Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Let's remember some facts, the propaganda barrage of the Trumpistas notwithstanding

Because of the megaphone of the Trumpistas, aided and abetted by the mass media, it is easy to forget how much falsehood is being forced upon us on a daily basis, some of which is then taken up by the opposition as though it is serious.  So let's remember some facts:

1.  There was no problem with illegal immigration in the U.S. before Trump (that illegal immigrants entered the country was neither here nor there--most "illegal" entries resulted in deportation).  Illegal immigrants are more law-abiding than citizens, and they make a substantial contribution to productivity and economic growth in multiple sectors of the economy (this is why even Trump backed off sending the immigration police into certain businesses).  The whole immigration "crisis" is a distraction ideology, obscuring what is actually happening:  capitalism requires jobs to be shipped overseas in order for companies to survive in the global capitalist marketplace.  Tariffs won't change that, full stop.  Immigrants didn't cause that, full stop.  Trump is as ignorant as Archie Bunker, but not nearly as amusing.

2.  There is no crisis of anti-semitism in the universities.  The "crisis" is that the younger generation rejects the bipartisan consensus in Congress that supports any Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, full stop.   There have been isolated anti-semitic acts, often by outsiders on university campuses, but that is not what the current war on universities is about.  As the legal scholar Cass Sunstein recently observed, during his 25 years as a student and then faculty member at Harvard, he has never experienced any anti-semitism.  But in his government service in Washington, D.C., he experienced a number of anti-semitic attacks, always from the political right. 

Hegel the political realist?

I'm skeptical, but philosopher Jake McNulty makes an interesting case.

A simply remarkable first-hand account of the Texas flood

Gripping and also hearbreaking.  

The online Republican party has merged with fascists and racists...

...can the real party be far behind?  An excerpt:

The key ingredient to this online soup is extremism: from nativism to racial science, to casual neo-Nazism and textbook misogyny. Presented to followers via livestreams, memes and X posts, this deluge of far-right content has been called “slopulism” — a vibes-based politics designed for social media and born from social media. These vibes, of course, are harsh. They’re anti-democratic. And they’re increasingly being embodied in the presence of figures staffing the second Trump administration.

In May, an NPR report identified three administration officials with clear ties to alleged neo-Nazis, holocaust deniers or misogynist trolls. There are now a half-dozen confirmed cases of Trump staffers either linked to far-right extremists or those pushing extremist views, among them Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Kingsley Wilson, the Defense Department press secretary....

And then there’s the case of Paul Ingrassia, the Trump staffer nominated to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, who may be the best example of a conduit between the online right and the White House. Mr. Ingrassia, 30, a former far-right podcaster, has been an outspoken supporter of one of the online right’s most visible figures, Nick Fuentes.

Bender from Göttingen to LMU Munich

Sebastian Bender, "Assistant Professor" at the University of Göttingen, has accepted appointment as Professor of Early Modern Philosophy ("Associate Professor" equivalent; "W2 Professor" in Munich's system) at LMU Munich.  That's the second senior hire for LMU Munich this year.

Open access philosophy books: a thread, Part II

MOVING TO FRONT (ORIGINALLY POSTED MARCH 13) SINCE SEVERAL SUBMISSIONS GOT CAUGHT IN THE SPAM FILTER--see what counts as a suitable submission below--no anonymous posts

 

The last thread had 39 submissions, so I thought it's time for a second thread.  Instructions as before:

In light of the growing number of these volumes, I am going to run a thread periodically in which I invite authors or readers to share links to philosophical works that are currently or permanently "open access."  Please use your full name and a valid email address (the latter will not appear) and include the URL for the book (give the title and the author, if you are not the author).  Authors or readers can only say something about the work and what it tries to do.  Please indicate if the "open access" period is limited.

Submit your comment only once, it may take awhile to appear.

Hedden from ANU to MIT

Brian Hedden (epistemology, decision theory, ethics [incl. ethics of AI]), Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University, has accepted a senor offer from the Department of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Does your university/college have a faculty hiring freeze?

