Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

2024 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 27

October

Einstein vs. Bergson on the nature of time

Department of Education's OCR creates massive exception for faculty's contractual right to academic freedom

Do your undergraduates have trouble reading whole books? (with extensive, and depressing, comments from readers)

Three models of a PhD program faculty:  Princeton, MIT, Pittsburgh

AAUP is now irrelevant to the fight for academic freedom

The impending Trump disaster

Idealism and realism about philosophy and its role

David Lewis on his approach to philosophy, on his education, etc.

AI is "dumber than a cat"

On being cancelled in philosophy

"Computer plainly can't think"

November

Election post-mortem, 2024

The new Republican initiative for higher education in states they control:  "Western Civilization" centers

The study of philosophy in law schools and JD/PhD programs, 2024 edition

Jaime Edwards and I talk about our Marx book

How Trump can attack higher education: a  guide

A note about Indiana University, Bloomington and the PGR

December

Philosopher Laurie Paul profiled at The New Yorker

I've moved from Twitter/X to Bluesky

An interview with T.M. Scanlon about his moral philosophy

Moving from at-home writing assignments to in-class assignments to prevent AI cheating

What should be done?

College Cost Reduction Act, coming soon

The quiet bloodbath developing at Portland State University

Specialty rankings, and how to use them

 

 

2024 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DEC 26

July

Sleepwalking into disaster:  the response to learning Emperor Biden has no clothes

"How to Cabin the Realist Indeterminacy Thesis:  On Green, Positivism, and the Sources of Law"

An interview with Neuhouser on Rousseau and Amour-Propre

"Foucault as a Kind of Realist:  Genealogical Critique and the Debunking of the Human Sciences"

Hobart & William Smith Politics Professor wrongfully suspended will return to the classroom this fall

August

Philosophy & Public Affairs successor journal

Resources in philosophy of work and labor and related areas

Philosopher's Annual, top ten papers from 2023

September

Top 50 Universities by membership in the National Academy of Sciences

Is it a problem that there are so few political "conservatives" in the American academy? 

The unusual case of Barrington Jones:  from elite philosophy to plumbing

Academic freedom abolished at Penn

"My dinner with Nozick"

Why is this race so close?  There is no mystery

Nietzsche's moral anti-realism

Leslie Green on jurisprudence and its relation to history

2024 in review, 2nd quarter: April, May, June

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 24, 2024, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT

April

Marx's critique of Stirner

"On Gutting the Liberal Arts"

"Law is a Moral Practice" (it isn't, actually, except sometimes by accident)

Stipends for Canadian Ph.D. students

Refereeing frequency, redux (see also)

Cambridge University college dismises philosophy Fellow because his views conflict with DEI

Campus protests and excessive police responses

May

Most Black Americans want to increase police presence and spending on police

Some thoughts about the "encampment" at the University of Chicago (and its end)

The Israel/Gaza catastrophe--plus the question of "academic boycotts"

All editors (except EIC) resigned from Philosophy & Public Affairs, and will start a new journal (the EIC resigned later)

Why are philosophy departments so good about disclosing job placement for PhD graduates?

June

A long interview about Nietzsche and free will

Metablog redux

Philosopher and logician Warren Goldfarb makes TMZ celebrity gossip site

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

2016 deja vu all over again

 

2024 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 23, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE HOLIDAY BREAK

January

The financial future of UK universities (outside Oxbridge)

Two PhDs in philosophy, but in different areas?

Data on undergraduate philosophy majors in the U.S. over the last two decades

How long to wait for a journal before withdrawing an article under submission?

Timothy Williamson did not like Philip Kitcher's "What's the Use of Philosophy?"

Most Cited Anglophone books on Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche

February

"Science does not describe reality" (with a fabulous set of reader comments)

The growth of PPE

How Trump thinks, redux

Yale faculty in favor of Yale being a university

March

The "literature review" as "symbolic violence" and "epistemic theft"

Are there too many "elderly" faculty?

More on "redundant" publications (with reader discussion)

How does holding a PhD in another field affect PhD in philosophy admissions?

John K. Wilson is not a reliable supporter of academic freedom

What is it like to be "manic"?

