Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Listening, "See You Again," 1968

Boston-based psychedelic/hard rock band, this song comes from their one and only album:

 

New Books in November

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

The World Philosophy Made:  From Plato to the Digital Age by Scott Soames (Princeton University Press, 2019).

The Ethics of Hooking Up:  Casual Sex and Moral Philosophy on Campus by James Rocha (Routledge, 2020).

Measuring Social Welfare:  An Introduction by Matthew D. Adler (Oxford University Press, 2019).

Transitional Subjects:  Critical Theory and Object Relations edited by Amy Allen & Brian O'Connor (Columbia University Press, 2019).

The Rise of Analytic Philosophy, 1879-1930 by Michael Potter (Routledge, 2020).

Justice and the Meritocratic State by Thomas Mulligan (Routledge, 2018; paperback, 2019).

The Philosophy of Legal Change:  Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Processes edited by Maciej Chmielinski & Michal Rpuniewski (Routledge, 2020).

Philosophy of Human Rights:  A Systematic Introduction by Anat Biletzki (Routledge, 2020).

Blast from the past: Inflated letters of recommendation

Back in 2011, with many comments.  Still a problem.

Yli-Vakkuri from Tartu to Australian Catholic University (Melbourne)

Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology), Professor of Philosophy of Language at the University of Tartu, has accepted a senior offer from the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University (ACU), where he will start in January 2020.

Philosopher Mark Johnston (Princeton) interviewed...

...at the Oxford Review of Books.  It's quite entertaining!  I had Johnson the Spring of my senior year in the first course he taught at Princeton, on "Personal Identity."  He was very tolerant of my irresponsible behavior with respect to deadlines that semester!

 

The Internet, defined

"Costless, rapid communication of lazy, angry thoughts," from philosopher Christopher Morris (Maryland).  It could hardly be more apt!

"WKRP in Cincinnati" Thanksgiving Turkey Drop

This may be the best moment in 1970s sitcom TV, apt for the occasion of American Thanksgiving (you have to get to the end for the full joke):

 

A "mathematical proof" that "diversity trumps ability" turns out to be just more diversity blather

MOVING TO FRONT AGAIN, ORIGINALLY POSTED NOV 20--MANY INTERESTING COMMENTS, MORE WELCOME

UC Davis mathematician Abigail Thompson--at the center of yesterday's story--also wrote a devastating takedown of Lu Hong & Scott Page's purported mathematical proof that diversity is more important than ability, a bit of blather that often gets trotted out in discussions of "diversity."  Interestingly, the philosopher who sent this to me (also in the UC system) asked not to be named as the source, a testament to the climate in the UC system.   As a supporter of affirmative action, but opponent of diversity blather, I'm happy to share Professor Thompson's useful analysis.

BUT THERE'S MORE!   Philosopher Daniel Singer (Penn) criticizes Thompson's response and scroll down here for Professor Page's response.  (Thanks to Alex Guerrero for the former, and Justin Tosi for the latter.)  I'm opening comments for anyone who can shed light on this debate.  (The philosopher who sent me Professor Thompson's piece is someone more than able to assess the Thompson argument.)

Mathematician Abigail Thompson now being pilloried for opposing mandatory "diversity statements" in the UC system

Philosophers cheer up:  academic mathematics is apparently also full of self-righteous tin-pot dictator wannabes just like philosophy!   Professor Thompson, whose opposition to mandatory "diversity statements" we noted last week, is now the target of a petition, which inspired this commentary from a mathematician who asked not to be named:

As usual, there is a claim of harm to minority students, but no explanation of what that harm is. There is constant emphasis on identity, so that the signers apparently believe there is a single aspect of a student's background that defines that student and determines how that student will learn. There are repeated claims that opposition to diversity statements is opposition to diversity, and repeated claims, without any proof or even examples, that diversity statements will improve diversity in universities. There is the claim that we are learning more about how to teach diverse students effectively, again with no supporting evidence. The petition is outraged that the journal will print a controversial opinion, and the obvious statement that not all mathematicians will agree with Thompson's letter, but no attempt to say that disagreement involves a majority, or even a large number, of mathematicians. And, who is not in a position to raise their own voice through such letters and petitions?

There is the suggestion that her letter is against "actively including more students in mathematics," which is, of course, not true, given no evidence that is cited, or that I've seen, that supports the idea that diversity statements will do that. And I see no evidence that Thompson  equates "critiquing privilege with oppressing the privileged."

