Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Still more on the Franke case at Columbia Law School

Here.

Petition in support of fired philosophy faculty at Portland State

Here.  I have signed, and I encourage readers to sign as well.

"The Metaphysics of Talking to Aliens"

Who knew there was such a subject?  Philosopher Matti Eklund discusses.

2024 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 27

October

Einstein vs. Bergson on the nature of time

Department of Education's OCR creates massive exception for faculty's contractual right to academic freedom

Do your undergraduates have trouble reading whole books? (with extensive, and depressing, comments from readers)

Three models of a PhD program faculty:  Princeton, MIT, Pittsburgh

AAUP is now irrelevant to the fight for academic freedom

The impending Trump disaster

Idealism and realism about philosophy and its role

David Lewis on his approach to philosophy, on his education, etc.

AI is "dumber than a cat"

On being cancelled in philosophy

"Computer plainly can't think"

November

Election post-mortem, 2024

The new Republican initiative for higher education in states they control:  "Western Civilization" centers

The study of philosophy in law schools and JD/PhD programs, 2024 edition

Jaime Edwards and I talk about our Marx book

How Trump can attack higher education: a  guide

A note about Indiana University, Bloomington and the PGR

December

Philosopher Laurie Paul profiled at The New Yorker

I've moved from Twitter/X to Bluesky

An interview with T.M. Scanlon about his moral philosophy

Moving from at-home writing assignments to in-class assignments to prevent AI cheating

What should be done?

College Cost Reduction Act, coming soon

The quiet bloodbath developing at Portland State University

Specialty rankings, and how to use them

 

 

Please do not write to me from anonymous "proton" email or similar addresses

I ignore these emails, or I ask the sender to communicate from a real email address if the issue seems important.  I promise to protect, as I have for a quarter-century now, the identities of faculty or students who are writing to me about matters where they worry they are at risk of retaliation.  I may not post on the blog about these issues, but I will not reveal your identity.  I get these emails with some frequency (one or two a month), and they are not productive.  Thank you.

UPDATE:  Just to clarify, most of the anonymous emails I get are from proton addresses, but not all (occasionally they come from gmail).  

What articles in general jurisprudence from the first quarter of the 21st-century should you read...

...to be current in the subject.

In Memoriam: Paul Benacerraf (1931-2025)

Professor Benacerraf, who was emeritus at Princeton (where he was educated and spent his entire career), was a leading figure in philosophy of mathematics, and also supervised many of Princeton's best-known PhD graduates over a half-century on the faculty.  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Benacerraf or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.

(Thanks to Stephen Stich for the information).

"Colonialism and Fascism"

Videos of Jason Stanley's lecture course at the Kyvi School of Economics on this topic are now available online here.

2024 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DEC 26

July

Sleepwalking into disaster:  the response to learning Emperor Biden has no clothes

"How to Cabin the Realist Indeterminacy Thesis:  On Green, Positivism, and the Sources of Law"

An interview with Neuhouser on Rousseau and Amour-Propre

"Foucault as a Kind of Realist:  Genealogical Critique and the Debunking of the Human Sciences"

Hobart & William Smith Politics Professor wrongfully suspended will return to the classroom this fall

August

Philosophy & Public Affairs successor journal

Resources in philosophy of work and labor and related areas

Philosopher's Annual, top ten papers from 2023

September

Top 50 Universities by membership in the National Academy of Sciences

Is it a problem that there are so few political "conservatives" in the American academy? 

The unusual case of Barrington Jones:  from elite philosophy to plumbing

Academic freedom abolished at Penn

"My dinner with Nozick"

Why is this race so close?  There is no mystery

Nietzsche's moral anti-realism

Leslie Green on jurisprudence and its relation to history

"China, Feminism, and the Legacy of Confucius"

Philosopher Sor-hoon Tan comments.  This seems to me an optimistic take, but perhaps it's right.

