Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

2016 deja vu all over again (UPDATED)

MOVING TO FRONT FROM FEBRUARY 12 OF THIS YEAR, UPDATED

It was obvious to me in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was an awful candidate--an opportunistic fake (like her philandering husband), whose only real qualification was her name and resulting institutional connections--and yet it seemed to me inconceivable that Trump could beat her, given how awful the monster-child was (and is).   Duly chastened by that bitter experience, I confess I'm now getting deja vu that we're walking into another, probably worse disaster.  Biden was always a congenial empty vessel, filled with whatever the Democratic consensus du jour was, but he hasn't suffered from decades of vaguely misogynistic demonization as Clinton did.  His problem is different, one exacerbated by the special prosecutor's report about his walking off with classified materials, namely, his age.  It won't do to point out that Trump is not only cognitively impaired, but psychologically disturbed, even though that is obviously true.   Biden looks his age (he's 81), while Trump does not (he's 77); and Biden's verbal and cognitive mistakes do seem to be getting worse.   With most of the electorate, appearances are everything.  The polls probably are not lying about this problem eitehr.  Sure Biden can run on the slogan, "Not a pathological narcissist and fascist like the other guy," but will enough voters notice or care?

Hacking/cyber attacks at Cambridge University have now spread to Cambridge University Press (UPDATED)

Earlier news reports noted the earlier attacks on units of Cambridge University, but apparently it has spread to Cambridge University Press, bringing editorial and production activities to a halt.  I have not seen a news report about the latter, but CUP has told some authors about the problems, which have affected thousands of CUP computers and laptops.  Authors should expect delays.  Email me if you see any news reports or if CUP issues a statement.

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE:  CUP has now posted a statement, although it's not highly informative.  (Thanks to Matt Kramer for the pointer.)

ANOTHER:  Volker Halbach (Oxford) writes:

The cyberattack is not the only problem with CUP. Graham Leigh and I decided to publish a jointly written book with CUP, because they did an excellent job with my monograph in 2011. Also this time their philosophy editor, Hilary Gaskin, proved to be highly competent, responsive, and helpful. Problems started when the project was handed over to the production team. We submitted a proofread and typeset pdf file, ready for printing, in March 2023. We are still waiting for publication. The cyberattack is the first time we have been given a reason for the delays.

STILL MORE:  Linguist Geoffrey Pullum (Edinburgh) writes:

The trouble at Cambridge University Press is much worse than reported by Volker Halbach, and not related to the cyberattack. The production of a linguistics book that I worked on in 2021-22 was a nightmare battle against incompetence (a completely incapable typesetting firm in the south of India mangled the submitted file, and CUP personnel did not know how to deal with the resultant mess); and now I find that CUP cannot even arrange for adequate book manufacture. My copy of [name omitted's] new book (free of any Indian typesetting botches because [the author] typeset it himself with LaTeX) was literally falling apart fresh out of the delivery envelope: multiple pages, starting with the title page and the preface, are simply not attached to the binding at all, and just drop out on the floor. CUP was once an operation to be admired, but it seems to me that in recent years it has been losing its expertise at producing academic books.

In addition to the summer blogging quasi-hiatus, I'm also checking email less often...

...and while I will of course be responding to emails related to my work responsibilities, other stuff may take longer.  I'll still try to catch time-sensitive matters that are blog-related.   With the Marx book delivered to the press, I have another book project (on realism in legal and political theory) that I really want to finish by the end of the calendar year, and that's my priority for the summer.

The end of academic freedom in Florida? The courts will decide

As I feared, Florida is indeed pushing the envelope on Garcetti and taking the position that faculty speech in the classroom at a public university is under the control of the state government:

Last Friday, Cooper told the three 11th Circuit judges that professors’ speech in the classroom is government speech, and “the state, when it is the speaker, it can choose what it wants to say.” Cooper said a state can “insist that professors not offer—or espouse, I should say, and endorse—viewpoints that are contrary to the state’s.”

One of the three judges on the panel, a Donald Trump appointee, later asked a question that showed how far Cooper’s argument could extend. The judge posed a hypothetical about how much the state could limit classroom teaching if the judges were to accept Cooper’s arguments: “Could a legislature prohibit professors from saying anything negative about a current gubernatorial administration?”

