Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Kamm from Harvard to Rutgers

Frances Myrna Kamm (normative ethics, applied ethics), who holds appointments in both the Kennedy School and the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, has accepted a senior offer from the Department of Philosophy at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, where she will start in fall 2018.

New Books in June

Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month:

Kierkaard's Muse:  The Mystery of Regine Olsen by Joakim Garff (Princeton University Press, 2017).

Einstein by Thomas Ryckman (Routledge Philosophers series, 2017).

The Spirit of the Soil:  Agriculture and Environmental Ethics, 2nd edition by Paul B. Thompson (Routledge, 2017).

The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy edited by Ann Garry, Serene J. Khader & Alison Stone (Routledge, 2017).

Plotinus, Ennead II.9:  Against the Gnostics, trans. with intro. & commentary by Sebastian Gertz (Paremenides Publishing, 2017).

When Doing the Right Thing is Impossible by Lisa Tessman (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Florida Taliban harass plaintiff's lawyer after federal court enforces First Amendment in an absolutely clear-cut case

Philosopher Brian Hood (West Florida) called to my attention this typically ugly behavior by the local Florida Taliban after a federal judge, obviously correctly, ruled against a public cross in Pensacola.

How Imperial College London drove a full professor to suicide

This happened in 2014, but I only discovered it last week.  Wikipedia has an account (with links to legit sources), including to the victimized professor's final post-mortem e-mail.   How widespread is this craziness in the UK?   Were any reforms undertaken at Imperial College in the wake of this scandal?

Rank the top 25 U.S. PhD programs

Brit and Christopher will be running the real surveys in the fall, but it might be amusing to see how the top 25 looks in an unreliable Internet poll.  I've included the top 36 programs from the 2014 PGR, and will post the list of the top 25.  Have fun! 

UPDATE:  So after about 24 hours and nearly 370 votes (pretty good for the July 4th weekend here in the US!), here's the top 25 below the fold (the poll will keep running into next week):

Mills College ceases to be a liberal arts college (UPDATED AND CORRECTED)

They have axed their philosophy department and will fire its two tenured faculty.   Let the lawsuits begin, the college deserves it for this egregious breach of contract.  If there is fundraising to support legal remedies for the two tenured faculty in philosophy, I will be glad to both donate and to post about it here.

UPDATE:  The press release was, no doubt purposely, vague about what the Board really did on Monday.  The philosophy major was eliminated, and one of the two tenured faculty in philosophy was fired, in obvious breach of contract (Marc Joseph, the more senior member of the department, was fired; Jay Gupta, a tenured associate professor, was retained for purposes of maintaining a philosophy minor it appears; Professor Joseph probably has an age discrimination claim as well--it's classic age discrimination to fire the older, more costly employee).   Professor Joseph was one of five tenured faculty members laid off--one each from History, Ethnic Studies, Physics, and English.  Two tenured faculty (Art History, Government) took early retirement prior to the Board's vote (obviously not voluntarily).  The faculty, in fact, had produced an alternative plan to solve the fiscal crisis--it involved voluntary retirement, unpaid leaves, part-time employment, and salary deferments--but it does not appear the Board gave it any serious consideration.

Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy for 2017 to Fabian Wendt

Philosopher Peter Vallentyne (Missouri) asked me to share this announcement:

Fabian Wendt, Bielefeld University has won the 2017 Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy for his paper “Rescuing Public Justification from Public Reason Liberalism”. There were 49 papers submitted for award consideration. Wendt is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bielefeld University, specializing in political philosophy. Starting in October, 2017, he will be a Research Associate at Chapman University. The essay competition is sponsored by the Marc Sanders Foundation. It is open to scholars who, at the time of the submission deadline, are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. or are students currently enrolled in a graduate program. Independent scholars may also be eligible.

In Memoriam: William G. Demopoulos (1943-2017)

A leading contributor to philosophy of physics, math and logic, among other areas, he spent the bulk of his career at the University of Western Ontario.  Western's memorial notice is here.

(Thanks to Robert DiSalle for the information.)

Faculty targetted by the right-wing rage machine (or threatened with violence by crazed students!)

