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More on philosophy and alleged “innate talent”
Berkeley's Alison Gopnik, the well-known philosophically-minded psychologist, writes: I’m attaching a link to my WSJ column taking off from the Leslie & Cimpian Science study on innate talent in philosophy. I had no room in the piece to say this but the more I’ve thought about it the odder it seems that philosophers, of all…
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Kvanvig from Baylor to Wash U/St. Louis
Jonathan Kvanvig, a leading figure in both epistemology and philosophy of religion, currently at Baylor University, has accepted a senior offer from the Department of Philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis, effective fall 2016. (Wash U, which jumped from 31st in 2011 to 24th in 2014, may be on track to crack the top twenty before…
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ASU English professor being targetted by right-wing media for teaching a course on…
…"The Problem of Whiteness." Pathetic. (Thanks to Robert McGarvey for the pointer.)
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Stone on how to handle sexual assault on campus
My colleague Geoffrey Stone, a well-known liberal legal commentaor and First Amendment scholar, has a very sensible piece in Huffington Post; some excerpts: [T]he concern with campus sexual assault has begun to take on the characteristics of a panic in which government officials and school administrators have increasingly lost sight of other fundamental values that must shape…
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Hitler Applies to Graduate School in Philosophy
He never should have used Stalin as a reference. (ORIGINALLY POSTED FEBRUARY 16, 2010, BUT SINCE SOMEONE JUST E-MAILED THE LINK, I AM MOVING IT TO THE FRONT.)
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Oklahoma Taliban propose new marriage bill: only Christians and Jews can marry
But at least they allow Jews, that's progress!
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Fight the philosophers…
…and find out who is likely to win. (Thanks to Prabhu Venkataraman for the pointer.)
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Blast from the past: benighted economist who can’t make an argument
Arnold Kling, of course, from 2006. (You can see the text of Kling's original article here.)
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Neoliberalism in higher education: Ronald Reagan edition
An interesting bit of history.
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“Night Will Fall”
This is a very striking documentary, but be forewarned, much of the footage is ghastly beyond belief. As WWII ended, British and American troops took extensive film footage of the concentration camps–some of it even in color, making it even more shocking–and the British recruited Alfred Hitchcock to put the footage together in a documentary…
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Some students is not writing good
So it appears (via IHE).
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UCL’s Jose Zalabardo on learning to do philosophy
It's like learning any other practical skill!
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The politics of Leo Strauss
Political theorist Alan Gilbert (Denver) discusses a recent book.
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Open thread on issues in the profession for the week of February 2, 2015
Please submit your comment only once, I will moderate and approve comments at various intervals during the day.
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Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
In January 2014, there were (according to Sitemeter) 306,464 visits to this blog and 438,846 page views. In January 2015, there were (according to Sitemeter) 305,995 visits to this blog and 461,506 page views. (According to StatCounter, which I added in late 2014, there were, in January 2015, 335,902 visits and 458,827 page views–I've no idea what explains the…
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The Birmingham bomber and those who survived by luck
Philosopher Gregory Pence (Alabama/Birmingham) looks back.
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More “market-based” favorable publicity for studying philosophy
Here (via many different Facebook friends).
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New books in January
Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month: Government Paternalism: Nanny State or Helpful Friend? by Julian Le Grand & Bill New (Princeton University Press, 2015). Happiness & the Law by John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco & Jonathan S. Masur (University of Chicago Press, 2015). Plotinus, Ennead VI.4 and VI.5: On the Presence…
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“Monsters and Mysteries in America” to feature some research on people hit by lightning…
…from Berit Brogaard's lab at the University of Miami. The show's homepage is here, it airs on the Discovery Channel at 9 pm Eastern/8 pm Central tonight.
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Scott Austin memorial service
Lynn Manning, the sister of Professor Austin, who passed away in December, asked me to share the information that a memorial service will take place on Friday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center Ballroom of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Inquiries should be directed to Prof. Theodore George, Interim Chair…
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Philosophy of physics wiki
Here. One peculiarity is that retired faculty are listed, as are faculty who have announced their departure to other schools (but are still listed with the school they are leaving). In terms of the actual quality and reputation of these programs, see here.
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Is there a post-Eastern market now?