Cooper replied: “I think, your honor, yes, because in the classroom the professor’s speech is the government’s speech and the government can restrict professors on a content-wide basis and restrict them from offering viewpoints.”

Risa Lieberwitz, general counsel for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), told Inside Higher Ed that “the state of Florida is making an extreme argument about the First Amendment that would eliminate academic freedom completely in the classroom, and that is an argument without merit under the First Amendment.”

If the 11th Circuit buys this argument, the Supreme Court will have to weigh in on the reach of Garcetti, and whether there is an exception for public university faculty.

ADDENDUM:  Being an instinctive authoritarian, Florida's Viktor DeSantis also recently vetoed all grants for the arts in Florida.  At least, he didn't denounce the arts as degenerate!

Huddleston from Warwick to Notre Dame

Andrew Huddleston (19th & 20th-century Continental philosophy [esp. Nietzsche], aesthetics, ethics), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, will become Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, effective July 2025.

Briggs from Stanford to Chicago

Ray (R.A.) Briggs (epistemology, metaphysics, decision theory, logic), currently Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, will become Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago starting in 2024-25.

Philosopher and logician Warren Goldfarb makes TMZ celebrity gossip site...

...for the strangest reason.  He's certainly taking it in good humor:   "I'm delighted to see that logic, so often derided as a dry subject, has finally been recognized for its romantic potential!"

Scopus's list of top philosophy journals includes in the top ten...

...three fake journals--which matters since many international ranking metrics use the Scopus list.  Remarkable!  Scopus Pocus!  If only all rankings were as honest and transparent as the PGR!

(Thanks to Bennett Gilbert for flagging this catastrophe for me.)

Philosophy (and other humanities fields) under threat at UNC-Asheville

There is a letter-writing campaign in support of the program here.

UPDATE:  My friend and colleague Martha Nussbaum kindly gave permission to share the letter she sent to UNC-Asheville:  Download Nussbaum letter to UNC-Asheville (003)

Summer quasi-hiatus and advertising

MOVING TO FRONT FROM MAY 29

As I've done in recent years, I will reduce blogging substantially during June and July and to a lesser extent in August as well.  I'll still post periodically, especially about things that are time-sensitive (like the expected draft faculty lists for the fall 2024 PGR), but please do not expect more than a few posts per week starting next week (the pace will pick up a bit in August).   Advertising rates will be reduced accordingly ($500 for top spots, $400 for 2nd from the top, $350 for third spots).   Thanks, as always, for reading.

Metablog redux

The last of the "metablogs”—Internet fora for anonymous discussion--ended in 2018, after its creator was exposed.  It's now come to my attention that rumors are circulating about current members of the profession as responsible for it. In fact, the creator of the metablog left the academy entirely.  I recently corresponded with this person, who reached out after hearing that others were being blamed for his creation.

Another decision by the super-legislature that contributes to the U.S. being unlivable

What a disgrace to civilization.  Read the dissent to see how disgraceful and unnecessary this is.

Rob Kar at Illinois to be new co-editor of the PGR with Christopher Pynes

I'm very pleased to report that Robin Kar, Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (where he is also currently the Interim Head of the Philosophy Department), has agreed to join Professor Christopher Pynes as the co-editor of the next Philosophical Gourmet Report for 24-25.  Professors Kar and Pynes are just beginning work, but I expect that either I or Professor Pynes will have udpates, including draft faculty lists, to post here over the summer.  The profession owes thanks to Professor Kar for undertaking this work, and of course owes continued gratitude to Professor Pynes for his careful stewardship of the PGR over the last seven years.  

In Memoriam: Robert Bolton (1940-2024)

A longtime member of the Department of Philosophy at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, where he was emeritus, Professor Bolton was a specialist in ancient philosophy, particularly known for his writings on issues about metaphysics and science.  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Bolton or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.

