Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Blast from the past: Why is so much philosophy so tedious?

Back in 2013, with reader discussion.

UPDATE:  Here's a working link to the paper by David McNaughton referenced in the 2013 post.  (Thanks to Gregory Mayer for the pointer.)

Blast from the past: The five most common objections to the PGR

Back in 2012, but they still circulate, remarkably--no doubt because the critics aren't really concerned with methodological or epistemic reliability.

Blast from the past: Three cultures of Facebook

Back in 2016, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Why review a book of philosophy when you can sneer at it?

Back in 2006.

Blast from the past: Berit Brogaard on group polarization and the Internet

Back in 2015 [link fixed], but anyone who reads blogs or Twitter should refresh themselves on this post at least once per year.

Blast from the past: Ronald Reagan, the President who sent America off the rails

Back in 2011.  His legacy, of course, now includes the monster-child Trump and his Republican Party.

Blast from the past: Fun with the smear merchants at "Campus Watch" and Daniel Pipes

Back in 2017.  Still quite amusing.

Blast from the past: In praise of terminal M.A. programs

Back in 2015, and still relevant.  If the massive increase in competition for PhD program slots we saw this year continues, these programs will become even more important.

Blast from the past: "Back-up" plans for philosophy PhD students facing a bad job market

Back in 2010, with reader discussion.  A perennial topic, alas.

Blast from the past: How readers answer the "What's your philosophy?" question in casual conversation with strangers

Back in 2014.

Blast from the past: Class, rudeness, Trump, Biden

Back in 2020, and about to become very relevant again.

Blast from the past: an interview with a Dutch publication about Trump before the 2020 election

Came across this recently, and, alas, it is still relevant.

Blast from the past: Best philosophy book publishers in English

Back in 2013, and not much different now.  Palgrave has increased and improved its philosophy catalogue, and Wiley is now clearly focused on textbooks, those are the main changes.

Blast from the (recent) past: "Identity politics" neoliberalism meets millenial narcissism

True now, as in 2022.

Blast from the past: Adolph Reed on antiracist scholarship and activism

Back in 2018, and still very relevant.

Blast from the past: Greer, Green, and the Thought Police, Redux

Back in 2015.   What a spectacle that was; at least the biggest nut job in that episode has left the profession.

Blast from the past: Best introductory texts in political philosophy?

Back in 2019, with reader suggestions.

Blast from the past: Is an early defense (before the Eastern APA [then the Xmas week]) an advantage?

Back in 2013, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Is "secular" moral theory really relatively young?

Back in 2009, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Trump and the Russia distraction

Back in 2017.  With the monster-child poised to be the Republican nominee again, I hope that critics will this time stay focused on actual issues.

Blast from the past: Letters of reference and their "codes"

Back in 2003, still relevant (alas).

Blast from the past: Isaiah Berlin's letter of recommendation for H.L.A. Hart

Back in 2005.

Blast from the past: Letters for students applying to U.S. programs and those "top 1%," "top 5%" etc. comparisons

Back in 2015, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: the job market and the "stale" PhD issue, once again

Back in 2012, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Oliver Kamm, Marko Attila Hoare, and the Importance of Being Able to Read

Way back in 2005.  One of my favorite eviscerations of the foolish from the past.

Blast from the past: Reader opinions of factory farming?

Back in 2017. 

Blast from the past: PhD programs discouraging graduates from applying to non-research institutions?

Back in 2008, with reader discussion.  It would seem to me crazy in the current job market to discourage job seekers that way; but it seemed crazy back then too!

Blast from the past: Helen Vendler dissing philosophy

Back in 2004.

Blast from the past: "Generation Wuss"

Back in 2014, in the early days of the "Great Awokening."

Blast from the past: Oxford DPhil or American PhD?

A reader discussion back in 2013.

Blast from the past: What areas are most important for a strong PhD program in philosophy?

Back in 2012, with reader discussion.   A useful data point for sociologists and historians of the Anglophone profession.

Blast from the past: Personal ads of the philosophers

Back in 2006 and 2005, including Kant, Nietzsche, Socrates, Hume. [Hume link fixed.]  Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Blast from the past: On academic "cranks"

Back in 2010.

Blast from the past: What kind of background needed for graduate work in philosophy of physics?

Back in 2009, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: How to dissuade students from pursuing graduate work in philosophy

Back in 2013, with reader discussion.  I agree especially with this comment.  My basic rules of thumb for advising students are:  (1) don't go if you're not getting full funding; and (2) don't go if you're not admitted to a strong program overall (e.g., roughly top 20 in U.S.) or a program very strong in your area of particular interest (e.g., UC Irvine for philosophy of science, UC Riverside for philosophy of action or Continental philosophy).

Blast from the past: the APA's "Code of Conduct" on Anonymity

Back in 2016.  The good news is the absurd (and unethical) Code of Conduct has proven to be wholly irrelevant.  If anyone knows of a case where it was used to punish lawful speech, do let me know.

Blast from the past: How many letters should a job seeker have?

Back in 2013, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Best Anglophone moral philosophers since 1945

Back in 2016, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Log rolling in our time, the Plantinga/Nagel saga

Back in 2012.

Blast from the past: Good career paths for undergraduate philosophy majors? (LINK NOW FIXED)

Back in 2011, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: Crispin Wright on becoming a philosopher

Back in 2009.

Blast from the past: Dick Cavett on Paul Weiss

Back in 2016.  (See also.)

Blast from the past: Some observations about twitter, esp. philosophy-related twitter

Back in 2020, and still apt, alas.  The only good news is Elon Musk seems to be destroying Twitter, so maybe it will go away?

Blast from the past: SEP's coverage of Marxism and feminism, a revealing study in contrasts

Back in 2019, and still relevant, although there has been some improvement (there is now an entry on Gramsci, for example).

Blast from the past: "Bullying and harassment" at UBC

Back in 2015.  I wonder if it is still as dysfunctional today?

Blast from the past: Jobs at Oxford, a Guide for the Perplexed

Back in 2007, with reader discussion.  Opening comments here in case there are any updates that would be relevant.

Blast from the past: Inflated letters of recommendation

Back in 2011, with reader discussion.

Blast from the past: "The Twitter Cesspool"

Back in 2018.  Some of this no doubt explains the low opinion Americans increasingly have of universities (although right-wing anti-intellectual propaganda is probably the main factor.)  (Twitter is still a cesspool, of course, but proactive blocking does make it useable now.)

Blast from the past: "the feminist cause"

Back in 2018.

Blast from the past: The political orientation of readers of the blog

Back in 2010.  I'll have to run one of these surveys again.