December 2023
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2023: Philosophers who died
The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2023: Joseph Agassi, Hans Albert, Henry E. Allison, Maria Rosa Antognazza, Shlomo Avineri, Albert Borgmann, David Burrell, Robin Downie, Enrique Dussel, Edward Erwin, Harry Frankfurt, Stephen Gaukroger, David Gauthier, Kent Greenawalt, Jeroen Groenendijk, Ian Hacking, David Harrah (died in 2022), Ian Jarvie, Charles…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll (and obscure covers): the best finds of 2023
As readers will know, there were fewer new obscure finds this year (I think I have come close to exhausting what's actually worth flagging here!), so I expanded to posting some relatively obscure number as well as obscure "covers" of great rock numbers, and recycling "great moments" from prior years. Here, in any case, are…
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A very sensible piece on Harvard’s mixed track record on free expression…
…and some sensible proposals for how to move forward, from the former Dean of Harvard Medical School.
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de Beauvoir to Sartre: you do not understand the “lived experience” of women
Via philosopher Kate Kirkpatrick on Twitter, I came across this interesting exchange between Sartre and de Beauvoir:
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Rashid Khalidi’s open letter to the Columbia administration…
…and its efforts to suppress lawful political speech in support of the Palestinians.
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Since Israel can’t actually dismantle Hamas, what’s the real goal?
When even the NYT acknowledges how unrealistic the stated goal of destroying Hamas (an organization, not a person!) is, it's natural to ask what the real purpose of the brutal attack on Gaza is? This opinion piece in the right-wing Jerusalem Post may contain the answer: ethnic cleansing. (The piece is remarkable for, among other things,…
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It’s too bad for Israel that Robert Paul Wolff is not its leader
Despite the disclaimers he offers, this would have been a more humane and more effective response to the October 7 atrocities: Leaving aside what Israel should have done 50 years ago or 30 years ago or even 10 years ago or one year ago, what could it have done on October 8 in response to…
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“What would Socrates do?”
Philosopher Tamar Gendler discusses at the Hidden Brain Podcast.
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The public health disaster in Gaza may become a public health disaster for Israel
Perhaps this prospect will lead the Israelis to stop the brutal assault on Gaza, if only for reasons of self-interest.
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Need a last-minute gift for a philosophy student?
Vice in Ancient Philosophy by Karen Margrethe Nielsen is available for free download from CUP until January 3!
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Happy Xmas to those who celebrate!
And a bit of philosophy-related dark humor for the day:
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Looking back at the uneven record of elite colleges regarding speech
A useful overview by Len Gutkin at CHE, charting some of the more notorious incidents I often associate here with "the New Infantilism." Many of the events noted were discussed here in the past, from the Yale Halloween fiasco (which begins Gutkin's narrative), to the Princeton craziness in the wake of George Floyd's murder. What…
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The current atrocities being committed in Gaza are too much even for Thomas Friedman
Friedman is a good barometer of elite imperial opinion, so Israel should take note: It is time for the Biden administration to give Israel more than just gentle nudges about how it would be kind of, sort of nice if Israel could fight this war in Gaza without killing thousands of civilians. It’s time for…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll covers: Parker James, “High Falootin’ Woman,” 2019
Parker James has only a couple of dozen listeners on Spotify, but he sure does a fine rendition of this number from the Grand Funk "Red Album" from 1969:
Giovanni Molteni Tagliabue (Italy) Rationalized and Extended Democracy – The REDemo Project. Foreword by Gilberto Corbellini. Firenze University Press 2023.…