In Memoriam: Nuel Belnap, Jr. (1930-2024)

Professor Belnap, a leading figure in logic and philosophical logic who spent most of his career at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was emeritus, died yesterday.  His former student and colleague, Anil Gupta, kindly shared the obituary, posted below the fold:

Anna Stilz resigns as EIC of Philosophy & Public Affairs

Following on this, Professor Stilz asked me to share the following:

I have resigned as Editor-in-Chief of Philosophy and Public Affairs and Wiley has now accepted my resignation.  I will continue to serve as Editor in a limited, transitional capacity, only to process papers that have been previously accepted by the journal, and reviews on revised papers that were submitted to the journal before May 22, 2024.  Authors whose papers were conditionally accepted by the journal prior to May 22 must resubmit by June 25 if they wish their paper to be published in Philosophy and Public Affairs under the current masthead.  We hope to issue final decisions on these papers by June 30.  Please direct inquiries regarding all other recently submitted manuscripts to Wiley’s manager for the journal, Hannah Reed, at [email protected]. 

Giorgia Meloni is a neo-Nazi in her soul...

...but you can't say that if you're a prominent Italian academic.  Italian defamation law is very different from American (and even British) law:  there is both civil and criminal defamation, and one can even bring an action for "insult"!   The result is the current fiasco, that is the subject of the prior link.

(Thanks to Allonso Murríel Perez for the pointer.)

A long interview about Nietzsche and free will

Johnathan Bi, a graduate of Columbia University who loves philosophy and 'great books,' has put together a very professionally done set of videos about "the Western Canon" (here's his introuction to the series).   Here's the first of two long interviews Mr. Bi did with me, this one on Nietzsche and free will.  I was impressed by the care with Mr. Bi had read my books, and enjoyed the conversation with him, and I hope others will too.  (Mr. Bi has also recorded a lecture on the Genealogy, which draws in part on my reading of Nietzsche.  I haven't watched all of this one, however.)  Among other interviews coming in this series will be conversations with Frederick Neuhosuer on Rousseau, Katharina Volk on Roman philosophy and politics in the age of Caesar and Cicero, and Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare, among others.

Climenhaga from Australian Catholic University to Texas A&M University

Nevin Climenhaga (epistemology, philosphy of science, philosophy of religion), previously a Senior Research Fellow at the Dianoia Institute at the Australian Catholic University (and presently a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy in the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at the ACU), has accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Texas A&M University, starting fall 2025.

In Memoriam: Kathleen Okruhlik (1951-2024)

A longtime member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario (now known as "Western University"), Professr Okruhlik wrote widely in the history and philosophy of science and in feminist philosophy, including their intersections.  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Okruhlik or for those who wish to comment on the significance of her work.

In Memoriam: Michael Stocker (1940-2024)

A longtime member of the Department of Philosophy at Syracuse University, where he was emeritus, Professor Stocker started his teaching career at the University of Chicago and Cornell University, and then taught for more than twenty years in Australia at several different universities, including (for the longest period) LaTrobe University.  He made important and influential contributions to ethics and moral psychology during his long career.  Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Stocker or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work.

(Thanks to David Gordon and Eric Schliesser for calling this to my attention.)

Some more old philosophy lectures on YouTube: Max Black, Norman Malcolm

Richard Marshall oncea gain sends along some interesting finds:

Max Black on analytic philosophical analysis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1TpzlgTki4&list=RDCMUC7q-GcHyjCHkTpXCUTLzy7Q&start_radio=1&rv=B1TpzlgTki4&t=10

Malcolm on G.E. Moore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCZ8zMdCvi0&list=RDCMUC7q-GcHyjCHkTpXCUTLzy7Q&index=2

Malcolm on Wittgenstein:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=371LobXpUlo

Marx book, redux

We returned the corrected proofs of the Marx book to Routledge today, so we are on track for publication in early September.   For those curious, here is the index for the volume, very ablely prepared by Kate Petroff, a PhD student here:  Download MARX Index final   It gives a good sense of the range of topics covered, and the range of literature we drew upon or discuss.

 

Two old public lectures by Ernest Nagel

One on "Meaning and Knowledge" from 1966, one on "Philosophical Concepts of Atheism" from 1957.

(Thanks to Richard Marshall for the pointers.)