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Religion, Nietzsche, blogging and the PGR
A couple of weeks back, I had the privilege of visiting Springfield, Missouri, for a public lecture on "Why Tolerate Religion?", and then meetings with students at the three colleges there: Missouri State University; Drury University; and Evangel University. (As a sidenote, it was the Templeton Foundation and the Institute for Humane Studies that made…
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Yale Daily News coverage of the Pogge protest letter
Here. ADDENDUM: The YDN piece suggests that five full professors in the Yale Department did not sign; they are clearly counting all those with courtesy appointments in philosophy (some of those did sign, as it happens, but several didn't–they may not even have known of it, I do not know). But of those whose tenure…
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New Rutgers Chair in Philosophy of Religion
Via Weinberg, I learn that the Chair in Philosophy of Religion at Rutgers, supported in part by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, is now official. Taking a somewhat longer view, this is an interesting development. William Alston, a philosopher of language and epistemologist who eventually became a leading figure in the "Analytic Christian Mafia" in philosophy (besides Alston,…
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Dopey Donald Chump and his tiny hands
At last, a SuperPac is on the case. (And for some background.)
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An optimistic take on the Trump fiasco…
…he's not only on track to lose in a landslide, he could take down the Republican majorities in Congress with him. Oh happy day!
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160 faculty, including almost all Yale philosophy faculty, sign open letter of protest about Thomas Pogge’s conduct
Story here (with a link to the letter). One notable absence among the Yale faculty signatories is philosopher Tamar Gendler, who is also a Dean, and so presumably not in a position where she can take a public position on what may become a disciplinary matter under her jurisdiction. (I was not aware of this…
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The latest NY Times hatchet job on law schools…
…exposed for the piece of lazy and careless reporting it was.
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8th-grader imitates Presidential contenders and Obama at his middle school graduation
This kid has a great future in comedy. (Thanks to Ruchira Paul for the pointer.)
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Another incident involving Thomas Pogge
Philosopher Erin Kelly (Tufts) invited me to share her experience when she was a prospective graduate student: Spring 1984 I visited Columbia University as a prospective graduate student. TP showed me the campus and encouraged me to come. After I left he followed up with a phone call. I told him I planned to enroll…
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Instantaneous Laser Incineration: A Modest Proposal
I know that many readers are concerned that, after the massacre of degenerate young people in Orlando by a 2nd-Amendment-freedom-lover affiliated with ISIS, there is a real risk that normal Republicans and Christians could be affected by the proliferation of Instantaneous Laser Incineration (ILI) technology. Obviously, the Framers of the Constitution were concerned with the threat of…
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On the radio in Los Angeles tomorrow, Saturday, June 18
I'll be on Gurvey's Law tomorrow (Saturday) from 2-3 pm Pacific time, 790 KABC talk radio. Not sure whether it is live-streamed. I had an enjoyable conversation with Mr. Gurvey, who studied philosophy as an undergraduate Brown (wrote a senior thesis with Dan Brock I learned on omissions and consequentialism) before becoming a lawyer. We cover a…
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Martha Nussbaum wins 2016 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy
I'm particularly pleased to report that my colleague Martha Nussbaum is the winner of the 2016 Kyoto Prize for "Thought and Ethics," previously awarded to Charles Taylor, Jurgen Habermas, W.V.O. Quine, and Karl Popper, among others.
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Ban civilian ownership of the AR-15 assault rifle, once again
A nicely done item from the Boston Globe. If you live in Ohio, Arizona, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, or North Carolina, the article makes it easy to send the article via social media to your Senator.
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Dopey Donald Chump is self-destructing
His unfavorable rating hits a new high (while Clinton's improves), and his poll numbers are collapsing, with Clinton now having a 12% lead. One thing about most Americans, they are nice and polite people, and Dopey Donald Chump is neither.
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2016 Routledge, Taylor & Francis Prize for work publishes by non-tenure-track faculty…
…goes to Shane Duarte (PhD, Penn) and Benjamin Lennertz (PhD, Southern California).
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On the threat Trump poses to democracy
Philosopher Katalin Balog (Rutgers) comments, and comments astutely. (I'm less sympathetic with her take on Clinton and Sanders, but she really nails the dangerousness of Trump.)
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Philosophy cuts at Western Illinois, faculty unionize at Northern Illinois
IHE reports on both. (WIU faculty are already unionized.)
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Dear Mainstream Media: please stop reporting what Dopey Donald Chump says about everything, he’s a psychologically disturbed 13 year old (with apologies to teens)
We realize he's the nominee of a freak show of a party–did you ever read AEI's Norm Ornstein?–but he's also the clearest threat to what remains of democracy in the American plutocracy. He's also a narcissistic sociopath, clown, and life-long fuck-up: ask anyone in the real estate business in New York over the last forty…
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Schapiro from Stanford to MIT
Tamar Schapiro (ethics), Associate Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, has accepted a tenured offer from the Department of Philosophy at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, where she has been a visiting professor during 2015-16.