And of course, as Sullivan often points out, a sense that there are only the powerful and the powerless.

I could go on and on, but it is clear that the same fixation on identity and power has seduced at least these mathematician signatories just as it seems to have done in many areas of the liberal arts....

Beyond the petition, there is this attack on Professor Thompson and the journal that published her opinion piece (there are some good rejoinders in the comments) and a call by Chad Topaz (a math professor at Williams College) to boycott the journal [UPDATE: the link no longer works, as explained here] that published Professor Thompson's opinion piece. (I'm told Topaz was the author of the petition, as well.)  Happily, this maniac Topaz is now being subjected to a backlash for his contempt for academic freedom in the form of a petition supporting Professor Thompson's freedom of expression.  The latter is a good sign that the math community still has a more robust commitment to academic freedom and open debate than philosophy these days!  Biologist Jerry Coyne (Chicago) has more extended coverage of and commentary on this debacle.

On the Hindu fascists in India

A bracing essay by Arundhati Roy.

Where untenured tenure-track faculty at the U.S. "top 20" programs got their PhDs, 2019-20

MOVING TO FRONT FROM NOVEMBER 22--UPDATED       

As prior studies have confirmed, PGR rank is a rather good predictor of professional outcomes, even though that's not what the PGR suveys measure. (Of course, NYU and Rutgers placement, below, would have been wholly predictable from PGR rankings of faculty quality in years past!) 

I look here, as I've done before, only at the untenured tenure-stream faculty at the top American PhD programs.  This is misleading in some obvious ways.  One of the most important is that tenure-stream jobs at liberal arts colleges may be the best jobs in American higher education:  teachers enjoy excellent students, good salaries, and research support.  My anecdotal impression is that tenure-stream faculty at leading liberal arts colleges in the U.S. (places like Pomona, Reed, Colgate, Wesleyan, Carleton, Macalester, Swarthmore, Grinnell, Bowdoin, etc.) are rather happy, and often have research qualification comparable to faculty at research universities.

With those caveats, here is where tenure-stream but untenured faculty at the "top 20" U.S. programs earned their PhD:

1.  New York University (9)

2.  Rutgers University, New Brunswick (8)

3.  Princeton University (7)

4.  University of California, Berkeley (5)

5.  Harvard University (4)

5.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4)

5.  Yale University (4)

8.  Cambridge University (2)

8.  Columbia University (2)

8.  University of California, Irvine (2)

8.  University of California, Riverside (2)

8.  University of Chicago (2)

8.  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2)

1 each:   DePaul University; Oxford University; Stanford University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Leeds; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Paris I (Sorbonne); University of Southern California; University of Texas, Austin; University of Toronto; University of Western Ontario; University of Wisconsin, Madison; York University (UK).

Top 20 programs with 0:   University of Pittsburgh; City University of New York; Brown University; University of California, San Diego; University of Notre Dame.

Berkeley, once again, is a star performer relative to its (very good but not "top 5") PGR ranking over the last decade, a credit I suspect to the quality of the training.  The UC Irvine and Riverside PhDs were specialists in areas where those programs are quite strong, as reflected in the PGR.  Both Cambridge PhDs were hired at Notre Dame.  Both Chicago PhDs were hired at Columbia or Barnard (tenure-stream Barnard faculty are part of the Columbia graduate program faculty).  I was surprised at how few Oxford DPhils there are.  There is a widely shared sense that Oxford is in decline (and not just because of Brexit, although that can't help), but in past iterations of these snapshots, Oxford fared much better.

Below the fold, a list of PhDs by school (corrections welcome, of course):

"[W]hen it comes to global-scale issues, what individuals do is somewhere between 100 percent pointless and 99.9999999 percent pointless" (UPDATED)

Impotent moralistic scolding is a favorite pasttime of philosophers, but when it comes to something like climate change, it's particularly absurd, as philosopher Steven Hales (Bloomsburg) argues (link now fixed):

We like to believe that when it comes to the great global issues of our time—climate change, pollution, poverty, mass extinction—that we each can make a difference. A small one maybe, but a real and significant difference, nonetheless. If we don’t try, or don’t try hard enough, we should feel culpable, and we have a concomitant moral responsibility to shame our lazy neighbors who refuse to make an effort. That’s a mistake. It not only makes us guilt-ridden and worse off psychologically, but even more harmfully it also provides only the illusion of effective action, thereby allowing global problems to fester without a proper solution.