IHE reviews recent cases and university responses.  (I addressed this topic at CHE a few months back.)  Kudos to Kent Syverud, President of Syracuse University and a law professor, for his response to attacks on a professor at Syracuse (as reported in the IHE article):

Saying he’d received messages insisting that he “denounce, censor or dismiss” [Professor] Cloud for her speech, Syverud said, “No. We are and will remain a university. Free speech is and will remain one of our key values. I can't imagine academic freedom or the genuine search for truth thriving here without free speech.”

He continued, “Our faculty must be able to say and write things -- including things that provoke some or make others uncomfortable -- up to the very limits of the law. The statement at issue is, I believe, within those limits. I intend to act accordingly.” 

Philosophers on art and aesthetics

Excerpts from interviews with Kendall Walton, Paul Guyer, Gregory Currie, Carolyn Korsmeyer, and others.

UNC-Chapel Hill violates academic freedom of history professor...

...by cancelling his course for obvious political reasons.  That's textbook violation of academic freedom.

(Thanks to Zena Hitz for the pointer.)

North Carolina's Marc Lange interviewed...

...at 3AM.

"Philosodogs"

This is charming (lots of great photos too).

(For lots of laughs, check out Gideon Rosen's portrait of "Harvey.")

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Taste, "If the Day Was Any Longer," 1969

As long as we're on the softer side of Rory Gallagher, here's a lovely melody from when he was fronting the band Taste in the late 1960s: 

 

In Memoriam: Robert S. Cohen (1923-2017)

Both a philosopher and a physicist, he taught for many years at Boston University; there is a brief memorial notice from the BU Department here.

Some very positive news coverage about majoring in philosophy...

...at The Washington Post.

(Thanks to Walter Effross for the point.)

Repugs unveil plan to deprive people of healthcare, increase their suffering and hasten their death

This is an apt assessment.

Free course on "Evidence and Ideology" with Nancy Cartwright...

...at IAI.

Inaugural Arthur Danto/ASA Prize to Dartmouth's Kenneth Walden

The APA announcement here.

Craziness at Evergreen State

A propos our earlier coverage, here's a 7-minute news clip about what's been going on.  Quite sad.

(Thanks to Raj Patel for the pointer.)

What is it like to be a philosopher? David Wong edition

Here.

Killmister, Ripley from U Conn to Monash

Suzy Killmister (ethics, political philosophy) and David Ripley (logic, philosophy of language), both currently Assistant Professors at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, have accepted offers as Lecturers (with tenure) at Monash University, effective February 2018.

(Thanks to Monima Chadha for the information.)

More than 80 Israeli philosophers (the vast majority in the country) sign statement opposing the "Code of Ethics"

The full statement (this is an UNofficial translation from the Hebrew, shared with me by David Enoch) and the list of signatories may be downloaded here:  Download Philosophers' Statement against the Ethical Code

I will also post here the crux of the objections, which are cogent and devastating:

We the undersigned – researchers in philosophy – call upon the Council for Higher Education to reject the recommendations in the document written by Prof. Kasher. As people who work in philosophy and moral and political theory we state that the document suffers from severe conceptual and theoretical flaws which render it unacceptable. Here are the main ones:

