends to faculty at public universities; if it does that will be the end of academic freedom at public universities.
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Columbia University’s US News ranking embarrassment
The math professor who "blew the whistle" on fake data reporting to USNews.com reveals some rather embarrassing facts here: The public was told for years, for example, that Columbia had a higher proportion of small undergraduate classes (those with fewer than 20 students) than any other leading university. Last week, the truth that Columbia faculty…
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Lateral moves (and retirements etc.) since the 2021 Philosophical Gourmet Report: 2022 edition
In addition to the separate posts announcing (generally tenured) faculty moves, I will keep a running list of all lateral moves not reflected in the faculty lists for the last PGR (some moves that took place after the last PGR were reflected in the faculty list, because the editors knew of them). The year in…
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On addiction…and recovery
An interview with philosopher and clinician Hanna Pickard (Johns Hopkins) about her quite important work on addiction.
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Some very odd behavior by student editors at the Iowa Law Review
Lawprof Ramsi Woodcock (Kentucky) reports his experience. Short version: he was late turning in the final version of his article, so the Law Review insisted they would publish the earlier version, over his objections! There are other twists and turns in this saga, but the student editors did not handle the situation properly. They can…
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Viktor DeSantis’s lawyers go for broke: public university curricula are “government speech”!
If this argument isn't rejected wholesale in court, public universities in Florida are finished (and academic freedom at all public universities may be finished): The State of Florida asserted on Thursday that faculty members’ curricula and in-class instruction at public universities are “government speech” and “not the speech of the educators themselves.” Therefore, such expression…
There is a lot to reflect on here but, having already commented enough, I won’t. Just one thing on climate…