2024 in review, 2nd quarter: April, May, June

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 24, 2024, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT

April

Marx's critique of Stirner

"On Gutting the Liberal Arts"

"Law is a Moral Practice" (it isn't, actually, except sometimes by accident)

Stipends for Canadian Ph.D. students

Refereeing frequency, redux (see also)

Cambridge University college dismises philosophy Fellow because his views conflict with DEI

Campus protests and excessive police responses

May

Most Black Americans want to increase police presence and spending on police

Some thoughts about the "encampment" at the University of Chicago (and its end)

The Israel/Gaza catastrophe--plus the question of "academic boycotts"

All editors (except EIC) resigned from Philosophy & Public Affairs, and will start a new journal (the EIC resigned later)

Why are philosophy departments so good about disclosing job placement for PhD graduates?

June

A long interview about Nietzsche and free will

Metablog redux

Philosopher and logician Warren Goldfarb makes TMZ celebrity gossip site

The end of academic freedom in Florida?  The courts will decide

2016 deja vu all over again

 

Lateral moves/retirements since the 2024 Philosophical Gourmet Report: 2024-25 edition

In addition to the separate posts announcing (generally tenured) faculty moves, I will keep a running list of all lateral moves (and retirements and deaths) not reflected in the faculty lists for the 2024 PGR (some moves that took place after the 2024 PGR were reflected in the faculty list, because the editors knew of them--the ones listed here were not reflected in the faculty lists evaluators saw).  I will start a new list for each academic year, so that the list does not get unwieldy.    I will move this to the front periodically, putting recent additions in bold.  Untenured lateral moves will be noted as such, otherwise the move is with tenure.  A lateral move is one from one tenure-stream position to another either into or out of a program offering the PhD or terminal MA.  In addition I will list retirements and also deaths of non-emeritus faculty.  Please e-mail me with additions or corrections.

Santiago Amaya (moral psychology, philosophy of action) from the University of Los Andes (Colombia) to Rice University.

Jc Beall (philosophical logic; philosophy of logic, mathematics & language; metaphysics) had to rescind (for personal reasons) acceptance of an offer from the National University of Singapore, so remains at the University of Notre Dame.

Jeremy Fantl (epistemology) from the University of Calgary to Ohio State University.

Michael Friedman (Kant, philosophy of science, 20th-century philosophy) has taken emeritus status at Stanford University.

Graciella de Pierris (early modern philosophy) died in fall 2024.

Lawrence Shapiro (philosophy of mind & psychology) will retire from the University of Wisconsin, Madison at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

Stewart Shapiro (philosophy of mathematics, philosophical logic) retired from Ohio State University in 2024, but continues to teach half-time at both Ohio State and teh University of Connectcut, Storrs (he was listed as full-time, and not emeritus, at OSU in the fall 2024 PGR).

Changes in the senior ranks typically affect specialty rankings, although can also affect the "overall" rankings (e.g., without de Pierris and Friedman, I would expect Stanford to drop out of the top 15 but remain in the top 20).

The Katherine Franke case at Columbia Law School

More details here.  As usual (recall Norman Finkelstein and Steven Salaita), vigorous support for the Palestinians and vigorous criticism of Israel waives ordinary First Amendment and academic freedom rights in America.

"Fundamentalism is the mortal enemy of all civilized humanity"

Thus spake RAWA, and here's a domestic case in point.

Philosophy faculty at Portland State University protest proposed termination of non-tenure-stream faculty

Their letter to University leadership (earlier coverage):

Dear President Cudd, Provost Chabon, Dean Rosenstiel, Associate Dean Carlson, and Associate Dean Oslund,

We, the faculty of the Department of Philosophy, are writing to request the immediate reversal of the decision to terminate the positions of our colleagues Dr. Brian Elliott, Dr. Monica Mueller, and Dr. Albert Spencer III. This opaquely-reasoned decision jeopardizes the Department of Philosophy’s long-term viability, its ability to offer a diverse curriculum, as well as high-profile community-facing programs such as the Oregon High School and Middle School Ethics Bowls.