1. The document conflates ethical principles voluntarily formulated by a professional community for the sake of its members with disciplinary rules imposed by an external regulatory agency. For this reason, any comparison with the AAUP's Statement on Professional Ethics is mistaken and misleading. The AAUP is a voluntary association, and it is up to specific research associations, colleges and universities to adopt its recommendations if they so choose. The proposed ethical code, on the other hand, is the product of a political initiative by the Minister of Education. According to the proposal, the Council for Higher Education, a government body, will impose the code on institutions of higher education. In these circumstances, it is clear that the document is not a voluntary ethical code, but rather a means of subjecting academic activity to governmental supervision. 
2. The document does not consist of general principles enshrined in the academic ethos (as does the AAUP Statement). Instead, it specifies a list of rules and regulations. This is a crucial conflation of an ethical code with disciplinary regulations. 
3. The proposed definition of "political activity" in the document conflates what is indeed political activity (advocating for or against specific parties or a candidates) with activities that constitute an exercise of freedom of thought and expression which are the rights of every citizen (expressing one's view on matters of public debate). Exploiting the academic setting in order to promote a specific party or candidate, or for ideological preaching, is uncontroversially unacceptable. In this matter, there is no need for a CHE-sponsored ethical code. The disciplinary mechanisms already in place in the various academic institutions are fully capable of dealing with violations of this principle, as they deal with other disciplinary violations. 
4. The definition of "political activity" in the document is not only confused; it is also broad in a way that renders the concept void of any practical significance. Expressing and criticizing matters which are in public dispute is a central feature of research activity and a precondition for meaningful intellectual discourse. Given this broad definition of political activity, its prohibition in academic settings is incompatible with accepted, proper research and teaching practices in many disciplines, such as: economics, geography, history, biology, law, sociology, bible studies, Talmud studies, philosophy, and others. 
5. The definition of "academic activity" in the document is also unreasonably broad. The document subsumes together formal research and teaching activity, which faculty members undertake as part of the official definition of their role, with social or civil activity pursued outside the bounds of this role. This is a fundamental fallacy. The social contribution of academics often includes supervising the writing of textbooks, conducting research to facilitate the work of policy makers, supporting the work of organizations of civil society, and civil and political involvement more generally. The suggested disciplinary regulations will prohibit such activities (including several such activities in which the author of this very document has engaged in the past). 
6. It is impossible to separate the document from the wider social and political context in which it was created. The document was written at a time in which publicly funded educational institutions with explicit political affiliation are not subjected to any constraints on their political activity.[1] Over the past few years, the very government that initiated the writing of the document has taken steps clearly, and at times explicitly, designed to limit the freedom of expression and political space of its rivals. These facts, as well as statements made by members of cabinet and coalition parliament members, make it impossible to escape the following conclusion: That this document's aim is not to protect academic freedom and promote scientific research, but rather to create a chilling effect and to bully the academic community. 

Due to these profound flaws, we call upon the Council for Higher Education to reject the document; we hereby announce that should it be adopted, we will render it a dead letter.

[1] Religious institutions of higher education, affiliated with some of the ruling parties and supported by public funds, regularly engage in political activities. No ethical coded has been proposed for them [note added in English version for clarification].

More on Israel's unethical proposed "Code of Ethics"

Alon Harel (Hebrew U) writes regarding the Code with the latest:

After having said that he supports the ethics code proposed by Kasher the education minister Bennet declared yesterday that the proposed code by Kasher is only a draft and he is willing to consider amendments to the code. This statement is clearly a byproduct of the immense pressure of the academic community against the code including the Presidents of the universities, the professional associations the labor unions of academics and others. 

The fear now is that Bennet will push for a somewhat softer code. Most of us in Israel resist the very idea of a single code binding all institutions for several reasons.  

First given the current atmosphere the code is going to be abused. The rightwing organization Im Tirzu is already sending "spies" to classes and the existence of such a code will encourage these activities. 

Second codes of ethics ought to be codified in ways that fit the needs of the different institutions. In Israel, there are different institutions of high education with different traditions: some of them are religious; some have large groups of minorities; some are very politicized while others are not. It seems that a single code cannot fit the different needs of the different institutions. 

Third a single code will not facilitate experimentation. If there is a serious problem, it would be desirable to test the desirability of different codes and this can be done only if there are different codes of ethics in different institutions. 

Fourth and last once a centralized code is imposed (even if an ideal code), it would provide a precedent for future regulation of universities. It will change therefore the balance of power between the colleges and the universities and the central body (council of high education) that is chaired by the Minister of education. This opens the possibility for future political pressure.

Blast from the past: common sense about the PGR

Back in 2015.

Oxford's Adrian Moore interviewed...

...at 3AM.

Good news from the Eastern Division APA elections

Results here; none of the candidates who signed the defamatory open letter about Rebecca Tuvel were elected (and several of those singled out as having good track records on freedom of expression issues were elected).

New personal homepage

I've got a new personal homepage, courtesy of graphic designer Patrick Hennessey.  If you like his work for academic homepages (see also Monique Wonderly's page, which he also designed), consider hiring him:  more information, including contact information here.