MOVING TO FRONT (ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 18)--MORE INFORMATION WELCOME

I have been posting periodically about the Trump war on higher education, which has led to a number of faculty hiring freezes that I have heard about:  the University of California system, Northwestern, for example.  Please post here about hiring freeze announcements at your higher education institution (you can post anonymously, but include a valid university email address, which will not appear--if you can link to a source, even better).

The SCOTUS decision on nationwide (or "universal") injunctions

A reader asked me to comment on this case, which has garnered a lot of media coverage, mostly of uneven quality.  As my colleague elsewhere aptly put it: "Is the Court's decision the end of the world, or will we get through it?"

The short answer:  too soon to say!  It may not be that significant, or it may be very significant.  SCOTUS stayed its own decision for 30 days, on remand to the lower courts.  What the lower courts do (since the decision leaves open many possibilities) and how SCOTUS responds, if at all, will determine what comes next.  Trump is obviously a lawless gangster, but note that the decision also applies to the "Supreme Court of Amarillo" (as I like to call it), where the lone federal judge in the district in that part of Texas, is a far right anti-abortion zealot,  who used universal injunctions to bar distribution of medicines that induced abortions.  As Trump appoints awful federal judges, the SCOTUS opinion may look prescient.  Put differently, evaluating this decision with only the monster child in mind may be a mistake (or it may not, as Professor Mike Dorf plausibly argues).

Happy 4th of July from a Canadian professor

What he says sounds mostly right to me:

It was 249 years ago, when the United States separated from the British Empire. Over the past year it has separated from the world order it built over those 249 years, and from basic sanity and decency as well. For Americans, the madness gripping their country is a catastrophe. For non-Americans, it is an accidental revolution. This Independence Day, the world is declaring its independence from the US....

 

One of the great ironies of history is that the triumph of Maga has led to the piecemeal destruction of everything that once made America great, and on every level. Its power derived from a reliable trade network, with logistical chains that were the wonders of the world, combined with a huge alliance network, and the greatest scientific and technological institutes in the world. It is systematically destroying all of those strengths far more thoroughly than any enemy could.

America is turning away from itself, and the rest of the world must follow. The new independence requires frankness, even brutality. There is no such thing as a deal with America any more. Canada and Mexico made one with Trump in 2018. He broke it at the first possible opportunity. Their national word is worthless. They understand only force and money, and increasingly not even those. Their military actions are more or less random, half-considered, about as deep and significant as a social media rage post. They instantly forget who helped or hurt them. All those Afghans who saved American lives a decade ago have lived to regret it, being deported, just for the spectacle of it all, back to their torturers. There is exactly no security in being their ally. If the American government declares war on something – poverty, drugs, Islamic terrorism, anti-democratic governments – you can be quite sure that whatever they’re opposed to will be much stronger by the end of the fighting.

Dover from UCLA to Rutgers

Daniela Dover (ethics, moral psychology, feminist philosophy), Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles has accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, to start this fall.

The end of the Humboldtian ideal at Indiana University, Bloomington

This is pretty dramatic:

Indiana University Bloomington is suspending or eliminating more than 100 academic programs across a wide range of disciplines ahead of the 2026-27 academic year. The programs are on a list from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education released on a PDF from the June 30, 2025 meeting.

Universities across Indiana are eliminating degree programs due to House Enrolled Act 1001—2025’s Bill Section #248 added, effective July 1, 2025.

https://www.in.gov/che/files/HEA1001-Graduate-Thresholds-CHE-Initial-Guidance-and-FAQ_V1-6.13.25.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The changes, affect undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs and touch nearly every corner of the university — from the arts and humanities to science, education, public health, and languages.

At least 43 undergraduate degree programs will be suspended with plans to eliminate or merge them, including the Bachelor of Arts in African American and African Diaspora Studies, Art History, Comparative Literature, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, French, Gender Studies, and Spanish. Several Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Fine Arts programs are also impacted, including programs in Ballet, Cognitive Science, and Environmental Geoscience.

Graduate and professional degrees are also on the chopping block. Multiple master’s and doctoral programs — including Ph.D. tracks in Art History, Comparative Literature, Astrophysics, French, Japanese, and Gender Studies — will be phased out or consolidated. A number of education and public health degrees will also be discontinued....

