Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

New Books in September

Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month (it was a busy month for new books!):

Pretense and Pathology:  Philosophical Fictionalism and Its Applications by Bradley Armour-Garb & James A. Woodbridge (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Testimony:  A Philosophical Introduction by Joseph Shieber (Routledge, 2015).

Philosophy of Song and Singing:  An Introduction by Jeanette Bicknell (Routledge, 2015).

Current Controversies in Political Philosophy edited by Thom Brooks (Routledge, 2015).

Metaethics:  A Contemporary Introduction by Mark van Roojen (Routledge, 2015).

Classical Confucian Political Thought:  A New Interpretation by Loubna El Amine (Princeton University Press, 2015).

Kierkegaard's Journals and Notebooks, Volume 8:  Journals NB21-NB25 edited by Niels Cappelorn et al. (Princeton University Press, 2015).

Strange Drowning:  Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help by Larissa MacFarquhar (Penguin, 2015).

How Many Is Too Many?  The Progressive Argument for Reducing Immigration into the United States by Philip Cafaro (University of Chicago Press, 2015).

Permissible Progeny?  The Morality of Procreation and Parenting edited by Sarah Hannah, Samantha Brennan & Richard Vernon (Oxford University Press, 2015).

A Moral Defense of Recreational Drug Use by Rob Lovering (Palgrave Macmilan, 2015).

The Ant Trap:  Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences by Brian Epstein (Oxford University Press, 2015).

American Philosophy before Pragmatism by Russell B. Goodman (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Taking Life:  Three Theories on the Ethics of Killing by Torbjorn Tannsjo (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Henri Bergson by Vladimir Jankelevitch, trans. by N.F. Schott (Duke University Press, 2015).

On Inequality by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University Press, 2015).

The Meaning of 'Ought':  Beyond Descriptivism and Expressivism in Metaethics by Matthew Chrisman (Oxford University Press, 2015).

More on the AAU study of sexual assault on campus

This article makes the interesting point that--contra skeptics who assume a low response rate skews the results towards higher estimates--when one looks at schools with much higher response rates, one finds even higher rates of reported sexual assault, suggesting that lower-response-rate schools are one in which victims are underrepresented in the results.

(Thanks to Cheyney Ryan for the pointer.)

"Mudd goes Madd," and the Pomona student government...

...really is nuts!

Royal Society of Canada recognizes leading younger scholars

A nice idea, and those recognized include three philosophers:  Kristin Andrews (York University, Toronto); Antonio Calcagno (King's University College at Western University), and Chike Jeffers (Dalhousie University).

Trump tax plan is for chumps...

...I guess we shouldn't be surprised.  Class interest is class interest, after all, even when you don't depend on other billionaires for support.

The increased "neediness" of college students...

...a fairly sober report from Psychology Today.  At bottom, this is all very sad, both for the students and for those charged with helping them.

ADDENDUM:  These developments are symptomatic of two phenomena, one hopeful, one pernicious.  The hopeful phenomenon is that treatments for previously debilitating mental health problems are dramatically improved over the last generation:  not just in terms of productive pharmaceutical interventions, but also in terms of successful cognitive-behavioral interventions.  Students who, a generation ago, might never have made it to college are making it there and, in many respects, thriving.  But they bring a particular set of medical needs, some of which may be exacerbated by cultural tendencies.  The second phenomenon is not a hopeful one:  it is the increasingly reactionary and rapacious character of American capitalism (represented most clearly by the insane Republican party), something that at least one Presidential candidate this year, Bernie Sanders, wants to undo.  But should we really be surprised that in the current economic climate that students obsess about failure?  In America, failure in the competition for economic survival means destitution or death; young people no doubt internalize this reality in various ways and end up exaggerating the import of even small setbacks accordingly.  Even the so-called "helicopter parenting" phenomenon is a symptom of this.   The pathologies of the economic system under which we live are surely playing some role in the phenomena aptly described in the linked article.  It is, alas, both tragic and perversely reactionary that some bourgeois academics think the relevant response to these real phenomena are better policing of microaggressions and suppression of speech offensive to the needy.  There is speech that should be suppressed, but there is no chance that will happen under current conditions.

Another "psychopath" running for the Republican nomination for President

But can you guess which one?

The latest efforts by the pro-Israel lobby to suppress speech...

...at the University of California.

(Thanks to John Rapko for the pointer.)

"Culture of victimhood?"

No, it's not; yes, it is.  (Some of the comments at the latter are a bit, shall we say, "off topic," but several are interesting on both sides of the issue.)

(Thanks to a reader who asked not to be named for the pointers.)

ADDENDUM:  Things are going a bit further off the rails at the second link, alas, but there's one interesting comment a bit further down worth noting, so I quote it here:

What's tiresome about the Rini piece is that she writes as if those of us interested in promoting dignity for all individuals and groups are somehow blind to the importance of solidarity with the marginalized.