On retiring

"Not everything is about gender"

St. Norbert College's mass firing of humanities junior faculty

Philosopher Leif Wenar on "effective" (i.e., short-term, measurable) altruism

2024: Philosophers who died

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2024:  Robert M. Adams, E. Jennifer Ashworth, Nuel Belnap, Jr., Jonathan Bennett, Martha Brandt Bolton, Robert Bolton, Daniel Breazeale (died at end of 2023), Keith Campbell, Chung-Ying Cheng, Max Cresswell, Daniel Dennett, Susan Feagin, Alvin I. Goldman, Ted Honderich, Christopher Hookway, Don Ihde, Robert H. Kane, David Konstan, Arnold Koslow, John F. Malcolm, Bernard Manin, Gerald J. Massey, Robert J. McKim, Nenad Miščević, Alan Montefiore, Kathleen Okruhlik, Charles D. Parsons, Lawrence Pasternack, Graciela de Pierris, Nicholas Rescher, Michael Ruse, Frederick Schauer, Richard Schmitt, J.B. Schneewind, George E. Smith, Howard Stein, Robert Stern, Michael Stocker, William W. Tait, Michael Tanner, Joseph S. Ullian, Anand Vaidya, George M. Wilson, John Woods.

You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries, by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note: I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of those likely to be known to many others in the profession. Apologies for oversights and omissions.)

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the best finds of 2024

I didn't do as many this year, since I think I may have finally exhausted the genre of obscure blues-based rock.  But here were a couple of good finds that I enjoyed:

    Argent, "Keep On Rollin'," 1972

    Gun, "Race with the Devil," 1968

    Jo Jo Gunne, "Broken Down Man," 1973

Feel free to add links to obscure rock 'n' roll that you think deserves notice.  Those that strike my fancy may be used, with acknowledgment, in future "Great moments" posts on the blog.

ADDENDUM:  Please include the name of the band and a URL for a video of the song!

Best of the summer blog: August

For those just returning to the blog, some highlights from August:

Philosophy & Public Affairs successor journal

Resources in philosophy of work and labor and related areas

Philosopher's Annual, top ten papers from 2023

Several memorial notices with reader remembrances:   George M. Wilson, Robert Stern, Alvin I. Goldman.

Best of the summer blog: July

For those who missed it, a few highlights from July:

Sleepwalking into disaster:  the response to learning Emperor Biden has no clothes

"How to Cabin the Realist Indeterminacy Thesis:  On Green, Positivism, and the Sources of Law"

An interview with Neuhouser on Rousseau and Amour-Propre

"Foucault as a Kind of Realist:  Genealogical Critique and the Debunking of the Human Sciences"

Hobart & William Smith Politics Professor wrongfully suspended will return to the classroom this fall

 

Best of the summer blog: June

For the benefit of those who took a summer hiatus from the blog, here are some notable items from the summer, starting with June:

A long interview about Nietzsche and free will

Metablog redux

Philosopher and logician Warren Goldfarb makes TMZ celebrity gossip site

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

2016 deja vu all over again

2023 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 29, 2023, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT

October

"On the Relevance of Etiology to Justification (with reference to Marx and Nietzsche)"

Hannah Arendt, "white supremacist"?

"Politics by Other Means:  the Jurisprudence of 'Common Good Constitutionalism'"

Annals of academics with no decency or judgment

"Personal statements" for PhD programs after the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision

More recollections of Putnam and Quine

Israel/Gaza links for October 31

November

Reading recommendations on the history of Zionism and Israel?

"there is this pathology at Oxford"

Canary in the coal mine when it comes to the "diversity" mania gripping some departments

The philosophers' letters regarding Israel/Gaza continue

Kripke against materialism, 2.0?

Recommendations of math and physics texts for students wanting to study philosophy of physics

Khalidi v. Benhabib on the "Philosophers for Palestine" letter

John Martin Fischer on the latest scientist's foray into free will

December

Peter Momtchiloff, legendary OUP philosophy editor, leaving the press after 30 years

Self-destructing on Twitter, a continuing saga

Hiring of non-US PhDs in US departments

The Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn were much too nice to the Republicans in Congress

Oxford University Press, recent experiences?

2023 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 28, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT

July

A serious blow for faculty speech in the 4th Circuit in the U.S.

Philosophers and political theorists elected as Fellows and Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy

The canary in the coal mine for academic freedom at Texas A&M University

Lateral moves/retirements (etc.) since the 2021 Philosophical Gourmet Report:  2023 edition

August

I seem to be catching on in Asia

The "bloodbath" at West Virginia University [sic]

First "the heckler's veto," now the "lone wolf's veto"

Steven Salaita is now back in academia

The "Elephant in the Room" in the debate over judicial review in Israel

Suspicious job search in philosophy at the University of Genoa

Nathan Osserof-Spicer still defaming philosophers:  this time he falsely accuses a philosopher of plagiarism!

September

MacIntyre on the moral philosophy of the 20th Century

Philosopher's Annual, top ten papers from 2022

The study of philosophy in law schools, and JD/PhD programs, 2023 edition

What does "tenure" really mean in Australia?