Spiros wants to know.
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Might the law make cyberspace less of a cesspool than it presently is?
Perhaps, starting with civil remedies for "revenge porn."
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Really no issues in the profession to discuss this week?
Monday's open thread has attracted a grand total of 2 comments (including 1 from me!). The first open thread, the week before, got over 100; I approved over 95% of the submitted comments. Traffic this week was the same as last week. Did we exhaust all the issues already?
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Cambridge’s Tim Crane thinks Derrida is right…
…about at least one thing. But not Badiou.
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When philosophical “reasoning” touches matters that are deeply personal…
…in this case regarding philosophy of disability. Worth reading.
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Salaita files his lawsuit against the University, the Chancellor, 8 Trustees, unknown (at this point) donors and others today
News release here; still digesting the complaint, will post more after I'm through it. MORE: The complaint, which has been filed in federal court here, adds details about the initial offer and acceptance, and the conduct of the defendants that I had not seen previously. Salaita is suing the University of Illinois Trustees and administrators for…
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PGR 2014-15 update
As a number of readers have noted, the 2014-15 PGR is not yet finished; my co-editor Brit, and her RA, are at work on the remaining content, including the summary of each department's specialty rankings. Thanks for your patience.
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Scott Walker adds insult to injury
Not only does he plan massive budget cuts for the University of Wisconsin, he thinks faculty need to work harder. Could a craven imbecile like Walker really have any idea what faculty actually do? (Thanks to Michael Swanson for the pointer.)
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Most Important Anglophone philosophers, 1945-2000: the top 20
So with over 500 votes, here's the top 20: 1. W.V.O. Quine (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) 2. Saul Kripke loses to W.V.O. Quine by 202–174 3. John Rawls loses to W.V.O. Quine by 200–155, loses to Saul Kripke by 201–180 4. David K. Lewis loses to W.V.O. Quine by 206–148, loses to John Rawls by 194–163 5. Hilary Putnam loses to…
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The only exceptions to mandatory vaccination schemes should be for health reasons…
…but in crazy California you can get not only "religious" exemptions, but "philosophical" ones, not by having an argument, but simply by checking a box. Perhaps if Child Protective Services started taking kids away from the idiot parents who don't vaccinate them, California would cease being the measles and whooping cough capitol of America–and can…
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A philosopher walks into a coffee shop…
….some of these are funny, some not so much.
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NYRB essay on “Rape on Campus”
Interesting read; an excerpt: Few would disagree that the systems for preventing and prosecuting sexual assault on US campuses are in need of change. But the efficacy and fairness of recent reforms that focus on making college grievance procedures more favorable to complainants and on codifying strict new definitions of sexual consent remain highly questionable.…
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Neoliberalism in higher education: Wisconsin edition
$300 million dollars in spending cuts, plus likely higher tuition. UPDATE: Ethan Jerzak, a Berkeley PhD student and Wisconsin native, writes "with deep shame for my home state": It might be worth pointing out that, the same day that malevolent idiot Scott Walker announced the $300 million cut to the UW system, he pledged $220…
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On Saudi Arabia
Interesting read.
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On International Holocaust Remembrance Day…
…it does seem reasonable to ask why Nazi speech is legal anywhere (as it is, for example, in the United States).
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Most important Anglophone philosophers, 1945-2000
MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY–POLL OPEN UNTIL TOMORROW (OVER 300 VOTES SO FAR) A new poll for your amusement. I've limited the list of choices mostly to philosophers who did most of their work during this period and who are no longer alive, plus some distinguished philosophres who are alive and now in their 80s (with…
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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.
One thing that struck me in this report was the “three body problem” ways in which things become more unstable…
I am a faculty member at ASU. Unfortunately, I can’t say I am surprised by Atomic. During last academic year,…
I don’t know how widespread this *behavior* is, but I know that the legal basis for allowing it to happen…
I think the extremely weird-sounding announced thesis of this piece arises from making a specific decision about how to use…
Let me recommend Eleanor Knox’s essay on IAI a few months ago for what I think is a much more…
There are many places in the essay where I would get off the argumentative train, but here’s perhaps the first.…
It may not be what Professor Noll is looking for — or maybe parts are appropriate — but for others…