We're not. Solidarity is *obviously* very important.  We are, however, suspicious of this particular instantiation of solidarity, because it is bound up with a variety of ills that conflict with other important values.  Trigger warnings, overzealous speech codes, changes to syllabi, and the need for "safe spaces," are all outgrowths of this instantiation of solidarity, all cause real intellectual harm, and all cater to a childish mentality.

Moreover, there is a performative aspect to all of this, amplified by social media, that is simply off-putting.  And the performative element feels increasingly 'mandatory' in some quarters; one's denunciation of the most recent outrage must be swift, harsh, and public.

Rini is of course under no intellectual obligation to address all of this.  But then, to whom is she really talking?  Does she really believe that those of us who object to 'call out' culture are uninterested in solidarity, or do not recognize it when we see it?  We recognize it, but at the same time we also recognize other characteristics that ought to be kept at arms' length. This latter insight doesn't disqualify one from upholding the value of solidarity, and claiming that it does is simply another feature of this increasingly ridiculous debate.

Academics get MacArthur windfalls...

...via IHE.  They used to be known as the "genius" awards until it became obvious that wasn't the selection criterion!  What is the selection criterion?  No one is really sure.

The top 20 "general" philosophy journals, 2015

So with results from our two earlier polls (both of which got over 500 votes each), here are the "top 20"; where the vote differential between one journal and the journal ahead of it were substantial, I insert a line in between; where there is no line, it means the vote differences were relatively small.

1.  Philosophical Review

===================

2.  Nous

====================

3.  Journal of Philosophy

4.  Mind

=====================

5.  Philosophy & Phenomenological Research

=====================

6.  Australasian Journal of Philosophy

7.  Philosophical Studies

8.  Philosopher's Imprint

======================

9.  Philosophical Quarterly

10. Analysis

=======================

11. Synthese

=======================

12.  Erkenntnis

13.  Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society

14.  Canadian Journal of Philosophy

15.  American Philosophical Quarterly

16.  European Journal of Philosophy

17.  Pacific Philosophical Quarterly

=========================

18.  Ratio

==========================

19.  Ergo

==========================

20.  Philosophical Perspectives

Runner-up:  Dialectica (trailing #20 by just four votes)

Maryland's Peter Carruthers is blogging about his new book...

...at the Brains blog.

Open letter from academics to world leaders on climate change

Philosopher Lawrence Torcello (Rochester Institute of Technology) calls this letter to my attention, which some philosophers have already signed, and others are invited to do so.

USC's "preceptor" program for its recent PhDs in humanities and social sciences

IHE has the story.

Erosion of free speech at UK universities, a sad saga

The latest.

UPDATE:  Apparently (and happily), Warwick reversed the decision.  (Thanks to Tim Carter for the pointer.)

The best "general" philosophy journals, part II

MOVING TO FRONT:  THIS POLL WILL BE CLOSING TOMORROW MIDDAY! 

So the earlier poll gave us a "top ten" list of generalist philosophy journals, but since it omitted too many possible "top twenty" contenders, we're going to run a new poll to identify 11-20.  Have fun!

(Journal of the American Philosophical Association seems a bit too new to include just yet.)

Latest from the American political circus

The Trump candidacy continues to collapse--his unfavorable ratings, even among Republicans, are very high, and he hasn't been able to break into the 30% range in polls (even the braindead Rick Perry did that four years ago).  This is a tragedy on many levels:  Trump single-handedly guarantees a Democratic victory, so the longer he lasts, the more confident the Democrats can be that even if they nominate an empty vessel like Clinton, they will still get the votes of almost all Hispanics, women, Asian-Americans and young people.   It bears emphasizing that the other Republican candidates are on the spectrum between appalling and disgusting, with only one or two rising to the level of "fit to be part of civilization."  Meanwhile, Sanders--who in most of Europe would just be a banal social democrat running for office--continues to close in on Clinton, the candidate of the prudent wing of the plutocracy.  (Obviously the Sanders surge is due to the influence of the philosophical vote.)  Interesting times in America.

Yale's Joshua Knobe interviewed...

...by Clifford Sosis at What is it like to be a philosopher?

Some doubts about the latest study of "sexual assault" on campus

Here. 

UPDATE:  Some critical comments and discussion about the preceding.

Cary Nelson is a disgrace, part 132

If I were Cary Nelson, I would call for his tenure to be revoked for lack of collegiality.

Aristotle gives course selection advice...

...with help from philosopher Jennifer Uleman (SUNY-Purchase).

Eastern APA program for January 2016 now on-line

Here.

UPDATE:  Wow, it was really good of the APA to simplify service of process like this!

Trial of Rutgers-Newark philosophy prof Stubblefield in progress

An account here, including a concrete description of "facilitated communication" (which, alas, may remind one of a ouija board).