Where junior tenure-track faculty at the "top 20" U.S. programs got their PhD, 2023-24

Lederman on the tasks for Chinese philosophy scholarship

Mindless jurisprudence bashing on Twitter

2023 in review, 2nd quarter: April, May, June

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 27, 2023, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT

April

How do departments interpret "negative" responses to requests to do tenure reviews?

The assault on New College of Florida

Good work if you can get it

Censorship of philosophy at OUP

Crisis at Journal of Political Philosophy:  Wiley (publisher) ousts longtime editor Robert Goodin

More on Wiley as a journal publisher

Dumb and dumber:  Twitter on the OUP/Byrne fiasco

May

Not all philosophy journal experiences with Wiley have been bad

What philosophical ideas should non-philosophers know about?

America is not a civilized country

Ruse on Setiya on Kitcher

Stephen Mulhall did not like Derek Parfit's way of doing philosophy

Tenure in Texas:  the aftermath

Which philosophers are mentioned in the most articles at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy?

June

Philosophy professor Stephen Kershnar sues SUNY-Fredonia for violation of his constitutional rights

Another liberal egalitarian philosopher cashes in

Chalmers/Koch bet regarding consciousness

Williamson to continue teaching at Oxford through 2026

The Supreme Court's affirmative action in admissions decision

2023 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 26, 2023, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT

January

Wittgenstein and Darwin

"Analytic" philosophy and the McCarthy era

Philosopher Nick Bostrom (Oxford) and his creepy racism

The DEI industry and its role in the university's appeal to "consumers" (formerly known as students)

Will AI change teaching?

"Artificial Intelligence [sic] forever inanimate and dumb"

Where professors come from

February

"Western philosophy" and "Eastern philosophy"

Inviting waitlisted prospective graduate students to visit?

One philosopher is not worried about ChatGPT

Do "diversity" statements violate academic freedom?  A debate

A Black professor "trapped in anti-racist hell"

The problem with the Heterodox Academy is that it is "woke"

What happened to the Twitter maniacs from a couple of years ago?

The political economy of the academy and the decline of the humanities

March

A response to "Diversity Sometimes  Trumps Academic Freedom" in CHE

"Woke" explained

On the 'normativity' revolution in philosophy

Enemies of academic freedom watch:  Michael Berube edition

2023: Philosophers who died

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2023:  Joseph Agassi, Hans Albert, Henry E. Allison, Maria Rosa Antognazza, Shlomo Avineri, Albert Borgmann, David Burrell, Robin Downie, Enrique Dussel, Edward Erwin, Harry Frankfurt, Stephen Gaukroger, David Gauthier, Kent Greenawalt, Jeroen Groenendijk, Ian Hacking, David Harrah (died in 2022), Ian Jarvie, Charles H. Kahn, Simo Knuuttila (died in 2022), Douglas C. Long, Peter Machamer, Jennifer A. McMahon, Richard W. Miller, J.N. Mohanty, Donald J. Munro, Stephen Nathanson, William Newton-Smith, Thomas M. Robinson, Mark Rollins, Mark Sagoff, Michael Scriven, John G. Slater, William J. Talbott, Benjamin Ross Tilghman, Ernst Tugenhadt, Gianni Vattimo, Bruce Waller, Fred F. Wilson, Paul Woodruff.

You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note: I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of those likely to be known to many others in the profession. Apologies for oversights and omissions.)

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll (and obscure covers): the best finds of 2023

As readers will know, there were fewer new obscure finds this year (I think I have come close to exhausting what's actually worth flagging here!), so I expanded to posting some relatively obscure number as well as obscure "covers" of great rock numbers, and recycling "great moments" from prior years.  Here, in any case, are my four favorite really obscure discoveries from this past year:

Creepy John Thomas, "Ride a Rainbow," 1969

Frijid Pink, "State Line Boogie," 2011

Head Over Heels, "In My Woman," 1971

Sweetwater, "Why Oh Why," 1968

And here are four other obscure (but not as obscure) numbers I realy enjoyed from the past year:

Atomic Rooster, "Devil's Answer," 1971

Bonnie & Delaney & Friends, "Comin' Home," 1971

Budgie, "Homicidal Suicidal," 1971

Ry Cooder, "Billy the Kid," 1972

Feel free to add your own favorite "obscure" (or fairly obscure) rock 'n' roll finds over the past year; you can just cut and paste the URL into the comment, it will convert automatically.  I may take some of your suggestions for next year!  (Two of the four on this year's "really obscure" list were suggested by reader Dave Wasser.)

Highlights from the summer blog: August

For those who missed them, some blog highlights from August:

I seem to be catching on in Asia

The "bloodbath" at West Virginia University [sic]

First "the heckler's veto," not the "lone wolf's veto"

Steven Salaita is now back in academia

The "Elephant in the Room" in the debate over judicial review in Israel

Suspicious job search in philosophy at the University of Genoa

Nathan Osserof-Spicer still defaming philosophers:  this time he falsely accuses a philosopher of plagiarism!

