Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Ohio State's Lisa Downing interviewed...

...at 3AM.

Is religion special?

Some people in Nebraska certainly think so!

Academic freedom and First Amendment rights of university professors in Kansas

They're still in danger.

(Thanks to Ross McKinney for the pointer.)

"On the Esoteric Reading of Nietzsche"

For those who might be interested.

On teaching by lecturing

The article's title is a bit misleading, but...

Anonymous accusations set a dangerous precedent

The Columbia student newspaper dismissed a reporter after an "anonymous" accusation of sexual wrongdoing.  Unless there's more to the story, the editors responsible for this decision should themselves be dismissed.  (IHE uses, aptly, the "vigilante" word to decribe what's going on.)

Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute offering thesis prize

Details here.

What the right to choose to have an abortion *really* looks like in the United States

A revealing map.

Google's slogan "don't be evil"

And now the European Union is forcing them to live up to it.

Doing an MA at a program that also grants a PhD

In the brief section of the PGR on MA programs, in addition to listing terminal MA programs with unusually strong faculties, the PGR has also included the following remarks about MA programs in PhD-granting departments:

Many Ph.D. programs also admit M.A. students.  Students should be more wary of the M.A.  programs at schools in roughly the top 25 that grant the PhD:  often M.A. students take a back seat to the  Ph.D. students (in terms of faculty attention), and students with weak  philosophy backgrounds may find the pace and level of seminars geared to Ph.D.  students daunting.  Students considering  M.A. programs in top-ranked Ph.D.-granting institutions should investigate the  situation of M.A. students at the school carefully before enrolling.  However, some PhD programs that are less  highly ranked, but still have strong faculties, may in fact turn out to be very  good choices for the MA.  

So, for example, Prof. Piers Rawling, Chair of the Department at Florida State University, recently wrote to me:

The philosophy department at Florida State University offers (as it has for some years) the opportunity for well-qualified students to pursue a terminal MA with full TA funding for up to three years. MA students take the same courses as entering PhD students, and are in no way considered to be “second-class citizens.” We are particularly interested in good students who do not want (initially at least) to commit to a PhD program, or who are interested in studying philosophy but did not major in the subject, and thus lack the background to pursue a PhD right off the bat. 

Prof. Rawling also confirms that they make financial aid (basically TAships) available to MA students, as they do with PhD students.  I invite Chairs or Graduate Program Directors at other PhD programs that also admit MA students to post here with information about their MA programs and especially about how they fund the MA students.  (Because I am on the road, comments may take awhile to appear, so plesae be patient.)  All comments must be signed and include a valid e-mail address.

"Hot topics" in philosophy of mind?

Following up on last week's revival of the "hot topics" threads, let's try for comments on the 'hot topics' in philosophy of mind?  Perception, the extended mind, the embodied mind?  Comments are open.

How to debate climate change deniers

This is funny, and could be aptly extended to debating intelligent design creationists, among other charlatans and shills.

(Thanks to Michael Weisberg for the pointer.)

EU ranks universities

Via IHE.  I have not had a chance to examine this in detail yet.

Correlation may not be causation...

...but notwithstanding that, Mackie's INUS account of causation is the best we Humeans can do.

(Thanks to Jaime Edwards for the pointer.)

On the implications of the free will debate for individuals and society

Alfred Mele (Florida State) comments.

In Memoriam: David Armstrong (1926-2014)

A leading contributor to metaphysics and philosophy of mind over the past half-century, Professor Armstrong spent most of his career at the University of Sydney, though with visiting appointments all over the United States especially.  I will post links to memorial notices as they appear.

Fire Spiros...

...says savvy student "consumer."

Another reply to the clueless astrophysicist

Here.

Baron to return full-time to Indiana from St. Andrews

Marcia Baron, a leading moral philosopher who had moved to St. Andrews in 2012, has decided to return full-time to the Department of Philosophy at Indiana University, Bloomington, effective August 1.  That's a significant retention for the Indiana Department.

In Memoriam: Dennis McKerlie (1948-2014)

Dennis McKerlie (moral & political philosophy, ancient philosophy) was a longtime member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary; there is a brief memorial notice here, with a more complete obituary to follow.  I will add a link when it is available.

(Thanks to Nicole Wyatt for the information.)

UDPATE:  A longer memorial notice (and information about a memorial event) here.

John Broome on his work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Here.

(Thanks to Jerry Dworkin for the pointer.)

Challenges of publication for philosophers outside the Anglophone world

A self-identified "analytic" philosopher in a non-English speaking country writes:

I was wondering if you could ask the question below in your blog. The topic is very important to professional philosophers from outside the English-speaking world and they will most likely benefit from the comments of your readers.  

