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Most cited books of Anglophone moral philosophy in the last two hundred years (CORRECTED)
Once again, this is according to Google Scholar, rounded to the nearest 100. Email me with corrections and omissions. I list only those with at least 3,000 citations, and exclude works of applied ethics. I could not find any results for Harman’s The Nature of Morality on Google Scholar, but I imagine it would make…
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Most cited books in philosophy of science of the last century, according to Google Scholar (CORRECTED)
I list only those books with 3,000 or more citations. Please notify me of omissions or corrections.
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Struggling with addiction
In the wake of the horrible murder of Rob Reiner and his wife by, it appears, their son who had spent half his life struggling with drug addictions, the NYT runs a story about families dealing with addictions in their children. Predictably, one of the parents explains that addiction “is a disease.” Except it isn’t…
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Finding older posts, now that the Typepad links are broken (UPDATED)
MOVING TO FRONT FROM OCTOBER 16 A recent comment on an older post notes, correctly, that old intra-blog links based on the Typepad URLs no longer work, now that all these posts have migrated to WordPress, the current blog service provider. Readers should note that there is a search engine for the blog in the…
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Fani Willis “kicks ass”
Good for her, although it doesn’t make up for her world-historic screw-up in the state prosecution of Trump for election interference, which was one of the two strongest cases against the endlessly corrupt Trump. But she sure lets these awful Georgia Republicans have it!
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Xi Jinping and “Marxist theory”
I was in Hong Kong last week for a very informative conference on “Academic Freedom in Asia” (about which I’ll have more to say soon), as well as a talk to the philosophy department at the University of Hong Kong, which was exceptionally hospitable and welcoming. At the hotel one morning, the fellow seating folks…
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The Internet is still a cesspool of the abysmally stupid and pathologically malevolent
The latest example: Elon Musk’s Twitter (which he now calls “X”) is awash with accusations that a named Brown undergraduate is really the shooter. Based on what? He’s Palestinian and he’s stout, like the shooter. The cruelty and recklessness of this baseless allegation is beyond belief, and yet it is circulating so widely that Brown…
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The fake war on anti-semitism, Massachusetts edition
Political theorist Alex Gourevitch comments. What he says applies equally to the fake war on anti-semitism in the universities.
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“Rudolf Carnap Digital”
Stephan Hartmann shares news of the project: Rudolf Carnap Digital (RCD) is a long-term international research project dedicated to the comprehensive digital edition of the complete works of Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970), one of the central figures of twentieth-century philosophy and logical empiricism. Led by Hannes Leitgeb and Stephan Hartmann (LMU Munich) together with Dr. Eckhart Arnold…
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America’s turn towards “competitive authoritarianism,” and the prospects for recovery
A propos an earlier thread here, this essay is illuminating and somewhat hopeful.
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Colorado summer seminar in philosophy for 2026
Colorado Summer Seminar in Philosophy for 2026 Philosopher David Boonin (Colorado) tells me that the topic for 2026 will be “Methods and Models” and that the seminar will be run in conjunction with the 2026 Formal Epistemology Workshop, enabling seminar participants to attend the workshop as well. He writes that this year’s seminar “will explore…
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20th-century Anglophone philosophers with at least 20,000 citations on their Google Scholar pages
Many major and highly cited 20th-century Anglophone philosophers do not have Google Scholar pages, of course: e.g., Rawls, Putnam, Williams, Parfit, Davidson, P.F. Strawson, Grice, Searle, E. Nagel, Dummett, Sellars, Carnap, Hempel, Goodman, Raz, Dworkin, Hart, Ayer, Hacking, and Ramsey, among others. Some listed below have pages created by others. If I missed some deceased…
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NYT on the right-wing attack on UT Austin
The headline is somewhat misleading: “The Conservative Overhaul of the University of Texas is Underway.” The story continues: The campus is no longer led by an academic, but a Republican lawyer who worked for the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton. The president has promised curricular changes, and the system is now conducting an audit of…
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Most cited living philosophers with Google Scholar pages who either work in multiple areas or in areas not covered in the prior ranking lists (CORRECTED)
Here are the 20 most highly cited philosophers with Google Scholar pages who either (1) work across multiple fields, so did not have a majority of their citations to work in any of the prior areas covered (metaphysics & epistemology, moral & political philosophy, philosophy of mind & cognitive science, philosophy of language, free will…
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Mass shootings, American and Australian (CORRECTED)
Two students murdered by a gunman at Brown University, nine others wounded, some seriously. Because America is not a civilized country, two other Brown students, who were not shot, witnessed the second mass shooting of their young lives. Meanwhile, two attackers opened fired on a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia. Because Australia is…
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The case for lottocracy
An interview with philosopher Alex Guerrero (Rutgers) at Jacobin.