Highlights from the summer blog: July

Some more highlights from the summer, for those who may have missed them:

A serious blow for faculty speech in the 4th Circuit in the U.S.

In Memoriam:  Harry G. Frankfurt (1929-2023)

Philosophers and political theorists elected as Fellows and Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy

The canary in the coal mine for academic freedom at Texas A&M University

Highlights from the summer blog: June

Now that my summer blogging quasi-hiatus is ending (see here for the new schedule), here are some summer highlights, for those who may have missed them, starting with June:

In Memoriam:  Henry E. Allison (1937-2023)

In Memoriam:  Richard W. Miller (1945-2023)

Williamson to continue teaching at Oxford through 2026

The Supreme Court's affirmative action in admissions decision

2022: Philosophers who passed away

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 30, 2022, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE BREAK (re:  the title, see)

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2022:   Richard J. Bernstein, Arthur Bierman, Geoffrey Brennan, Bruno Celano, Hugh J. Chandler, John M. Cooper, Donald W. Crawford, Frank Cunningham, Milton Fisk, Harry Gensler, S.J., Dieter Henrich, Paul Humphreys, Michael (M.J.) Inwood, Gary Iseminger, Saul Kripke, Bruno Latour, Larry Laudan, Sten Lindstrom, Penelope Mackie, William E. Mann, Don Marquis, Herbert Morris, Graham Nerlich, Terence Parsons, Zenon Pylyshyn, Joseph Raz, David H. Sanford, Kenneth Sayre, T.K. Seung, Sydney Shoemaker, Aaron Smuts, Paul Snowdon, Kwasi Wiredu.  You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note: I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of those likely to be known to many others in the profession.  Apologies for oversights and omissions.)

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 30, 2022, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE BREAK (re:  the title, see)

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2022:   Richard J. Bernstein, Arthur Bierman, Geoffrey Brennan, Bruno Celano, Hugh J. Chandler, John M. Cooper, Donald W. Crawford, Frank Cunningham, Milton Fisk, Harry Gensler, S.J., Dieter Henrich, Paul Humphreys, Michael (M.J.) Inwood, Gary Iseminger, Saul Kripke, Bruno Latour, Larry Laudan, Sten Lindstrom, Penelope Mackie, William E. Mann, Don Marquis, Herbert Morris, Graham Nerlich, Terence Parsons, Zenon Pylyshyn, Joseph Raz, David H. Sanford, Kenneth Sayre, T.K. Seung, Sydney Shoemaker, Aaron Smuts, Paul Snowdon, Kwasi Wiredu.  You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note: I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of those likely to be known to many others in the profession.  Apologies for oversights and omissions.)

2022 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 29, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE BREAK

October

Sleepwalking into Armageddon:  Russia, Ukraine, and nuclear weapons continued

Raz as a political philosopher

Is Wittgenstein truly a "hero" of philosophy?  Or can we do without his "wankings"?

Cedric Robinson's "Black [Anti-]Marxism"

The pernicious influence of fossil fuel money on climate research (and the role of outside money in philosophy)

A new "Creative Commons" license with some odd features

November

A philosophically substantial work on the history of Marxism?

Conference organizers may want to think twice before inviting Professor Carol Hay (U Mass/Lowell) to their event

2022 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 28, FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT DURING THE BREAK

July

Travels abroad, and some observations about philosophy

When you can't tell what's a parody and what isn't

Reed on Black Lives Matter

August

Specialist journals that published the best articles in moral and/or political philosophy, 2022

Korsgaard's Dewey Lecture

Have things really changed in philosophy since the 1990s when it comes to publication pressures and narrowness of specialization?

Best "general" journals of philosophy, 2022, by two different polling methods

2022 in review, 2nd quarter: April, May, June

MOVING TO FRONT FROM DECEMBER 27, FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE BREAK

April

On Russia and Ukraine, the perspective of a Putin advisor

Now the "open letters" attacking OUP begin

Talking about Nietzsche with Dylan Aames

An open letter about calling attention to the open letter to OUP about an unread and unreleased book

Justice Ginsburg is a philosopher, and other great moments in the Dunning-Kruger effect

"Mob review" rather than "peer review"?