Even professional ethicists are largely getting this wrong. I recently attended an international ethics conference, and the overwhelming take-away was the realization that philosophical ethics remains obsessed with individuals—trolley cases, what you should do, how you should act, who you should become. It is not appreciated that all the really serious moral issues of our time are collective action problems, and have nothing to do with you in the sense that they have nothing to do with individuals at all. The talks that did address collective action issues were keen on making them ultimately a matter of individual responsibility or blame....

In Memoriam: James Griffin (1933-2019)

A moral philosopher and philosopher of human rights, Professor Griffin spent most of his career at Oxford University, where he was Emeritus White's Professor of Moral Philosophy.   There  is a brief memorial notice from Keble College, Oxford here.  (Thanks to Matt Lister for the pointer.)  I will add links to other memorial notices as they appear.

UPDATE:  Oxford Philosophy's memorial notice is here.  (Thanks to Grant Lamond for the pointer.)

Richard Marshall interviews John Dupre (Exeter)...

...at 3:16 AM.

All the bad arguments against impeaching Trump disposed of...

...succinctly by philosopher Michael Huemer (Colorado).

Blast from the past: Gottlieb on Romano

Back in 2012.

The ethics of drone use

Philosopher Trish Glazebrook (Washington State) comments.

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Elf, "Rocking Chair Rock 'n' Roll Blues," 1974

Here's another number from Ronnie James Dio's pre-metal period, with his first band, Elf; this is from their second album:

 

The latest university administrator to blow it on an academic freedom issue

And a lawyer no less.

A letter of reference for Bartleby

Appropriately cautious.

Adolph Reed on Obama, Warren, and Sanders

Professor Reed really does not like Elizabeth Warren, and he's clearly right that Democratic elites would prefer Trump re-elected than Sanders.

UPDATE:  Meanwhile, the absurd Mayor Pete is now leading in both Iowa and New Hampshire.  We may have a scenario in which the winner of the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries is then destroyed in South Carolina and Nevada, with heavily non-white Democratic electorates.

 

What are cover letters for? (Do's and don't's)

A graduate student in philosophy writes:

Would it be possible to pose the questions in the subject line to the blog? Some questions: how much tailoring to the department is necessary? How cheesy does tailoring (period) come off? Do you need to mention that you'd be excited to "collaborate" with people in the department? How do you say that without still sounding like a grad student fan? Do hiring committees really care if we mention that we want to advise the Philosophy Club? It'd be nice to hear from established academics whether they really matter, and if so, why. After all, all the information they contain could be gleaned from the CV and the research and teaching statement. And that just leads me to think that they are meant to carry all the relevant information that would let someone decide on their basis alone whether to continue looking at the rest of your dossier. If that is the case, and they are that important, then we could use a little more guidance. 

To be clear, placement officers in my program have given some advice on this, but not much. Many of the faculty in my program come from a time when cover letters were not even a thing. 

There are some jobs--"open" positions at research-intensive departments, for example--where cover letters don't really matter.   But for the vast majority of positions, they are important and should be responsive to the ad, especially with regard to areas the department looks to hire in.   (If the ad doesn't mention the "Philosophy Club" don't mention it in the cover letter!  But if you created the "Philosophy Club" for undergraduates, and you're applying to an institution where the main job is teaching undergraduates, you might mention it.)   Anyway, comments are open for advice from faculty who have been involved in hiring.  Submit your comment only once.

Blast from the past: "Jewish poker" philosophy

Back in 2010 (although the genre is still around).

Ibram Kendi, totalitarian

Amazing:

He wants unelected “formally trained experts on racism” (presumably all from critical race-theory departments) to have unaccountable control over every policy that won’t yield racial equality in every field of life, public or private. They are tasked with investigating “private racist policies.” Any policy change anywhere in the U.S. would have to be precleared by these “experts” who could use “disciplinary tools” if policymakers do not cave to their demands. They would monitor and control public and private speech. What Kendi wants is power to coerce others to accept his worldview and to implement his preferred policies, over and above democratic accountability or political opposition. Among those policies would be those explicitly favoring nonwhites over whites because “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”

Mayor Pete's appeal to moderate Republicans

This is apt.

Spotted on the road in Kansas

Seriously.

Blast from the past: Fodor vs. Dennett on "adaptationism"

Back in 2007.

Mathematician comes out against "diversity statements" for job applications

IHE has the story.

The real history of "pragmatism" as a philosophy

An illuminating essay by two leading experts, Cheryl Misak (Tornoto) and Robert Talisse (Vanderbilt).