The elimination of faculty has been framed as “due to changes in their departments’ programmatic and curricular needs.” However, decisions have apparently been based on an analysis that targets departments with too many classes of fewer than 12 students. This makes the Dean’s Office’s decision unclear since, according to its own analysis, shared with the CLAS Curriculum Committee, Philosophy does not have a particularly large number of classes with fewer than 11 students. Compared to all CLAS departments, it is below both the mean and median in low-enrolling classes. Nonetheless, the College’s strategy has been to eliminate philosophy adjuncts, followed by eliminating non-tenure track faculty, with the idea that tenure-track faculty can step in to meet curricular needs.

The Dean’s Office is operating under the rationale that faculty are fungible. Dr. Elliott, Dr. Mueller, and Dr. Spencer each teach 9 courses yearly. Together, they taught 910 students last academic year for a total of 3,640 SCH, an average of 33 students per class. All three are known as inspirational teachers and mentors to our majors. Moreover, they each teach classes that other colleagues in the department cannot.

Their classes include central courses for the Race & Ethnic Studies requirement, such as Philosophy of Race, Indigenous Philosophy, Queer Philosophy, and Latinx Philosophy. They also include Philosophy of Education, the Philosophy for Children Capstone, and the Philosophy Summer Camp for high school students. Other classes include the Metamorphosis First Year Inquiry and Feminist Philosophy, taught at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility for women. These faculty also are primarily responsible for teaching high enrolling general education classes, such as Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of Sex and Love, Philosophy of Work and Leisure, and Philosophy of Sport.

Over and above their high teaching load, our colleagues have produced a remarkable amount of scholarship. Over the last seven years while at PSU, they have (taken together) published three books in major presses, with a further two books forthcoming in 2025, on topics such as urban revitalization, climate change, and our gaming culture. These publications support PSU’s effort to be a top research institution, and allow PSU to garner an international reputation as a place for high-quality and timely research. 

2024 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 23, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE HOLIDAY BREAK

January

The financial future of UK universities (outside Oxbridge)

Two PhDs in philosophy, but in different areas?

Data on undergraduate philosophy majors in the U.S. over the last two decades

How long to wait for a journal before withdrawing an article under submission?

Timothy Williamson did not like Philip Kitcher's "What's the Use of Philosophy?"

Most Cited Anglophone books on Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche

February

"Science does not describe reality" (with a fabulous set of reader comments)

The growth of PPE

How Trump thinks, redux

Yale faculty in favor of Yale being a university

March

The "literature review" as "symbolic violence" and "epistemic theft"

Are there too many "elderly" faculty?

More on "redundant" publications (with reader discussion)

How does holding a PhD in another field affect PhD in philosophy admissions?

John K. Wilson is not a reliable supporter of academic freedom

What is it like to be "manic"?

On retiring

"Not everything is about gender"

St. Norbert College's mass firing of humanities junior faculty

Philosopher Leif Wenar on "effective" (i.e., short-term, measurable) altruism

Matthew Kramer on "Legal Rights and Moral Rights"...

...is free from CUP until early February!

Fantl from Calgary to Ohio State

Jeremy Fantl (epistemology), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Calgary, has accepted the O'Donnell Professorship in the Department of Philosophy at Ohio State University, where he will start in fall 2025.

Great moment in obscure rock 'n' roll: Mint Tatoo, "Wrong Way Girl," 1969

Several former members of Blue Cheer formed Mint Tatoo in 1968, and produced one album, from which this catchy tune comes:

Feel free to post links to other Mink Tatoo or obscure Blue Cheer numbers in the comments.

The wildfire catastrophe in Los Angeles

MOVING TO FRON FROM JANUARY 9--SEE ESP. THE VERY INFORMATIVE COMMENT FROM PHILOSOPHER CHRIS HITCHCOCK, BELOW--MORE COMMENTS WELCOME

Good luck to readers in the Los Angeles area; from the media reports, it looks very frightening indeed.  Comments are open for anyone who wants to post information or updates.

PGR section on terminal MA programs...