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Today in authoritarian stupidity and malice: visitors that do not need a visa to enter U.S. will still have to submit their social media history
This is disgusting and stupid, but will contribute to the decline of the U.S. as a place anyone anywhere else in the world wants to come to: Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their…
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A new Diamond Open Access Journal: Philosophical Logic
Wes Holliday, Thomas Icard, and Francesca Poggiolesi asked me to share the following announcement, which I am happy to do: All Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors of the Journal of Philosophical Logic, currently published by Springer Nature, have informed Springer Nature of their resignation. Some of the editors will continue working for Springer Nature for a…
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One philosopher among winners of large Swiss National Science Foundation grants
Matthieu Queloz (Bern) has won over U.S. $2 million for this project, which will include post-doc opportunities.
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He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice…
…like all good authoritarians everywhere: Attorney General Pam Bondi is ordering the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism,” according to a Justice Department memo published here exclusively. The target is those expressing “opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass…
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Australian Catholic University is hiring–is it worth considering?
A young philosopher sent along this ad, writing, ” They’ve posted several jobs, but why should any candidate be rushing to apply? I wondered if you’d heard any scuttlebutt.” I have no special information, but I can report that the same vice-chancellor who destroyed the Dianoia Institute is still running the university. So caveat emptor! Comments…
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Portland State University has yet to comply with binding arbitration decision requiring reinstatement of improperly terminated faculty (UPDATED)
This is remarkable. (Earlier coverage.) PSU’s President is feminist philosopher Ann Cudd. UPDATE: President Cudd also sanctioned a faculty member for their lawful political speech. The President’s background in feminist philosophy has not appeared to enhance her professional judgment.
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The study of philosophy in law schools, and JD/PhD programs, 2025 edition
Some terminology: by “general jurisprudence,” I mean the core philosophical questions about the nature of law, the relationship between law and morality, and the nature of legal reasoning; by “normative [or “specific”] jurisprudence,” I mean the myriad philosophical attempts to make normative sense (or provide normative rationalizations) of different substantive areas of law, like torts,…
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Coming soon in “most cited” philosophers with Google Scholar pages
I am going to do a list of philosophers who have not fit neatly into any of the prior lists who nonetheless have large numbers of citations (e.g., Michael Bratman, Edouard Machery, Shaun Nichols among others). Historians of philosophy tend not to have Google Scholar pages it turns out. I welcome suggestions for other sub-fields…
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The “academic community”: New York vs. London
Legal philosopher and public law theorist Alon Harel (Hebrew U/Jerusalem), who recently spent several months first in New York City, then in London, shared the following on Facebook and gave me permission to share it here: As I am old and retiring in a few months I can say the truth without fearing the consequences…
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Bird flu is still here…
…and it’s worrisome, especially given the imbeciles in Washington, D.C.
