March 2025
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The Trump war on higher education moves to Harvard
Here. One may hope Harvard will not capitulate as Columbia did. Despite Columbia's capitulation, I've heard nothing yet to indicate they are getting any of the cancelled $400 million back. They could have had an injunction by now, of course.
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More on the fake anti-semitism crisis and the attack on higher education (and civil liberties)
This seems to me correct.
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Top FDA vaccine expert resigns in protest of the ignoramus RFK Jr. running Health & Human Services
Pathetic and alarming. Of all the awful Cabinet appointments made by the monster child, the imbecile RFK Jr. at HHS may prove to be the most dangerous over the long term. No doubt it is inexcusable stupidity like this that prompted the resignation. And this is a good example (research into vaccines for infectious diseases)…
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Bio(un)ethical…
…a podcast that questions existing norms in medicine, science, and public health, featuring many interviews with philosophers, among others.
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How will the Trump Administration’s attack on the universities affect next year’s law teaching market?
A prospective candidate elsewhere asked me about this, in light of the various financial pressures universities are under due to the Trump Administration's actions (many of which are illegal, but we'll see–Columbia's capitulation certainly didn't help). The only law schools that are fiscally autonomous are free-standing law schools (like Brooklyn Law School, for example). Most…
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Spring quarter at UChicago starts today…
MOVING TO FRONT FROM MARCH 24 …and it's my busiest teaching quarter this year (my choice, it allowed me to have the fall off, and just a seminar on German philosophy with my colleague Michael Forster in winter). I have two courses, and over 130 students, so I will be a less satisfactory email correspondent…
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More signs of the times: USC Philosophy has to rescind admissions offers…
…after the University of Southern California administration instructed the department that they could not enroll more than their target class size. The Department Chair notified those who were admitted about this change, which led to a flurry of acceptances and rescision of the other admission offers a day later. Of course, all this was in…
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AAUP files suit against the Trump Administration on behalf of Columbia scholars who were victims of his extortion of the university
Law professor Michael Dorf has the details. Even though the AAUP's committee on academic freedom has become a disgrace, it's good to see that the AAUP is still capable of bringing meritorious lawsuits!
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The average college student at an average public college today
Not an encouraging portrait from philosopher Steven Hales. For those teaching "average" students at an "average" institution of higher education: does this ring true to you?
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The Heritage Foundation’s “Project Esther”
Self-described as a plan to combat anti-semitism, it's actually a blueprint for the political persecution of anyone to the left of Likud, which includes most Israelis and most Jews in the world. But it's clearly behind a lot of the Trump criminality.
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Here’s a federal judge who might be an actual candidate for impeachment…
…and he was, of course, nominated by Trump.
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What rights do immigrants have under the Constitution and what resources are available to help faculty and students here on visas and green cards
MOVING TO FRONT FROM MARCH 24–UPDATED (MORE INFORMATION WELCOME IN COMMENTS–PLEASE ONLY POST WITH CONCRETE INFORMATION OR LINKS TO SUCH INFORMATION RELEVANT TO THE ISSUES HERE) The NYT account is informative but not reassuring: immigrants have due process rights, but they may not have real First Amendment rights. A reader writes: Thank you for your…
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In Memoriam: Michael Friedman (1947-2025)
Emeritus at Stanford University, Professor Friedman wrote widely and influentially in philosophy of science (esp. on scientific explanation), philosophy of physics, Kant, and the history of 20th-century analytic and Continental traditions in philosophy. During his long career, he taught at Harvard, Penn, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Indiana University at Bloomington and, finally, at…
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Trump’s war on free expression
Apt critique: The Trump administration has launched a massive, all-of-government, AI-assisted program called “Catch and Revoke,” which will scan every social media comment and anything online they can use to flush out any noncitizen who might be seen as anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist or anti-Israel or indeed just getting on Marco Rubio’s wrong side…. The DHS…
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Blast from the past: What is analytic philosophy? Thoughts from Jerry Fodor
Back in 2004, with reader discussion.
Georgy Maksimovich pointed me to this article in Russian: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2026/05/25/antisovetskie-filosofskie-kontratseptsii