Richard Marshall interviews Hallvard Lillehammer (Birkbeck, London)...

...at 3:16 AM.

More on Poland's persecution of Sydney law professor Wojciech Sadurski...

...who has been a vigorous critic of the reactionary regime in his native country.

Velleman from NYU to Johns Hopkins

J. David Velleman (ethics, moral psychology, philosophy of action), Professor of Philosophy at New York University, will retire from NYU  and has accepted appointment as Miller Research Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, starting January 1, 2020.  According to Professor Gross, "He'll be doing some teaching {"not more than one course per term"] and will be available for graduate advising, though not as primary supervisor."

(Thanks to Steven Gross and Jared Mayer for the information.)

Philosophy and computing, digital resources, artificial intelligence and more

An interview with philosopher David Bourget (Western Ontario).

Near-death experiences?

Philosopher John Martin Fischer (UC Riverside) discusses the topic.

CEU's Vienna campus opens...

....while the fascist Orban remains in power in Hungary, and Notre Dame political theorist Patrick Deneen cosies up to him.  What a disgrace.

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: U.F.O., "Boogie for George," 1970

Late 1960s British blues rock/spacce rock band that became much better known for a hard rock and then heavy metal style in the mid-1970s and after; but this number is closer to the beginning, with original guitarist Mick Bolton, when they were only moderately successful in some European countries:

 

"How the 2010s changed physics forever"

Hype aside, I'd be curious to hear from knowledgeable readers about how accurate this article is.  Submit your comment just once, it may take awhile to appear.

That definitely looks like a Thomist

Philosopher Tim Maudlin (NYU) interviewed about quantum mechanics...

...at IAITV.  (Don't be thrown by the fact that at the beginning there appears to be a naked man in the water in the background!)

Northwestern student paper apologizes for covering student protests of Jeff Sessions

Bizarre.

UPDATE:  A good statement by the Dean of the Journalism School at Northwestern.  (Thanks to Jeff Rice for the pointer.)

Philosophy graduate student at Berkeley gratuitously (and rather stupidly) insults rural Americans...

...and faces a predictable right-wing lapidation.  Having occasionally come across Mr. Kernion on social media, where he  seems a sanctimonious scold, I'm not wholly surprised by his outburst, which says more about his class position than about residents of rural America.  But I'm even less surprised that the usual suspects have pounced on this; I hope and expect Berkeley will do the right thing, and continue to make "no comment."  Mr. Kernion's speech is lawful, however foolish, and it is none of the university's business.

I'll give the final word to a correspondent from the UK who flagged this episode for me yesterday:  "Yet another junior scholar bringing shame to the profession on social media, but this one stands out for his utter ignorance of how countries and economies work. Conservatives are pointing to him as just another philosopher who is clueless about the 'real world.' And in this case they are correct!"  But let's remember that Mr. Kernion, like anybody, is a lot more than some unfortunate and ill-considered tweets.

So the architect of Trump's immigration policies, Stephen Miller, is a Nazi after all

Who would have guessed?

Advertising update

The next available spots are in January (2 left), and the next available top spot that is still open is in April.  E-mail me for more information.

Political turmoil in Hong Kong reaches the universities

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, site of recent clashes, has ended its term early.  Comments are open for more links and information about what's happening to the universities in Hong Kong.  Submit your comments only once, it may take awhile to appear.

Law & Philosophy Fellowship at University of Chicago for 2020-21

(MOVING TO FRONT FROM NOVEMBER 11)

It will be officially advertised on PhilJobs in a few weeks, but I wanted to flag that we will again be hiring a Fellow; the ad text is below the fold for anyone interested.  Note that the position is open to tenure-stream scholars who might have sabbatical time, as well as junior candidates.

Good news: lawsuit against Remington gun maker by Sandy Hook families will go forward

Let's hope it will get Remington and the others out of the business of marketing weapons of mass murder.

Pickel from Edinburgh to Glasgow

Bryan Pickel (metaphysics, philosophy of language, history of analytic philosophy), currently Reader in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, has accepted appointment in philosophy at the University of Glasgow, to begin in June 2020.

Blast from the past: Karl Kraus's favorite journalist, Thomas "no ideas and the ability to express them" Friedman

Back in 2008.  (I was amused to see that piece was sent to me by Sarah Jeong, who now works for the NYT!)

UPDATE:   More scathingly funny criticism of Friedman (back in 2014) (thanks to Nathan Ballantyne for the pointer).

On being an American philosopher in China

This is an interesting account.

Hyphens are important