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Which serious philosophy departments offer opportunities to study the post-Kantian Continental traditions in philosophy? 2025 edition
The landscape has changed in the last couple of years for Anglophone students who want to get a solid philosophy education and be able to study the post-Kantian Continental traditions in philosophy. Columbia University, long a top choice for Anglophone students, is no longer one: Frederick Neuhouser (Hegel, German Idealism) has retired, and Robert Gooding-Williams (Nietzsche)…
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Most cited living philosophers of language with Google Scholar pages
Once again, some folks who would likely be way up there–like David Kaplan, Stephen Neale, and Nathan Salmon–do not have Google Scholar pages. Some linguistics faculty are very important for philosophers of language (like Barbara Partee with 26,600 citations, and David Beaver with 11,400), but I’ve focused on those primarily in philosophy departments (linguistics tends…
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Heraclitus meets Einstein
Philosopher JB Manchak discusses. This is over my head, so curious to hear what other philosophers of physics think. Do not comment unless you are a philosopher of science or physics (graduate students in these areas are welcome to comment as well) Use a full name and valid email address please (the email address will…
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Great moments in obscure “classic” rock ‘n’ roll albums: Leaf Hound, “Growers of Mushroom,” 1971
For heavy blues rock, it doesn’t get much heavier than the debut album by Leaf Hound, which went largely unnoticed at the time, but enjoyed a revival of interest with the “stoner rock” crowd in the 1990s, leading Peter French, the original lead singer, to reform the band in the 2000s. There are so many…
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Today in Trump’s extortion of the universities
Northwestern ponies up $75 million in the fake anti-semitism crusade of the Trump Administration, an Administration that is awash with ties to actual anti-semites.
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Most cited living moral & political philosophers (with Google Scholar pages) [CORRECTED AGAIN–moving to fron from November 17]
Fortunately, most of the most prominent living moral & political philosophers have such pages, although some who would surely be on the list do not (e.g., Allan Gibbard, Thomas Nagel, Martha Nussbaum). I only count those most of whose citations are in moral and political philosophy. (I excluded those primarily working in bioethics, which has…
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On the decline in academic freedom at Texas public universities
Philosopher Jake Beck (who used to teach in Texas) comments.
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Sexual harassment at Oxford (a continuing saga, alas) (UPDATED)
Hard-hitting article, which mentions one philosopher, John Tasioulas, who recently stepped down from the “Ethics in AI” project at Oxford to return to his native Australia. (When I ran into an Oxford person recently, she said they were instructed by lawyers “not to talk about” Tasioulas’s departure.) UPDATE: Professor Tasioulas denies the allegations, and says…
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A mother of young children, a terminal diagnosis…
…and a cousin who is the imbecile RFK Jr. This is a good, but very sad, read.
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Free philosophy audiobooks
Here (this links to Nietzsche books, but you can search any philosophical or other author you want).
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Most cited living philosophers of science (including physics and biology) with Google Scholar pages (CORRECTED–MOVING TO FRONT)
As before, some important living philosophers of science who would surely be on the list (like John Earman and Philip Kitcher) do not have Google Scholar pages. Only those with a clear majority of their citations to philosophy of science work are listed (this is an issue for some, like Sahotra Sarkar, most of whose…
Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog
News and views about philosophy, the academic profession, academic freedom, intellectual culture, and other topics. The world’s most popular philosophy blog, since 2003.
I think Daniel and Bryan are both right. Peter Ludlow ends his piece cited in the report defending the Analytics…
Interesting that Daniel Came and I both have happy memories of being taught logic as undergraduates by Timothy Smiley even…
In partial contrast, I can’t think of a time when philosophy was more interesting or impressive compared to today. The…
I chatted with the Ludwig Wittgenstein bot and was overall quite impressed. It confirmed a hypothesis I previously had that…
I’m a little bit disappointed that no one here thus far has posted a comment on Iain Thomson’s recent Heidegger…
There was a moment, back in the mid-2010s, when these clowns were ascendent and in a position to impose real…
The stigmatisation of certain theories, counter-intuitive to many, as ‘preposterous’ should be avoided. It is not ultimately conducive to discovering…