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Bertram on Singer’s latest moral obtuseness
Concerning refugees–but it also betrays the conservative nature of how he thinks about the alleged moral dimensions of problems.
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McMaster, diversity, and “crying wolf”
Jorge Humberto Sanchez Perez, a Peruvian human rights lawyer now studying for a PhD in philosophy at McMaster University in Canada (which is well-known for its legal philosophy program), asked me to share his response to a recent misleading column in the Huffington Post: Download Crying Wolf Minorities Diversity and Philosophy Jorge Sanchez Perez
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Philosopher who was serial plagiarizer makes it to…
…Retraction Watch.
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Dopey Donald Chump and truth
It's a distant relationship.
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The letters in the Stanford sexual assault case
From the victim and from the convicted assailant's mother. They are both worth reading. I guess I am more sympathetic to the view that the six-month sentence was light given the jury's findings, but I think far more ominous is the move to recall the judge for acting well within his legal discretion to take…
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Ban civilian ownership of the AR-15 assault rifle
No normal person needs to own one. Some crazy people do: The gunman was armed with an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle and a handgun, Chief Mina said. An example of an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. The make and model of the rifle has not been released. The rifle is the same type of gun used in the…
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Thundermother, “Boogie Music,” 1971
A group of British studio musicians got together for a weekend and recorded an album, and the standout is their rendition of this number:
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Three cheers for Mayte Lara Ibarra and Larissa Martinez…
…and may the racist sociopaths supporting Dopey Donald Chump harassing these admirable young women all go straight to hell.
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WIU Board votes to eliminate philosophy major
I'm hopeful that Professor Pynes will post more about what's going on and what this vote will mean. There are three philosophy faculty, including Professor Pynes, though theirs is also a unionized faculty, which provides more protection in a situation like this. However, it is possible that those with less seniority may lose their positions…
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ACLS awards to philosophers
Johnny Brennan at the ACLS has kindly sent alone the results of the latest competitions: As our current competition season has come to an end and all fellows have been announced, I wanted to let you know of the 11 philosophers who were awarded one of our fellowships for their outstanding work. I thought you…
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More on controversy about budget cuts at the University of Chicago…
…at IHE. There are a number of dubious claims in the article. None of what is happening is a conspiracy by the Board of Trustees; the leadership comes from President Robert Zimmer, a mathematician, who has a definite vision, and who has been, by all accounts I've heard, the real decision-maker who enjoys strong support…
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In Memoriam: Morton White (1917-2016)
A philosopher and historian of ideas, Professor White spent the bulk of his academic career at Harvard University and then the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; the IAS memorial notice is here. His 1949 book Social Thought in America: The Revolt Against Formalism was probably his most important and influential, enjoying a wide audience…
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The Swedish grad students who stopped the sexual assault on the unconscious victim at Stanford
Identified at last; admirable people they are.
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A nice review of Don Garrett’s “Hume”…
…in NDPR; an excerpt: This is an excellent book. Garrett provides a comprehensive yet concise introduction to Hume's thought that should be accessible to newcomers to Hume, including upper-level undergraduates. It is not especially ground-breaking; much of the book is based on work Garrett has published in papers over the past two decades and in…
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Soteriou from Warwick to King’s College, London
Matthew Soteriou (philosophy of mind), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, has accepted appointment as Professor of Philosophy at King's College, Lond, to start this fall.
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High school student in Afghanistan interested in philosophy seeks guidance and a correspondent
A young reader in Afghanistan writes: Hi Professor Leiter, Let me introduce myself – I am Esmat Zeerak, a high school student based in Kabul, Afghanistan. I am really interested in learning and reading philosophy. I started reading philosophy books at an early age, around 11 years old, starting with the ancient texts of Aristotle…
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News and views about philosophy, the academic profession, academic freedom, intellectual culture, and other topics. The world’s most popular philosophy blog, since 2003.
Matthew Ratcliffe. 2023. Grief Worlds: A Study of Emotional Experience. MIT Press (open access with no time limit) https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5524/Grief-WorldsA-Study-of-Emotional-Experience “Experiences…
Free Robot Labour: Marx, Automation, and the Future of AI by Jamie Terence Kelly https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-26782-5 Palgrave Macmillan, 2026 Permanently Open…
Nietzsche’s Ecce homo, Notebooks and Letters: 1888-1889. Translation by Daniel Fidel Ferrer. ©2023 Daniel Fidel Ferrer. All rights reserved. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs…
I only just learned of Barry’s passing, and I’m enormously saddened at the news. I wrote my PhD on his…
I am reading 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 with mixed feelings. It is, in various ways, moderate and careful, and it certainly…
I respond to this report here https://jasonstanleyantifascist.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophical-muddle-that
Cambridge makes new volumes in its Elements series freely available for a couple of weeks following publication. My own “Innateness…