In ‘The Language of Publication of "Analytic" Philosophy’, Rodriguez-Pereyra argued that original research in analytical philosophy should be published exclusively in English. Assuming he is right, analytical philosophers from non-English speaking countries should stop publishing research in their native languages and start publishing in English. Assuming also that those analytical philosophers would be willing to give a fair visibility to their work, they should try to publish their research if not in top journals, at least in well-recognized ones. What happens is that if the task of publishing in well-recognized journals is difficult for philosophers from the best departments of the English-speaking world, it is even more difficult for those philosophers from outside this circle. Apart from the difficulties that stem from the very fact of writing in a non-native language, I think there are two main problems.

The first was pointed out by by Gualtiero Piccinini. He mentioned that given “the difficulty of publishing in good journals, this system actually creates incentives against publishing in good, international journals: other things being equal, those who devote their efforts to publishing in international journals will publish less than those who publish in local journals, and then they will be at a disadvantage”.

The second problem is the lack of feedback that philosophers from outside the English-speaking countries have. The rationale for this is quite simple: If one needs to publish in a well-recognized journal, one will need to have a paper worthy of it. It means one has to have a paper comparable with those produced by the best philosophers from the best departments. Those philosophers normally receive tons of feedback from colleagues and colloquia before submitting the paper. This just does not happen in (at least) some countries where people do not simply know how to give good feedback and colloquia are mostly “praise time” with no criticism allowed. The only way out is trying to get feedback from abroad. And this is just a very hard thing to get.

The natural way to do this is via e-mail: I have a draft and send an e-mail to someone who I know is interested in the topic of my paper. Well, it may be me, but most of the time I get no answers. But I can imagine what can be the common reasons: First, professional philosophers are too busy. They have their own work to manage, and are loaded with papers from their colleagues and students that they are expected to give feedback. Second, receiving such an e-mail may be a little unpleasant and invasive. So, my question is: What is the best way to ask for feedback for those who are outside the main circles of philosophy? I think a similar problem may happen with those philosophers who despite being in English-speaking countries come from small universities. 

Reality is relative to language?

Thoughts from readers on this piece?

(Thanks to Michael Swanson for the pointer.)

"Break the silence" fundraising campaign

I believe "Lisbeth" (whose real identity I know) deserves an opportunity to have her claims formally adjudicated and to that end I have contributed towards her hiring a necessary expert witness.  I would urge readers to consider doing the same.  I note that a number of senior philosophers have already done so, including Joshua Cohen, Dan Sperber, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Otsuka, and Ruth Chang, among others.  (I express no opinion about Emma Sloan's allegations.)

On life, teaching, and religion in a small town in Oklahoma

This is an interesting set of reflections.

"How to become a philosopher"

Well, not really.  (Via a FB friend.)

Canadian readers: how did this guy become Toronto's mayor?

Is he even Canadian?  Please explain to a puzzled foreigner.

Rutgers' Peter Kivy interviewed...

...at 3AM.  (This one is a bit more of an intellectual autobiography than a conventional interview.)

Four decades of college majors in a single graph

This is striking.

(Thanks to Michael Swanson for the pointer.)

A philosopher replies to Tyson (UPDATED)

MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY--SEE UPDATE

An open letter from Lewis Powell (Buffalo)

UPDATE:  Philosopher Kate Norlock points out to me that Dr. Tyson replies, in a fashion, in the comments to the open letter.

The ethics of live-blogging unpublished work?

David Velleman (NYU) writes:

The live-blogging of Martha Nussbaum's Locke lectures would be a good occasion for a discussion of the professional ethics of this practice. The lectures have not been published. Copies of the lectures are accessible online to Oxford students and faculty, and others can request them with an online application, but they are not otherwise available. In any case, I am raising the question not only about this particular instance, in which there is limited distribution of the lectures, but also about cases in which material presented in person has not been distributed in writing at all. Is it ethical to publish someone's ideas before he or she has published them, without obtaining permission and granting an opportunity for correction? Is it no longer possible to present work in progress without having someone else's version of it published before one has had a chance to revise and publish it oneself?

Thoughts from readers?

Nussbaum's Locke Lectures

My colleague Martha Nussbaum's Locke Lectures began this week at Oxford, and Oxford grad student Jacob Williamson is blogging them!

The story of Phineas Gage

Not quite the one we know from philosophy and neuroscience.  Does anyone know whether this account is reliable?

Political and legal philosopher Waldron to return full-time to NYU

Jeremy Waldron (political and legal philosophy), who for the past two years has been half-time at New York University (primary appointment in law) and Oxford University (where he has been Chichele Professor of Social & Political Theory), will return full-time to NYU as of August 1.