Where untenured tenure-track faculty at the U.S. "top 20" earned their Ph.D., 2022

Per student value of endowments of American universities and colleges, 2021

May

Joseph Raz's final wishes

2022 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

MOVING TO FROM FROM DECEMBER 26--FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE MISSED IT DURING THE HOLIDAY BREAK

January

"How Doctors Die"

A new website for discussing philosophy pre-prints

It's amusing when critics of the PGR ranking inadvertently reveal the need for them

A note on Carolyn Dicey Jennings and her compilation of placement data

Most cited Anglophone books on Hegel and on Nietzsche

February

How "soft fascism" will come to America if the Republicans control the federal government in January 2025

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the five best finds of 2022

As readers who follow this series know, it's gotten harder to find "obscure" fare worth sharing, so more recently, I've taken to re-upping older features from several years ago.  But there were some good finds (at least by my light!) earlier this year.  Here's my five favorites for 2022; feel free to add yours in the comments:

Blonde on Blonde, "All Day All Night," 1968

Duffy, "Running Away," 1973

The Gods, "Farthing Man," 1968

Silverhead, "Rolling with My Baby," 1972

Steamhammer, "When All Your Friends are Gone," 1969

And one runner-up:  Sensational Alex Harvey Band, "Midnight Moses," 1972

Best of the summer blog, 2022

As blog readership returns to normal levels, I thought I'd compile some links to highlights from the blog this past summer (June-August) for those who may have missed them:

June

The new "cadre" of putative experts on "academic freedom" who are, in reality, its enemy

"Identity politics" neoliberalism meets millenial narcissism

A comment on the current pathology of the U.S. legal system

Bad journal practices:  the case of rejection without reasons after R&R

Inflation and graduate-student stipends

July

A poll about Covid (and who has had it)

Travels abroad, and some observations about philosophy

2021: Philosophers who passed away

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2021:  Lilli Alanen, Robert Ammerman, Frithjof Bergmann, Graham Bird, James Bohman, Jacques Bouveresse, Richard N. Boyd, Sarah (Waterlow) Broadie, Eugenio Bulygin, Louis Charland, John Corcoran, Richard Double, Jude P. Dougherty, J. Michael Dunn, Jim Edwards, Ed Gettier, José A. Giannotti, Jorge J.E. Gracia, Gilbert Harman, Katherine Hawley, Waheed Hussain, Kenneth Kipnis, Aryeh (L.A.) Kosman, Andrew Levine, Joseph Margolis, Storrs McCall, Charles W. Mills, Fabrizio Mondadori, Margaret Morrison, Kai Nielsen, Bernard Rollin, Gerasimos X. Santas, William Ralph Schroeder, Andreas Teuber, Salvatore Veca, Stephen J. White, Eddy Zemach.  You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note: I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of thoselikely to be known to many others in the profession.  Apologies for oversights and omissions.)

2021 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

October

The study of philosophy in law schools, and JD/PhD programs in the U.S. (and elsewhere), 2021 edition

MIT cancels distinguished lecture by geoscientist who expressed "incorrect" views about diversity

On Macroeconomics, in the NYT (a discussion)

Charles Mills and his critique of Rawls (a discussion)

Yale's President is extremely confused about the role of academic freedom and his job

Talking about the Chinese Room argument with a chatbot

The attack on tenure in Georgia

SSHRC (in Canada) requiring "diversity" in research proposals (a discussion)

No wonder Schopenhauer was a pessimist!

2021 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

July

Adoph Reed on Robin DiAngelo and the political economy of "race" politics (link fixed)

Percent of tenure-stream faculty who are female in PhD programs in philosophy increased about 40% since 2004

In Memoriam: Bob Moses (1935-2021)

August

Ranked philosophy departments that have no faculty specializing in the Continental traditions in philosophy after Kant

In Memoriam: Sarah (Waterlow) Broadie (1941-2021)

"Realism, Disagreement, and Explanation"

"The whole country is the Reichstag"

Philosophers Annual, ten top papers of 2020

The end of Oxford's dominance in jurisprudence:  Leslie Green to leave Oxford

2021 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

January

An intelligent discussion of "systemic racism"

Dominic Berry is drawing a line!

The "Anti-Kathleen Stock" letter is full of mistakes, fact-free speculation and misleading innuendo

Where (untenured) tenure-track faculty at the U.S. "top 24" PhD programs in 2020-21 got their PhD

The real worry about the stormtrooper riot at the Capitol lasts week is what it portends

Graduate students afraid to support the open letter on academic freedom

Christa Peterson's "Hit Piece" on Kathleen Stock

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the five best finds of 2021...

...in my opinion, anyway. Glad to hear yours in the comments (click on the category, "Great Moments in Obscure Rock 'n' Roll" [in which this post appears] to see this year's selections from which to choose).