The cuts also come after the appointment of a new Board of Trustees majority, aligned with Indiana’s Republican Gov. Mike Braun, which has called for more “practical” degrees with workforce outcomes.

No Bildung for Governor Braun, just churn out the credentialed workers!

The full list of targetted programs at all public Indiana universities is here.  Philosophy is not tagetted at Bloomington (but many other core humanitic fields, including classics, are), but is being cut elsewhere.  

What a disaster.  Comments are open for those who may have more information.

(Thanks to Sam Elgin for the pointer.)

 

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.

Kristin Andrews (philosophy of mind & cognitive science [esp. 'animal minds']) from York University, Toronto to the City University of New York Graduate Center.

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.

Elizabeth Brake (ethics, applied ethics, political philosophy, feminist philosophy) from Rice University to the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Sophia Connell (ancient philosophy, history of analytic philosophy) from Birkbeck College, University of London to the University of Notre Dame.

Sophia Dandelet (ethics, epistemology) from Cambridge University to the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Daniela Dover (ethics, moral psychology, feminist philosophy) from the University of California, Los Angeles to Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

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

Stephen Finlay (metaethics), formerly at the Australian Catholic University to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Michael Friedman (Kant, philosophy of science, 20th-century philosophy) took emeritus status at Stanford University in 2024 (and died in 2025).

Sebastian Gardner (Kant, 19th-century German philosophy) retired from University College London in Januray 2025.

Alex Grzankowski (philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology) from Birkbeck College, University of Lond to King's College, London.

John Heil (metaphysics, philosophy of mind) will retire from teaching at Washington University, St. Louis and Durham University at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

Grace Helton (cognitive science, epistemology, moral psychology) from Princeton University (untenured) to the University of Rochester (tenured).

Karolina Hübner (early modern philosophy, Jewish philosophy, history of metaphysics, philosophical theology) from Cornell University to the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jessica Keiser (philosophy of language, social & political philosophy) from the University of Leeds to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Jon Kvanvig (epistemology, philosophy of religion) retired from Washington University, St. Louis at the end of 2024-25 academic year.

Marc Lange (philosophy of science & physics) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill to Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Harvey Lederman (logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, Chinese philosophy) from the University of Texas, Austin to New York University (effective 2026-27).

Barry Loewer (philosophy of language & mind, philosophy of physics) will retire from Rutgers University, New Brunswick at the end of the 2024-25 academic year (but will continue to do a graduate seminar for a few years).

When you're too much of a reactionary bigot even for the Lt. Governor of Texas

That's really something.  But let's face it, it's only because his bigotry includes Jews as well as Muslims that all the local Republicans are turning on him.  After all, that kind of rhetoric from "Bo French" doesn't fit with the Trump's valiant campaign to crush fake anti-semitism on campus (imagine if someone on campus had actually said this?).  Bo's response to the furor:   antisemitism has no place in the Republican party (Islamophobia on the other hand...).

RFK Jr's plan to kill us all: measles edition

If he depresses vaccination rates further with his pathological ignorance, then we're in big trouble:

Measles was eliminated in the U.S. decades ago, but millions of new measles cases could pop up across the country over the next 25 years if vaccination rates continue to fall, new modeling suggests.

In a study published Thursday (April 24) in JAMA, scientists forecasted the number of measles cases that might be seen in coming decades if state-level vaccination rates stay steady, decline or increase. If vaccination rates drop by 10%, they found, there could be 11.1 million cases of measles across the U.S. in the next 25 years.

If vaccination rates stay the same as they are today, 851,300 cases of measles could occur in the same timeframe. In that scenario, the disease could feasibly "reestablish endemicity" within about two decades, meaning it could start to spread consistently in the U.S. once more.

If vaccination rates dropped as low as 50% of current levels, 51.2 million cases of measles could occur in the coming 25 years.