A newspaper talks not to professional pundits...

...but philosophers (among others).

What we know about the underrepresentation of women in philosophy

Let's sum up:

1.  Women arrive at university less interested in philosophy than men, and that doesn't change as time goes on--indeed, it fairly closely tracks their representation among PhD graduates.

2.  The pseudo-science of "implicit bias" and "stereotype threat" (see also) do not appear to explain anything about the underrepresentation of women.  Indeed, it turns out that philosophers like Sally Haslanger and Jennifer Saul have regularly misrepresented the research.

3.  Women report, credibly, absurd amounts of sexual harassment and other unpleasant and demeaning treatment based on gender in both graduate school and after, behavior that is unprofessional and an unfair burden for women wishing to pursue philosophy to have to endure.  Regardless of its causal role in the underrepresentation of women in the profession (it's hard to see how it could not play some role!), the culture of tolerance for sexual harassment in philosophy has been disgraceful, but now seems to be ending.   This is long overdue, but it's a shame it has been accompanied at times by open contempt for fair process.

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Rory Gallagher, "Just the Smile," 1972

This is a softer and more melodic Rory  Gallagher, the great Irish guitarist, than we've featured previously: 

 

The horrific fire in the London apartment tower...

...was most definitely a political event.

On moral motivations

Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside) comments on recent work by psychologist Daniel Batson.

"In Defense of Cultural Appropriation"

It's telling about the childish stupidity out there in the world that it even requires a defense; an excerpt:

Campaigns against cultural appropriation reveal the changing meaning of what it is to challenge racism. Once, it was a demand for equal treatment for all. Now it calls for cultures to be walled off and boundaries to be policed.

But who does the policing?

...In minority communities, the gatekeepers are usually self-appointed guardians whose power rests on their ability to define what is acceptable and what is beyond the bounds. They appropriate for themselves the authority to license certain forms of cultural engagement, and in doing so, entrench their power.

The most potent form of gatekeeping is religion. When certain beliefs are deemed sacred, they are put beyond questioning. To challenge such beliefs is to commit blasphemy.

The accusation of cultural appropriation is a secular version of the charge of blasphemy. It’s the insistence that certain beliefs and images are so important to particular cultures that they may not appropriated by others.

2017 APA Book Prize awarded to...

...Gwen Bradford (Rice),with honorable mention to Berislav Marušić (Brandeis).

"Awesome"!

Philosopher Nick Riggle (San Diego) discusses.

"Diversity" in-fighting: feminist philosophers vs. scholars of Chinese philosophy

Uh-oh!

UPDATE:  A graduate student writes, protesting the comment (at the link) that, scholars of Chinese philosophy "just remain silent" on the sexism of the Confucian tradition.  The student writes:  

How does she explain all of the books and anthologies on the issue?  Here is an incomplete list:

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy and Gender (Bloomsbury Research Handbooks in Asian Philosophy), Bloomsbury Academic (April 21, 2016)

Sharing the Light: Representations of Women and Virtue in Early China (S U N Y Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture), State University of New York Press (July 30, 1998)

Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation (Suny Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture), State University of New York Press (June 1, 2007)

Women in Daoism, Three Pines Press (June 30, 2005)

Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty,  Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. (June 20, 2003)

There are also a number of articles on the issue.

The best schools for Chinese philosophy are unranked in the overall rankings. The cards are already stacked against me. Please do not allow misinformed moral indignation from an established member of the profession make life even harder for the worst off. 

I study what I study because I love the material, not because I am on a diversity high horse.

ANOTHER:  Reader Michael Bramley writes: "I couldn't help but notice the author assumed both the gender and the race of the entity known as 'Confucious' and as a result I was hideously offended. Please include trigger warnings next time lest the steam from my outraged ears melt my snowflake crown of entitlement."