Here's my top five:

Bang, "Mother," 1972

Blodwyn Pig, "Same Old Story," 1970

The Damnation of Adam Blessing, "The Last Train to Clarksville," 1969

Steamhammer, "Contemporary Chick Con Song," 1969

Tucky Buzzard, "She's Meat," 1971

And a few runners-up that could just as well have been the top five:

Bang, "Feels Nice," 1973

Blonde on Blonde, "Conversationally Making the Grade," 1969

Tucky Buzzard, "Time Will Be Your Doctor," 1971

Zior, "I Really Do," 1971

Best of the summer blog

MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY--LINK FIXED, BELOW

Here are some popular blog posts from the summer months you may have missed:

June

The Stone blog at the NY Times is dead

"Two Pessimisms in Mill"

The final nail in the coffin for the failed science of "implicit bias"?

July

Michigan Philosophy not accepting PhDs apps this fall, but will resume next year

Adoph Reed on Robin DiAngelo and the political economy of "race" politics (link fixed)

Percent of tenure-stream faculty who are female in PhD programs in philosophy increased about 40% since 2004

In Memoriam: Bob Moses (1935-2021)

August

Ranked philosophy departments that have no faculty specializing in the Continental traditions in philosophy after Kant

In Memoriam: Sarah (Waterlow) Broadie (1941-2021)

"Realism, Disagreement, and Explanation"

"The whole country is the Reichstag"

Philosophers Annual, ten top papers of 2020

The end of Oxford's dominance in jurisprudence:  Leslie Green to leave Oxford

2020 in review

For those who missed it during the holidays, here are links to the end-of-year review of 2020, broken into four quarters:   1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  A list of the philosophers whose deaths were noted in 2020 is here.

2020, a record-breaking year on the blog

There were more than 3.7 million visits to the blog in 2020--a record--and nearly 4.6 million page views (not a record, but higher than the prior year).  This was all the more notable given my blogging hiatus last July.   Thanks, dear readers, for your continued interest.   And extra thanks to the many of you who send links and lend your expertise as well:  your help and advice makes it possible to keep the blog going while still doing my real job!   I wish all of you a fruitful, healthy, and interesting 2021.

2020: Philosophers who passed away

MOVING TO FRONT FROM THIS MORNING, UPDATED

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2020: Dan W. Brock, Mario Bunge, George Dickie, David Efird, Gerald ("Jerry") Gaus, Ruth Gavison, Ronald Giere, Colin Howson, Joel Kupperman, J.R. Lucas, Jack Macintosh, David Charles McCarty, Brian McGuinness, D.H. (Hugh) Mellor, Philippe Mongin, J. Adam Morton, Jeffrie G. Murphy, Karen Neander, Terence Penelhum, Michael Redhead, Amelie Oksenberg Rorty, Roger Scruton, Emanuele Severino, Quentin Smith, Joseph D. Sneed, Mark Steiner, Nicholas L. Sturgeon, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Raimo Tuomela, William J. Wainwright, Douglas N. Walton, Keith Yandell. You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

(Note:  I do not attempt to list the passing of every professional philosopher in a given year; I do try to record the deaths of those who are likely to be known to others in the profession.)

The "most visited" categories on the blog, 2020

Of course, "Philosophy in the News" dominated, as well as, this year, "Coronavirus."  But here were the five most popular other categories (in alphabetical order) after those two big ones:  Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism and Fascism Alerts, Philosophy Updates, The New Infantilism, and "The less they know, the less they know it."  (Surprisingly, "Chris Bertram" almost made the cut.)

2020 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

October

Another academic freedom case, at the University of New Hampshire

The First Amendment is apparently hard to understand

Classics professor at UT Austin defamed as a "pedophile" by deranged students has now sued them

MA programs in philosophy, with funding

Do philosophers make the world a better place?  Thoughts from the late John Gardner

Some election musings

November

A ballot initiative in a blue state and what it reveals about the electorate

When all you have is a hammer...

Speaking of "fake news" (on fact-free explanations of Biden's victory)

Some reader comments on the Presidential election

On Trump's appeal:  from the less to the more plausible

Important philosophers/scientists who are theists and were not raised in religious households

Wuhan after the lockdown

Which living philosophers has exerted the greatest positive influence on your moral/political views? The results

UChicago geology professor under attack for raising mild criticisms of "diversity" initiatives

December

On institutions that demand individual uploads of letters of recommendation

Berg on Manne and "public philosophy"

Alexa site rankings

I discuss "Moral Psychology with Nietzsche" at Trinity College Dublin

2020-21 update for U.S. schools ranked in the 2017 PGR

Best/most important philosophy books/articles since 2010

2020 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

July (mostly on hiatus this month)

Several dozen Princeton faculty calls for violation of their colleagues' right to academic freedom

Board of Illinois Wesleyan spares philosophy--this time

August

How will the pandemic and economic crisis affect the landscape of higher education?

2020-21 PGR postponed due to COVID-19

President of the University of Southern Maine understands neither academic freedom nor the First Amendment

What is "cancel culture"?