Scientists embarrassing themselves when it comes to philosophy, part 123

Dumb astrophysicist edition.

Gooding-Williams from Chicago to Columbia

Robert Gooding-Williams, a philosopher in the Political Science Department here at the University of Chicago well-known for his work on the philosophy of race and on Nietzsche, has accepted appointment as Professor of Philosophy, M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor of African American Studies, and founding director of the Columbia Center for Philosophy, Race, and Social Justice.   In addition to making Columbia Philosophy a leading place for students interested in philosophy of race, he will also deepen and broaden the Department's longstanding strength in Continental philosophy.

He will be missed here in Chicago! 

Buddhism and Dialetheism

Who else could explain it but Graham Priest?

A successful APA Site Visit

Prof. Otávio Bueno, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Miami, writes: 

The faculty and graduate students of the philosophy department at the University of Miami would like to thank the members of the site visit team dispatched by the APA Committee on the Status of Women as part of their Site Visit Program. The team’s visit to our campus (March 2014) was a highly positive experience for the department and we received a very constructive and helpful report. We expect to make a number of changes in our customary practices and departmental policies based on its recommendations. We strongly endorse both the goals and methods of the Site Visit Program and recommend it to other departments that aim to assess and improve climate issues.

How did the "NewApps" blog end up being known, derisively, as "NudeChapps"?

At last, a great cyber-mystery solved.

On-line undergraduate philosophy conference...

...hosted by Philosophy TV.

"Hot topics" in ethics?

We haven't run one of these threads in a few years, and I have gotten a few requests for new ones in recent months.  So let's start with ethics, construed broadly, but excluded applied ethics topics (which we can consider separately).  So what do readers take to be the most lively issues of discussion currently?  Signed comments will be strongly preferred; and don't just name topics, give some explanation, literature references, etc.

In Memoriam: Stanley Rosen (1929-2014)

He was, at the time of his death, an emeritus professor of philosophy at Boston University, having taught before that for many years at Penn State.  His BU page has more information about his work and career.  I will post links to memorial notices when they appear.

UPDATE:  An obituary at Philly.com.  (Thanks to Chris Surprenant for the pointer.)

More amusing remarks, philosophical and otherwise...

...courtesy of Jerry Dworkin.

Attack of the killer computers?

Now Stephen Hawking is on the case.

Footnotes by a landslide

Nearly 3000 votes were cast, and 95% of respondents preferred footnotes, with the remaining 5% either indifferent or preferring endnotes.  The results are hardly surprising to any reader, but they are surprising when one realizes how the major academic publishers have all shifted to endnotes.  I gather the main explanation for this shift--since it has nothing to do with reader preferences--are primarily logistical and financial:  type-setting costs, the ease of converting to an electronic format, and the like.  But since I suspect the preferences of philosophy readers are little different from the preferences of other academic readers, there is a clear opportunity here for a publisher to lead the way.  I for one would give preference to a publisher that maintained a commitment to footnotes.  What do others think?  What explains the demise of footnotes?  Are there other considerations at work?

The economist Gary Becker has died, age 83

Many of my law school colleagues (especially Judge Richard Posner) were strongly influenced by his work.  Foucault's remarks on Becker, noted by Kieran Healy (Sociology, Duke) are quite interesting.  In my recent Winter seminar on "Ideology" (with Michael Forster), I assigned sections of Becker's A Treatise on the Family in conjunction with exploring Adorno's idea that under capitalism, society is a "totality," in the sense that (as Brian O'Connor usefully puts it), "Each part of society can be propertly understood only as a part of a whole from which it gains its meaning."  Unintentionally, but usefully, Becker makes this point with his analysis of the family under capitalism.  Like many important intellectual figures, Becker relentlessly pursued some simple ideas, even to extreme and at times implausible conclusions.  I was surprised to learn of his passing, since he was still a frequent presence around campus, and seemed vital and as engaged as ever.  I have no doubt the various economics blogs will have better-informed commentary on his work and its import for that discipline.

(Thanks to Rick Hasen and Dean Rowan for the link to Prof. Healey's piece.)

UPDATE:  Chicago's memorial notice is informative.

Not all Republicans are morally depraved morons...

..but the Republican Party is where, in the U.S., the morally depraved morons go.

Another well-known philosopher with a blog

Ralph Wedgwood.

"God's not Dead" movie apparently grossed $50 million

Yikes!  Or maybe it's all atheists going to the movie?

(Thanks to Adam Patterson for the pointer.)

Wash U's John Heil interviewed...

...at 3AM.