Assuming the rates of all routine vaccinations fell across the board, that would come with upticks in cases of other diseases, like rubella and polio. All told, this could lead to 10.3 million hospitalizations and 159,200 deaths, the model predicted, along with thousands of cases of post-measles neurological complications, rubella-related birth defects and polio-triggered paralysis. (Like measles, both rubella and wild polio have been eliminated in the U.S.)

"We're already on the precipice of disaster," study lead author Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Stanford University, said in a statement. "There really shouldn't be any cases at this point, because these diseases are preventable. Anything above zero is tragic. When you're talking about potentially thousands or millions, that's unfathomable."

UPDATE:  Reader Henry Cohen writes:

I appreciate your post, “RFK Jr's plan to kill us all: measles edition, but I would have made it, “Congressional Republicans plan to kill us all: measles edition.” RFK Jr. is insane, after all, whereas Congressional Republicans allow him to act out his insanity because they’re afraid that Trump would have them primaried if they didn’t. They are cold-blooded killers.

They bear primary responsibility for every crime and every unconstitutional action of the Trump administration. I know that I’m not telling you anything new; I just think that we should emphasize their responsibility more. For them to not impeach Trump is to violate their oath to uphold the Constitution.

 

The NYC mayoral race

Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman and democratic socialist, scored an upset victory in the Democratic primary over Andrew Cuomo (the former Governor, whose father had also been Governor of New York).  He ran on an actual "populist" economic platform (not a fake Republican one), calling for rent freezes, free buses, free childcare, and making NYC affordable more generally, with higher taxes on the wealthy among other proposals.  Dopey members of the ruling class, like Bill Ackman, are having meltdowns (scroll down his feed) about this unexpected triumph of someone critical of capitalism, which is itself rather amusing.  The New York Times editorial board, ever loyal to the prudnet wing of the capitalist class, went so far as to editorialize that voters should not even rank Mamdani (NYC has a ranked voting system)--so it's additionally satisfying to see the irrelevance of the NYT editorial board rendered so palpable.

All this being said, if Mamdani wins the election (Cuomo and others may still run as independents), I am not optimistic that he will be successful.  The problem is that NYC, although the biggest city in the country, is still far too small a stage on which to enact a successful redistributive agenda, especially when there will be a race to the bottom in competing jurisdictions to recruit the wealthy and businesses from NYC with the kind of tax giveaways that make redistribution impossible.  The NYC mayor's power is also limited by the NY Governor, who is mostly a pathetic centrist, and Mamdani's past trafficking with "defund the police" childishness is likely to put him at odds with the powerful police union and the rank-and-file.  Add to that the fact that he thinks Palestinians are human beings, and he will find the still powerful conservative Jewish community aligned against him.  So while Mamdani's victory is satisfying, and might perhaps inspire other Democrats to run on actual economic issues instead of identity politics, I doubt it's going to lead to the realization of his agenda, and could lead to an economic collapse in NYC.   But one step at a time, and hopefully my pessimism is misplaced.

Whisteblower report on efforts by Emil Bove (now nominated to 3rd circuit) and others to defy court orders

Remarkable.

Philosopher and Kant scholar Paul Guyer elected to the American Philosophical Society

Here.  The APS typically only elects one philosopher each year.  

Iran, Trump, Thucydides

As the Athenians spoke to the Melians, so too does Trump speak to Iran:  "Let’s work out what we can do on the basis of what both sides truly accept:  we both know that decisions about justice are made in human discussions only when both side are under equal compulsion; but when one side is stronger, it gets as much as it can, and the weak must accept that."

A celebration of the philosophical art work of Helen De Cruz

MOVING TO FRONT FROM JUNE 17--UPDATED

A week from today, on Zoom, organized by philosopher Georgi Gardiner.  Tragically, Professor De Cruz is now in hospice care with a terminal illness.

UPDATE:  Professor Gardiner reports at the link, above, that Professor De Cruz died yesterday.  Next week's Zoom event will thus serve as a memorial conference.  Philosopher Eric Steinhart kindly shard this obituary for Professor De Cruz (below the fold)

Grzankowski from Birkbeck to KCL

Alex Grzankowski, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London has accepted appointment as Senior Lecturer in Mind and Metaphysics at King's College, London, effective September 1. 