Randall Kennedy takes apart the ludicrous hyperbole in the "anti-racism" statement by Princeton faculty

On the aesthetic seductiveness of Nazism

September

Introducing Marxism and critiques of capitalism to high school students

David Hume has now been "cancelled" at the University of Edinburgh

Most influential books of philosophy of the last 20 years

A concern about this year's Philosopher's Annual results

Some jurisprudential articles

PGR haters are strangely self-unaware

On "cancel culture" again, and a philosophy anecdote

Class and responses to Trump's rudeness and Biden's gaffes

Several dozen Princeton faculty calls for violation of their colleagues' right to academic freedom

Board of Illinois Wesleyan spares philosophy--this time

August

How will the pandemic and economic crisis affect the landscape of higher education?

2020-21 PGR postponed due to COVID-19

President of the University of Southern Maine understands neither academic freedom nor the First Amendment

What is "cancel culture"?

Randall Kennedy takes apart the ludicrous hyperbole in the "anti-racism" statement by Princeton faculty

On the aesthetic seductiveness of Nazism

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the five best finds of 2020...

...in my opinion, anyway. Glad to hear yours in the comments (click on the category, "Great Moments in Obscure Rock 'n' Roll" to see this year's selections from which to choose).   When the year started, I was skeptical I would find enough suitable choices, but as it turned out, there were so many good choices, it's hard to settle on just five, so I'm going to list some runners-up too.  (By the way, you can find all these and more--and the best from prior years--on Spotify under "Brian Best of Obscure Rock 60s and 70s"; you may need to search "Bleiter" and then scroll through to find mine.)

Here's my top five:

Bang, "Questions," 1971

The Factory, "Gone," 1968

Freedom, "Nobody," 1970

Josefus, "Country Boy," 1969

Kaleidoscope, "Lie to Me," 1969

And here are my runners-up, which just as easily could have been in the top five:

Blodwyn Pig, "It's Only Love," 1969

Fat, "The Shape I'm In," 1970

Frijid Pink, "Sing a Song for Freedom," 1970

Fuzzy Duck, "Just Look Around You," 1971

Tear Gas, "Big House," 1970

You may add your choices from this year's selections in the comments.

2020 in review, 2nd quarter: April, May, June

April

Best introductory texts to philosophy of law

How universities can open next fall

New German study of infection and virus transmission (this one got it right)

A nice note from a philosopher in NYC, with two interesting twists

Why Berkeley's mandatory diversity statements are unlawful

"What's the deal with birds?"

When the "war" against COVID is over, there should be a war crimes trial

Houlgate on Brandom on Hegel

A case for optimism about a vaccine (turned out to be right!)

"Statement of Academic Solidarity"

May

New Infantilism at Oxord

Hans Sluga reflects on his life and on philosophy

How to study COVID-19 and racial disparities

Anthony Fauci on colleges reopening in the fall

Coronavirus in Chicago (and New York City):  a timeline

Section 230 and Twitter

June

The sociology of police violence (the real problem is not racism)

Nietzsche's rules for warfare...and the question of race and class

In Memoriam:  Maurice Leiter (1933-2020) (

Phil Studies and the Dembroff-Byrne debate:  here, here, and here.

"Contemporary legal realism"

Best places to publish in ancient philosophy and related questions

"The Economic Origins of Mass Incarceration"

Things "we" now know that we didn't know bout COVID a few months ago

It pays not to read the mail:  a Paul Grice story

2020 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

January

Best introductory texts to philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy art/aesthetics, and ancient Greek and Roman philosophy

Have you been rejected in a search requiring a mandatory "diversity statement"?

Sartwell on "guilt by association" and the Twitter Red Guard

Preposterous philosophical views:  the poll results

Peer-reviewed journal publishes a paper some people don't like, petition ensues

February

Best introductory texts to philosophy of religion, philosophy of action, philosophy of social science (or particular social sciences), and non-Western philosophical traditions or figures.

Cover art on philosophy books

Confessions of an ex-philosopher

Not a great a great piece of public philosophy:  on Strawson and the coronavirus

Jonathan Mitchell did not like Tom Stern's "New Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche"

Yale faculty vouch for Sarah Braasch, the real victim in the "napping while Black" manufactured scandal

The pernicious class politics of diversity blather

March

Intensive COVID coverage began this month (the category debuted on March 14):  you can start here and scroll down.  Blog readership soared this month as this blog, oddly enough, became a go-to place for decent information and perspective.  (Thanks to the readers who helped make that happen with their tips.)