Gopnik on Hume, Buddha...

...and a mid-life crisis.

(Thanks to Varol Akman for the pointer.)

Radio New Zealand interview with...

...Jason Stanley (Yale) on his book How Propaganda Works (and Donald Trump!).  Stanley's sense of propaganda is a bit unusual, but this interviewer does a really good job clarifying it.  Because it was an interview by telephone, the sound quality isn't always great, alas.

Local news coverage of Yom Kippur...

...goes badly wrong.  The real question is whether the cultural illiterate responsible for this will keep their job?

49% of Republicans in Iowa think Islam...

...should be "legal," while 30% think it should be illegal.  21% aren't sure.  Seriously.

New Infantilism at Wesleyan...

...or maybe it's just fascism?  What's odd is that anyone can, of course, boycott the newspaper, but calling for it to be defunded by the student government because of an opinion piece is, well....

Rousseau and Adam Smith...

...on Donald Trump!

A nice write-up on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Kudos to Ed Zalta and colleagues who have made it such a success!

On academic boycotts

MOVING TO FRONT FROM SEPTEMBER 17, GIVEN THE RATHER LIVELY (AND GENERALLY SUBSTANTIVE) DISCUSSION IN THE COMMENT THREAD

Philosopher Tomis Kapitan (emeritus, Northern Illinois) writes:

I think it would be interesting and appropriate to see discussion of academic boycotts as a tool of political protest and persuasion, specifically in relation to the BDS movement and Israeli policies in the occupied territories.   A recent article in the Electronic Intifada raises issues that some American philosophers might be interested in.

Comments are open.  Please try to keep it substantive and calm. 

I will state my own view (which everyone is welcome to reject or dispute):  while there might be situations in which academic boycotts would be effective tools of political persuasion, Israel is not one of them.  An academic boycott would punish innocent parties, without any prospect at all that the government would change its policy because of the inconvenience to academics.  Economic boycotts or sanctions would surely make a much greater difference to Israeli policy towards the occupied territories.

New study of sexual assault on campus

IHE has a report about the study; it seems worrisome that the response rate was so low.

"Assistive listening devices" (ALDs)

This is informative about ALDs (as well as yet another appalling case of a claimed religious exemption harming others).

Blast from the past: "Rising Stars"

From 2008.  Cyber-ressentiment has only gotten worse since, alas.

Program for mentoring female job candidates in philosophy...

...has a new website!

Inaugural meeting of International Society for Nietzsche Studies, Call for Papers

MOVING TO FRONT FROM SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

We've gotten a remarkably strong (and quick) response to the invitations to participate in the inaugural workshop in Bonn of ISNS, and since we are trying to keep the event relatively small to facilitate serious discussion, we are capping acceptances at around 20 (though there will be a waitlist). 

Anyone may submit to the Call for Papers; authors of accepted papers will be invited to present in Bonn and the papers will appear in Inquiry.

ADDENDUM:  For those interested in Nietzsche, I discuss a recent paper by Andrew Huddleston (one of the three invited speakers for the inaugural ISNS workshop) here.

Second brain-dead reactionary quitting Presidential race

Can you guess?  Now the people in his home state need to force him to find a new job.

Funding and time to degree in the humanities

Rob Townsend, Director of the Washington office of the American Academy of  Arts & Sciences, writes:

Quick note to let you know I’ve posted up another item that philosophers might find of interest—this time on the relationship between funding and time to the humanities PhD (at http://bit.ly/1LqJMc4 ). On average, we find that recent humanities PhDs who relied primarily on personal savings or income take more than a year longer to earn their degrees—almost a year-and-a-half longer than graduates who relied on fellowships and assistantships. The other finding that will be of interest to philosophers is that in comparison to the other disciplines, philosophy PhDs who rely on personal sources of income (including loans and family support) seem to spend more time at the dissertation stage. I hope it will provide some useful data points for discussions about reforming PhDs.

Comments open for readers who have thoughts about this data.

2015 Ig Nobel Prizes announced

Funny as always:  how to unboil an egg; every language has "huh?"; where you do not want to be stung.

Giroux on Trump

A lot of perceptive commentary here.

Martin Kusch (Vienna) has...

...a blog!

"How to talk to a philosopher"

Amusing advice from a civilian spouse.

Philosopher Manne opines on "trigger warnings"

Kate Manne, an assistant professor of philosophy at Cornell, has an op-ed on "trigger warnings" in the New York Times.  She makes some good points contra this piece (though that piece was not primarily about "trigger warnings"), but elides the real issues which are:  (1) PTSD is a clinical diagnosis, and no one I know has argued against (legally required) accomodations for someone with that medical condition; (2) instructors, with no clinical competence, making ad hoc judgments about what warnings *might* be necessary for students who *might* have PTSD is an invitation to both insufficient accomodation and unnecessary "warnings" that may have, as their consequence, precisely what the critics claim, namely, shutting down discussion.  Prof. Manne is aware of the latter risk, but says only that, "Common sense should tell us that material that is merely offensive to certain people’s political or religious sensibilities wouldn’t merit a warning."  Common sense is sometimes in short supply, alas (The Atlantic article is actually full of useful examples.)