ADDENDUM:  Dr. Grzankowski writes:

It is old news that the state of higher education and its funding in the UK is extremely strained. Universities that do not have bottomless international fee payers to draw on are in a very vulnerable position. Birkbeck philosophy had 13 staff members before a difficult reduction and so presently has 4 full-time faculty members, one person at .2, and one person at .7 (due to secondment). The contraction was devastating, and I think most people agree, a real loss to a longstanding leading department. That said, I’m pleased to say that the Humanities do not seem be target or under existential threat at Birkbeck. When Hallvard Lillehammer recently left, Birkbeck replaced with a permanent lecturer (Jules Salomone-Sehr). Likewise, the strong direction of travel is that Sophia Connell and I will be replaced with permanent lecturers. Unlike some other UK programs, Birkbeck looks to have an interest in retaining philosophy, even if in a contracted form.

 

Another sordid tale of harassment of a visitor at the border for their lawful political speech

This guy was trying to visit the U.S. from Australia.  Australia, not Afghanistan or some other officially disfavored country.  He had engaged in lawful political speech in the psat, so was detained and then deported.  What a disgrace.

Some gallows humor from an Israeli academic friend

He writes:   "A few hours ago a missile that was headed to Ben-Gurion University hit a hospital instead, and there is a lot of damage there. Many missiles are targeted at universities. (The joke among Israeli academics is that the Iranians understand the importance of higher education much better than the Israeli government does)." 

A measured and systematic critique of the AAUP's Committee A on academic freedom...

...by law professor and academic freedom expert Matthew Finkin.  Among other things, Professor Finkin documents how shoddy the work of Committee A is, in addition to its betrayal of core academic freedom principles.  These days, FIRE and the Academic Freedom Alliance are leading the way in defending core academic freedom values.

A mysterious surge in visits last week from Vietnam

It lasts several days, and involved thousands of unique visits, some of whom visited multiple pages of the blog.  I am guessing the blog must have been linked from some popular website or discussion board in Vietnam.  Can any readers from Vietnam shed light on this?  Thanks.

A new philosophy journal? "Germ"

Philosopher Bryan Frances writes:

Here’s an idea for a new philosophy journal, called “Germ”. All it publishes are the germs of ideas. No development, no stage-setting, no detailed arguments, no treatment or even mention of the relevant literature, and so on. Max word length would be something like 500. When submitting to the journal, the author has the option of including a 1000-word semi-development of the idea, just so the referees can see what the alleged benefits of the idea might be. That bit would NOT be published.

Think of how many articles could be published this way. Usually, articles are around 6000-8000 words; but that’s equivalent to 12-16 Germ articles. And think of how easy and fun it would be to read them: takes just a couple minutes each. If a reader thought the idea was super promising, they could write the author for further discussion, brainstorming, collaboration, or whatever. Finally, it might be easier to referee the papers, since there's not much to assess. It's not like the referee has to engage a complicated argument or view.

I know that lots of us have the experience of reading an article and thinking "That's a cool idea, although I think I might develop or assess it differently". I'm often convinced that an author has a cool idea even though I'm not convinced by the particular arguments or views that it generates. Perhaps Germ articles would promote more creativity, since readers are left to their own devices when developing the idea.

The journal Analysis publishes short pieces, but it wants detailed argumentation and rigor. Well, screw that (joke).

Is this the germ of a decent idea for a journal?

Great moments in rock 'n' roll memorials: Sly Stone and Brian Wilson edition

Two major figures of 1960s and 1970s rock music, Sly Stone ("Sly & the Family Stone") and Brian Wilson (primary songwriter and arranger for "The Beach Boys") both died this week.  I confess to not having been a big Beach Boys fan, but they undoubtedly had some splendid songs.  I was more partial to Sly & the Family Stone, especiall the albums from 1968 and 1969.  A few clips follow, but feel free to add links to your own favorites by either in the comments.

Here's the 1968 official music video of what is probably Sly & the Family Stone's best-known song, "Everyday People":