Shocking attack on academic freedom and freedom of expression in the universities by the Israeli government

MOVING TO FRONT FROM JUNE 9--UPDATED WITH A TRANSLATION OF THE PROPOSED CODE

You would think this was happening in Hungary, but it's not.  Even the AAUP statement on academic freedom cautions that teachers "should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject," but this code goes well beyond that.  As legal scholar and philosopher Alon Harel (Hebrew U) wrote to me:  

The Minister of Education Mr. Naftali Bennet asked Professor Asa Kasher to develop an ethics code for Israeli universities. The basic idea underlying the code was to control political activities in the universities. Professor Kasher has written a code which limits political activities of the academic stuff.

For instance, it prohibits acting in ways that are "damaging knowingly and intentionally to the institution or to the staff or are detrimental to the reputation of the university." Naturally, almost any criticism of the institution can fall under this rubric. It prohibits a person from boycotting an Israeli university or supporting the boycott of any Israeli university or college including Ariel in the territories. It allows a stuff member of a university to participate in a political activity as long as "this is not naturally interpreted as identification of the institution or the department with the political cause". It allows the institution to impose restrictions on the scope of research. And this is only a small part of this document.

This is a horrible proposal which, if accepted, will destroy academic freedom in Israel. I have a copy of this atrocious document in Hebrew which I am willing to share with Hebrew speakers. Please raise your voice against the adoption of this document and write to the heads of the universities the Minister of education and whoever you know has power or influence in Israel.

Comments are open for suggestions about whom to contact in Israel to oppose this initiative, which would, indeed, destroy one of Israel's treasures, its outstanding university system.

UPDATE:  More on the proposed code in Haaretz (you can register for free to read it).  (Thanks to David Enoch for the pointer.)

ANOTHER:  Alon Harel has forwarded a translation of the proposed Code:   Download Rules for Appropriate Conduct where Academic Activities Overlap with Political Activities.  A lot of the Code is benign, and echoes the AAUP statement on academic freedom.   Others parts are not:  B(2) regarding "diversity" in subject-matter is frought with the potential for mischief (so, too, C(3) regarding teaching survey courses); B(4)'s provision that, "An academic unit will hold academic conferences, for the promotion of research or for the education of the students and the general public, only in a manner that is not naturally interpreted as political activity," is fraught with ambiguity ("naturally interpreted"?); C(5) is a license for student grievances against faculty, regardless of merit; C(10) would, in America, be "void for vagueness":

The faculty member may participate in a political demonstration or any other political activity, on the institutions’ campus and outside the context of academic teaching, only if the demonstration or other activity will not be interpreted as an identification of the institution, an academic unit thereof, or the faculty of the institution or the unit, with a political cause, or as allowing political activity under its auspices.

"Interpreted" by whom and on what basis?  C(11-13) are the most dangerous provisions, imposing vague obligations upon faculty to protect the "reputation" of their institutions and also forbidding adoption of certain viewpoints.  Overall, it is quite clear that this document is meant to empower administrators to micromanage teaching, research and political activities of faculty outside the classroom.

Letter from AAUP to President of Mills College regarding the proposed termination of tenured and other faculty

Laura Markwardt from the AAUP kindly shared a copy of the letter:   Download Mills College-6-13-17.   Letters like this will be useful in any subsequent litigation as helping show that the College breached its contractual obligations to faculty. 

Notre Dame's Meghan Sullivan discusses "time biases"...

...with Matt Teichman at Elucidations.

AOS for jobs in 2016-17

The "core" was not so core.

Mills College, claiming financial emergency, will cease to be a liberal arts college

The College is proposing to fire at least eight tenured faculty, including its two philosophy faculty, and eliminate the philosophy program.  (Thanks to Dean Rowan for the pointer.)

Let's assume the financial crisis is real, and there really is a $9 million deficit.  If a school really is a liberal arts college, and not a pretender to that status, then it offers philosophy.  Full stop.  If it chooses to eliminate philosophy, then whatever it is, it is not a liberal arts college.  (Eliminating these two faculty positions, by the way, is barely going to make a dent in the deficit, but that to one side.)