...has been updated.  See also the data on placement from MA programs compiled by Gil Hersch at Virginia Tech.  (Do read the comments on the latter, which note some limitations of the data.)

In Memoriam: Robert Paul Wolff (1933-2025)

MOVING TO FRONT FROM JANUARY 7--UPDATED

I was sorry to learn that Professor Wolff died last night.  He was, of course, well-known to readers of this blog for his many trenchant insights into contemporary events, to which I often linked, as well as his fascinating autobiography, to which we linked often a decade ago.  Professor Wolff began his career as a Kant scholar, but became best-known as a political philosopher, with his classic defense of anarchism in 1970, and books on Marx and Rawls, among other figures and topics.  He taught at the University of Chicago, Columbia University and, for most of his career, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, first in the Philosophy Department and then in the Afro-American Studies Department.  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Wolff, or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.  I am, as it happens, teaching Marx later this afternoon (a subject on which I learned much from Professor Wolff), but will add some comments of my own in the coming days.

UPDATE:  An informative obituary here.

A 1962 lecture by Ernest Nagel on the "current issues" in philosophy of science

Here.   Curious to hear what contemporary philosophers of science think of his characterization of philosophy of science.

(Thanks to Richard Marshall for the pointer.)

In Memoriam: Lawrence Sklar (1938-2024)

Professor Sklar, who was emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he spent most of his career, died last year.  He was a leading contributor to the philosophy of science and physics, but he was remarkably erudite about almost everything in philosophy (including even phenomenology).  He joined the Michigan faculty in 1968, after brief stints teaching at Swarthmore and Princeton, where he took his PhD.  The Michigan memorial notice is here, and it captures him well!  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Sklar, or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.  I'll add my own recollections in the coming days.

Trump is not even President yet, and he's threatening military force against Greenland and Panama...

...and economic coercion against Canada.  We're in for four years of this childish imbecile!  The threats against Canada prompted these striking observations from philosopher Rachel Barney (at the University of Toronto), which she kindly gave permission to share here:

Trump is now promising to use 'economic force, not military' to annex Canada. In response to a question from a reporter which treated those as perfectly sane, normal alternative plans a President might have.

I overcame a revulsion of many years standing and for the first time clicked on the link and heard his voice. And it's by no means the demented word salad I'd expected. All the economic grievances are familiar rightwing talking points, and the underlying theory is just what many on both sides have thought since before Confederation, that the border is just an economic impediment and union the rational, mutually beneficial option. And I have zero doubt that a US government which sought to do so, and didn't mind its own people being collateral damage, could inflict so much damage that a lot of Canadians would change their preferences fast and cry uncle. We're not Finland, never have been.

 

There's no legal or constitutional path forward to annexation, but with a bit of brutality it would be easy to create enough of an internal constituency for a US military action to be colorable as 'aid to the oppressed Albertans' or enforcement of some forcibly imposed trade deal, or emergency help or whatever. The Conservative political leadership would stampede each other for quisling roles. In short it's absolutely a doable project, and I would imagine that saner people than Trump have been looking at water resource projections and gaming out scenarios for years.

It is really really bad that so many Canadians are still being blithe about this (looking at you, Toronto Star, and your creepy new owners). We need to get past the denial stage stat. The most obvious practical response is to rally round some Liberal leadership candidate who gets it, and has what it takes to lead a kind of National Patriotic Front of all but the right. I would rejoin the Party for that.

Curious to hear from Canadian readers what they make of this latest craziness, and whether they agree with Professor Barney's assessment.  Signed comments (full name, valid email address [which will not appear]) will be strongly preferred.

Friends "without pressure"

Philosopher Mark Phelan comments.

"Cunk on Life"

Philomena Cunk is a well-known (in Britain) comedian, and her latest, very funny "documentary" includes some brief interviews with philosophers, including Peter Kail and Ruth Chang.  (Peter Kail's cat, it turns out, is an existentialist.)

ADDENDUM:  I should add that you can see this "documentary" on Netflix currently.

