January 2025
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Public Central APA sessions and “watch parties”
Philosopher Colin Marshall writes This year, the Central APA will be online, following the 2+1 Campaign in 2021-22. Under the 2+1 model, one of the three divisional APA meetings each year will be virtual, with each division taking a turn to host. The APA will be trying out this model for the next three years.…
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This is why Trump’s pardon of participants in the stormtrooper riot is so ominous
A former federal prosecutor offers an apt assessment: The effect — and I believe purpose — of these pardons is to encourage vigilantes and militias loyal to the president, but unaccountable to the government. Illiberal democracies and outright dictatorships often rely on such militia groups, whose organization and seriousness can range widely, from the vigilantes…
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Hawaii, LSU embroiled in academic freedom problems
The Hawaii case is clear-cut: the law school acted wrongfully and violated the academic freedom rights of the professor. The administrators at the University of Hawaii need a lesson in core AAUP academic freedom principles. The LSU case is ambiguous at this stage, but highly suspicious. Faculty do not have a right to discuss unrelated…
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The craven cowardice of Harvard and its contempt for free speech and academic freedom
Talk about craven cowardice: Harvard Medical School canceled a planned Jan. 21 lecture on wartime healthcare and a subsequent panel with patients from Gaza receiving care in Boston in response to objections that students would hear from Gazans impacted by the war and not also Israelis. Course instructors and students were notified Tuesday morning that…
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Tonight we’ll learn something about the next four years in America
The Senate will vote this evening on the nomination of Christian authoritarian Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. All the media blather has focused on the fact that he is a drunk and a philanderer, although these are the least relevant facts about him given his actual views. Of course, he is a drunk…
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Lawyer/philosopher Ken Levy, a law professor at Louisiana State, removed from classroom pending investigation…
…for "making political comments" in class. There's not much detail here. We know the Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has open contempt for the First Amendment and academic freedom, but we also don't know what the remarks were and whether or not they were relevant to the class. (Professor Levy teaches criminal law and constitutional law,…
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The universe is unknowable
Philosopher JB Manchak discusses. Curious whether other philosophers of science concur?
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Most-cited Anglophone philosophy articles within 10 years of their publication
Interesting data from philosopher Brian Weatherson, and tracks rather well my own informal sense of whose work has been important in recent English-speaking philosophy. (The faculty represented also track rather well the top philosophy PhD programs!)
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Did Trump just end affirmative action at universities (including private ones)?
In the flurry of execcutive orders by the monster child, I missed this one; as CHE explains: Decades of higher-ed hiring and employment practices aimed at avoiding discrimination could be upended after President Trump late Tuesday rescinded the Equal Employment Opportunity order signed in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The order applies to federal…
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“Explanation in Biology” by Lauren Ross…
…is currently available for free from Cambridge Elements!
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Informative piece on the Katherine Franke case in the Washington Post
Here. From the end of the article: The letter giving that finding [of having violated the anti-discrimination policy] made no recommendation as to punishment. That would be for Franke’s dean to decide. But Franke knew, in that moment, that she wouldn’t wait to find out. It was no longer possible for her to function as…
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Do UK academics need to provide their passport to be an external examiner in the UK?
Political philosopher David Owen (at the University of Southampton in the UK) posted about this topic on FB, and then kindly offered to draft something for the blog, since it seemed to me this is important information to get into circulation for UK academics. Professor Owen's informative post is below the fold:
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Trump and higher education, once again
Informative interview with Jeremy Young from PEN America. (Earlier.)
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Should book authors consent to having generative AI train on their work?
Philosopher Elliott Sober posed a version of this question to me via email, and thought it would make a useful topic for discussion. I agree. What do readers think? What are the pros and cons? What decisions have you as an author made when approached by publishers about this? Please note your academic discipline if…
I never met Alan, sadly, but his work leading the charge in making philosophy of sex “a thing” in contemporary…