Philosopher Marc Joseph, one of two tenured faculty at risk now of losing his livelihood, writes:

The Board of Trustees (BOT) announced last month that it had declared a financial state of emergency and had given itself power inter alia to fire tenured professors. It did not declare what the AAUP calls a state of exigency; as I understand it, a state of exigency basically means that the building is on fire, and so you can start throwing people out the window. The BOT defines a state of emergency in operational terms, saying what it can do but not coming out and saying what justifies those powers, except in vague terms. In particular, the BOT doesn’t want to say that we’re on fire; our gates are open and we continue to educate our students successfully. 

When the BOT made its first announcement Jay and I saw the handwriting on the wall, and we figured that one of us had taught his last class at Mills. But we were stunned when we found both our names on the list of proscription, meaning the end of the philosophy program.

The whole process has been soul crushing. We mourn the possible end of our careers, we are alarmed and anxious about the ease with which Mills has trampled our tenure rights, and we are sad for our students and alumnae, many of whom have reached out and expressed their gratitude for what they learned in our classes and, more generally, what they learned by doing philosophy. 

Anyone who is interested may contact the chair of the BOT, Ms. Katie Sanborn, at [email protected], the complete BOT at [email protected], President Beth Hillman at [email protected], and Provost Chinyere Oparah at [email protected]. They can also sign the petition started by Maja Sidzinska.

9 cognitive psychology findings that were successfully replicated

No particularly "sexy" ones from the standpoint of philosophers, I would imagine, but good news for the beleaguered field of psychology.  (If I'm wrong about the philosophical import of some of these results, please explain in the comments.)

BU's David Roochnik interviewed...

...at 3AM.

New Jersey appeals court orders new trial for Anna Stubblefield, claiming trial court wrongly excluded testimony by facilitated communication proponent

This is a surprising ruling, though it turns on a subtle point.  The court finds the trial court erred not in prohibiting introduction of facilitated communication ("FC") as "scientific" evidence, but in not permitting a leading proponent of FC to testify as to her evaluation of the mental competence of the victim, which the defense claims did not depend on FC.  (For more on on Crossley and FC, see this earlier post and the updates.)

Great moments in quasi-obscure rock 'n' roll: Mountain, "Silver Paper," 1970

A lesser-known number from Mountain's debut album (which was also their best).  A nice set of photos too of Leslie Weinstein, the nice Jewish boy from New York who became Leslie West, and whose bulky frame (he suffered from a glandular disorder) inspired the band's name, as well as bass player and composer Felix Pappalardi (shot to death in 1983, allegedly accidentally, by his wife Gail Collins, who also composed many Mountain tunes):

And as a bonus, here's the band in its prime on Beat Club in 1972 doing "Roll Over Beethoven"--good audio and video here of West and Pappalardi, as well as keyboardist Steve Knight and drummer Corky Laing:

Kipnis, Harper Collins ask court to require "Jane Doe" to proceed under her real name in lawsuit

I confess I wasn't expecting this, but I guess that's why I don't get paid the big bucks!   Here's the plaintiff's motion to proceed under the pseudonym "Jane Doe":  Download Doe-v-Kipnis-et-al-motion-to-proceed-under-a-pseudonym.  And here is the opposition motion by the defendants:   Download Doe-v-Kipnis-et-al-reponse-to-motion.   I would have thought, as noted previously, that defendants will move to dismiss the lawsuit in part on the grounds that Kipnis's book identified Doe only with a pseudonym, thus could not have defamed her.  But defendants' response to the plaintiffs' motion here seems to concede that, of course, everyone knows who the plaintiff is and that, indeed, it is a matter of public record in the federal reporters no less due to prior litigation related to these events.   I guess, but I do not know, that it's standard practice in cases like this to try to force the plaintiff to proceed under her own name in order to make the whole proceedings maximally unpleasant for her, which strengthens the defendants' position, but as I said, that's just my guess.

Thoughts from any of my law readers about what's going on here?

French President Macron and his mentor...

...the philosopher Paul Ricoeur!

(Thanks to several readers for passing this along.)

UPDATE:  And he's a liberal egalitarian via Rawls and Sen!  (This article is in French; thanks to Christopher Morris for the pointer.)

Kipnis v. Doe...

...in the Chicago Reader.

What is it like to be a philosopher? Graham Priest edition

Here.