Colorado Summer Seminar in Philosophy for 2025

Philosopher David Boonin (Colorado) tells me the topic for 2025 will be "Laws, Markets, and Conventions: Specific issues to be discussed may involve debates about the nature or normative status of various legal institutions, controversies about specific legal prohibitions, questions about science and the laws of nature, concerns about inappropriate market commodification, puzzles about consumer boycotts and ethical divestment, questions about the merits of capitalism and private property, and debates on the role of convention or social construction in these and other domains. Readings will cover a wide range of philosophical subfields and include both contemporary and historical sources.”

There are more details here:   https://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/events/summer-seminar

I've heard good things about these summer seminars over the years, so I encourage undergraduate readers, especially those thinking they might be interested in graduate school, to take a look.

To control your self, control your environment

Philosopher Matthew Haug discusses.

Blast from the past: Why study history of philosophy?

Back in 2011, with reader discussion.

The "stormtrooper riot" at the Capitol was four years ago today

A few posts from that day, the day after, Trump's attempt at damage control, and what the stormtrooper riot portends.   (I always thought my label, "stormtrooper riot" was a more apt description than "insurrection.")  The big question, as I remarked previously, will be what happens after the 2028 election.

Jimmy Carter: his "private virtues were public vices"

An intelligent assessment of his life and career:  he was the Democrat who initiated the retreat from the New Deal consensus, one then destroyed by Reagan.

A lecture by Susanne Langer on "Man and Animal"...

...from 1959.

(Thanks to Richard Marshall for the pointer.)

JHP 2024 Article Prize

Professor Deborah Boyle, editor of the Journal of the History of Philosophy, writes:

The Journal of the History of Philosophy has awarded its 2024 article prize to Douglas R. Campbell’s “Irrigating Blood: Plato on the Circulatory System, the Cosmos, and Elemental Motion” (JHP 62.4 [October 2024]: 519–41. Cheryl Misak’s paper, “Ryle’s Debt to Pragmatism and Margaret MacDonald” (JHP 62.4 [October 2024]: 639–56) received an Honorable Mention. Both articles can be found here: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/53288

Great moment in obscure rock 'n' roll: Ugly Custard, "Feel This," 1971

Like Rumplestiltskin, Ugly Custard was a group of British studio musicians, led by guitarist Alan Parker, who recorded one album, from which this nice instrumental comes:

Feel free to add links to other Ugly Custard songs, or other work by Alan Parker.

 

In Memoriam: Joseph S. Ullian (1930-2024)

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 29, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT.

Professor Ullian, who spent most of his academic career at Washington University, St. Louis (where he was emeritus), worked in logic, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of language, and was probably best-known for his co-authored book with Quine, The Web of Belief (2nd ed., 1978).  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Ullian or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.

(Thanks to Ernie Lepore for the information.)

Dominic Scott on "Contemplation and Civic Happiness in Plato and Aristotle"...

...is free for two more weeks from Cambridge Elements!

Blast from the past: the 10 "Most Important" philosophers of the early modern period

A poll back in 2009, with reader discussion.

"The Sublime and the Beautiful Revisited"

Audio of a 1959 lecture by Iris Murdoch at Yale.

(Thanks to Richard Marshall for the pointer.)

2024: Philosophers who died

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2024:  Robert M. Adams, E. Jennifer Ashworth, Nuel Belnap, Jr., Jonathan Bennett, Martha Brandt Bolton, Robert Bolton, Daniel Breazeale (died at end of 2023), Keith Campbell, Chung-Ying Cheng, Max Cresswell, Daniel Dennett, Susan Feagin, Alvin I. Goldman, Ted Honderich, Christopher Hookway, Don Ihde, Robert H. Kane, David Konstan, Arnold Koslow, John F. Malcolm, Bernard Manin, Gerald J. Massey, Robert J. McKim, Nenad Miščević, Alan Montefiore, Kathleen Okruhlik, Charles D. Parsons, Lawrence Pasternack, Graciela de Pierris, Nicholas Rescher, Michael Ruse, Frederick Schauer, Richard Schmitt, J.B. Schneewind, George E. Smith, Howard Stein, Robert Stern, Michael Stocker, William W. Tait, Michael Tanner, Joseph S. Ullian, Anand Vaidya, George M. Wilson, John Woods.