ADDENDUM:  The AAUP statement is also useful, and see esp. its discussion of the Oberlin policy, which was distinctly lacking in "common sense."

New Berggruen Institute for Philosophy and Culture, plus an annual $1 million prize

Details here.  They seem to have a strong interest in Chinese philosophy in particular, though there are plenty of fairly conventional Anglophone philosophers represented as well.   I suppose the million dollar prize is going to take on the appearance of a "Nobel" in philosophy, though it will depend on how it goes to.

Comments are open for those who know more about Beggruen and what the goals are etc.

(Thanks to Chin Leong Teoh for the pointer.)

ADDENDUM:  Here's the philosophy prize "jury":

Berggruen Philosophy Prize Jury

• Kwame Anthony Appiah – Professor of Philosophy at New York University
• Leszek Borysiewicz – Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
• Antonio Damasio –Director, Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California
• Amy Gutmann – President of the University of Pennsylvania
• Amartya Sen – Nobel Laureate, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University
• Alison Simmons – Samuel H. Wolcott Professor of Philosophy and Harvard College Professor at Harvard University
• Michael Spence – Nobel Laureate, William R. Berkley Professor in Economics & Business at New York University, Philip H. Knight Professor Emeritus of Management in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University
• Wang Hui – Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature and the Department of History at Tsinghua University, Director of the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences
• George Yeo – Chancellor of Nalanda University and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Queens U's Joshua Mozersky interviewed...

...at 3AM.

Malkovich does Plato

This sounds bizarre (esp. with Yoko Ono involved!).

(Thanks to Michael Swanson for the pointer.)

Karl "Goebbels" Rove makes the reasonable point...

...that exactly four years ago Rick  "I'm actually dumber than I appear to be" Perry was leading the polls at nearly 30% for the Repug nomination.  In other words, there's a lot more mischief ahead of us, long after the Republican Establishment destroys Trump.  It's true that Trump is the most overtly racist of the current contenders, but he's far more sane on almost every other issue than the rest of them.  So watch what you wish for!

ADDENDUM:  This Krugman column is relevant.

ALSO apt and funny:

Let’s do away with this shit. Many millions of Americans want their next president to be Carly Fiorina—an inept, failed CEO with no experience of public service who spent last night threatening to make war on half the fucking planet. She was like the eighth most irresponsible psychopath on the stage, and the rest of them, down to the least of them, all represent vast constituencies. This isn’t a failure of the political system—this is the political system working, expressing the will of the governed.

Any polity that can produce such an outcome should be abolished. Dissolve the United States, replacing it with a set of city-states, villages, and thinly-peopled hinterlands; let every public that wants one have their own Carly Fiorina or Bobby Jindal, and let everyone else go about their business. The candidate who proposes that will be the one to get behind.

A real loss for Japanese dining in Chicago

I was sad to see this; many visitors to the Law & Philosophy Workshop over the last few years enjoyed terrific dinners (and I think conversation!) there.  The menu was eclectic, but the sushi was very good, and the mix of French and Japanese influences on various dishes generally delightful.  Not as fancy (and also not as pricey), but still good for sushi and other familiar Japanese dishes, are the Tsukiji Fish Market and Itto Sushi.

I'll post something in a bit about dining in Chicago, since I often get asked by friends for dining suggestions and I've now been here long enough to have some pretty good recommendations.

UPDATE:  I should mention that many consider Katsu the best Japanese in Chicago--I've never been, as it's on the far north side, closer to Evanston than to Hyde Park!

2014 Lakatos Prize in Philosophy of Science goes to...

...Gordon Belot (Michigan) and to David Malament (emeritus, UC Irvine). 

(Interesting sidenote:  Belot's spouse, the philosopher of physics Laura Ruetsche, also at Michigan, won the Lakatos Award last year!)

In Memoriam: Claudia Card (1940-2015)

MOVING TO FRONT FROM SEPTEMBER 13--UPDATED

Professor Card joined the  philosophy faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1966; at the time of her death, she was Emma Goldman Professor of Philosophy there.  She wrote widely about issues in moral, political and social philosophy, often from a feminist perspective.  You can learn more about her work here and there is a very nice memorial from her former student, the philosopher Kate Norlock (Trent), here.

I will add links to other memorial notices as they appear.

UPDATE:  The Wisconsin memorial notice.  (Thanks to Paula Gottlieb for the link.)