You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries, by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note: I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of those likely to be known to many others in the profession. Apologies for oversights and omissions.)

A YouTube channel featuring everything under the "Great Moments in Obscure Rock 'n' Roll" category...

...courtesy of reader Rafael Martins, which I learned about in the comments here.  Thanks to Mr. Martins for curating this!

Bird flu wishes you a not-so-happy New Year

Not good, but not yet a disaster:

Genetic sequences of H5N1 bird flu viruses collected from a person in Louisiana who became severely ill show signs of development of several mutations thought to affect the virus’ ability to attach to cells in the upper airways of humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.

One of the mutations was also seen in a virus sample taken from a teenager in British Columbia who was in critical condition in a Vancouver hospital for weeks after contracting H5N1. 

The mutation seen in both viruses is believed to help H5N1 adapt to be able to bind to cell receptors found in the upper respiratory tracts of people. Bird flu viruses normally attach to a type of cell receptor that is rare in human upper airways, which is believed to be one of the reasons why H5N1 doesn’t easily infect people and does not spread from person-to-person when it does.

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the best finds of 2024

I didn't do as many this year, since I think I may have finally exhausted the genre of obscure blues-based rock.  But here were a couple of good finds that I enjoyed:

    Argent, "Keep On Rollin'," 1972

    Gun, "Race with the Devil," 1968

    Jo Jo Gunne, "Broken Down Man," 1973

Feel free to add links to obscure rock 'n' roll that you think deserves notice.  Those that strike my fancy may be used, with acknowledgment, in future "Great moments" posts on the blog.

ADDENDUM:  Please include the name of the band and a URL for a video of the song!

In Memoriam: Graciela de Pierris (1950-2024)

Professor de Pierris, a specialist in the history of early modern philosophy, probably best-known for her work on Hume, died in August.  She had taught at Stanford for more than twenty years, and before that at Indiana University at Bloomington and the University of Illinois at Chicago.  The Stanford memorial notice is here.  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor de Pierris or for those who wish to comment on the significance of her work.

Law professors reading Marx

A nice note from a law professor elsewhere:

I wanted to pass on a note thanking you for your marvelous book with Jaime Edwards on Marx. The explanation of ideas is lucid and exactly what this non-expert needed as a clear and comprehensive introduction. Like many, I have read at one time the Manifesto and bits of Capital before. But I've never had a fully satisfying explainer, and this is it. The examples also are extremely helpful in understanding things (and some were genuinely funny, like the proto-Cheetahs!). I'm planning to assign portions to my students for appropriate classes.

 

APA announces Fall 2024 Prizes...

...including the new AI-related prizes, as well as the Gittler Award, Dewey Lecturers, and others.

The Trump freak show

An amusing, and mostly apt, review.  The only "ordinary" Republican choices are the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce.  Most of the rest really do belong in a circus side-show.

(Thanks to Galen Strawson for the pointer.)

More on the crisis at Portland State University

Here.  A reader also flags PSU's President Ann Cudd's "explanation" of why big classes are better than small classes:

Because nobody likes to be in a class that has only about four or five other students, because if you don’t show up you really are noticed, for one thing. But the other thing is that it’s all on you and a couple of others to carry on the discussion and actually, you know, work together. So it’s a better classroom experience when there are more students than that.

Just to be clear, the President of a University, a philosopher no less, is actually arguing that bigger classes are better, in part, because it's easier for students to skip class.   Source.

Bayne on Dennett

An illuminating essay on Dennett's ideas by philosopher Tim Bayne.

Comments are open for reader reactions from those knowledgeable.

I'm on Bluesky now

Just a reminder, that I'm here, and you can follow me there to follow updates on the blog and occasionally other items that don't make it to the blog.