Kramnick on Karen Kelsky, "a war profiteer of the collapsing job market"

Critical theory is dead, dead, dead, and Habermas killed it

Looking ahead for colleges and universities (given COVID) (basically my #4 came to pass) (THIS LINK NOW FIXED)

Is there any bioethical consensus on whose lives to save first in a triage situation?

Some readings about epidemics of the past

"Capitalism, Social Democracy, and Socialism:  Which is right for America?"  The debate

Best introductory text to the history of early modern philosophy (or particular figures).

Best of the summer blog

For those who are just returning to blog reading, here were some of the highlights of the summer (I only blogged a couple of times in July):

Nietzsche's rules for warfare...and the question of race and class (June)

In Memoriam:  Maurice Leiter (1933-2020) (June)

Phil Studies and the Dembroff-Byrne debate:  here, here, and here. (June)

"Contemporary legal realism" (June)

Best places to publish in ancient philosophy and related questions (June)

"The Economic Origins of Mass Incarceration" (June)

It pays not to read the mail:  a Paul Grice story (June)

Several dozen Princeton faculty calls for violation of their colleagues' right to academic freedom (July)

Papers posted on-line in 2019

For those interested, here are links to the new and revised papers I posted on-line in 2019:

"The History of Philosophy Reveals that 'Great' Philosophy is Disguised Moral Advocacy:  A Nietzschean Case Against the Socratic Canon in Philosophy"

"Culture and Value in Nietzsche"

"Nietzsche's Naturalism:  Neither Liberal Nor Illiberal"

"Bernard Williams' Debt to Nietzsche: Real or Illusory?"

"Foucault as a Kind of Realist:  Genealogical Critique and the Debunking of the Human Sciences"

"Marx and Marxism" (with Lawrence Dallman)

"Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law"

2019 in review, for those who missed it (the review, that is, not the year!)

As traffic picks up post-holidays, I thought I'd note that under the category "Year in Review" (in which this post appears), you can find links to the various year-in-review posts covering 2019 at the blog.

 

2019: Philosophers who passed away

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2019:  Stephen Barker, Myles Burnyeat, Tom Campbell, Francisco Miró Quesada Cantuarias, Michael Detlefsen, Randall Dipert, John Gardner, Gary Gutting, Rom Harre, Agnes Heller, Tony Honore, Pamela Huby, Jaegwon Kim, Bryan Magee, George Mavrodes, Brian McGuinness, Ruth Anna Putnam, Anita Silvers, Karola Stotz, Barry Stroud, Kenneth Taylor, A.S. Troelstra, James D. Wallace, Mary Warnock, Richard A. Watson.  You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

2019 in review, 4th quarter: October, November, December

October

More on whether evolution really selects for veridical perception

Philosopher Jamie Edwards (St. Norbert) interviewed

A documentary about Paul Robeson

Philosophical Gourmet Report, 2019-20

Berggruen decides philosophers aren't really worth $1 million after all

Letters of recommendation are essential

November

Pedigree and quality

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

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

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

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

2019 in review, 3rd quarter: July, August, September

July

I've been keeping some of the lesser minds in philosophy busy "for decades"

Statement in defense of the academic freedom of philosophers to discuss sex and gender

Twitter is not the real world, an on-going saga

Tuvel-style mobbing comes to sociology

August

On the replication crisis in psychology

As I first observed more than five years ago (i.e., the toxic "Rachel McK's")

Philosopher's Annual Top Ten from the 2018 literature

What it's like being a transgender woman

The latest stupidity about gender critical feminists

July

I've been keeping some of the lesser minds in philosophy busy "for decades"

Statement in defense of the academic freedom of philosophers to discuss sex and gender

Twitter is not the real world, an on-going saga

Tuvel-style mobbing comes to sociology

August

On the replication crisis in psychology

As I first observed more than five years ago (i.e., the toxic "Rachel McK's")

Philosopher's Annual Top Ten from the 2018 literature

What it's like being a transgender woman

The latest stupidity about gender critical feminists

2019 in review, 2nd quarter: April, May, June

April

Anti-lesbian discrimination at Facebook group for LGBT philosophers

Books you should have read but haven't

Hate apparently also never means having to say you're sorry

DePaul University students embarrass themselves with frontal assault on academic freedom

The Stanford Encyclopedia's coverage of Marxism and feminism:  a revealing study in contrasts

May

Cambridge University fires post-doc who was target of Internet campaign last fall

Unethical philosophers who participated in harassment and defamation of Rebecca Tuvel issue "white paper" on "publication ethics"

Twitter "believe it or not," part 4:  juvenile jackass confronts adult on-line

Moral psychology with Nietzsche, at the LARB

Speaking of irrational political beliefs

The quest for "relevance" by some analytic philosophers and their ignorance of the post-Kantian traditions in European philosophy

How to cite Hobbes:  the debate continues

2019 in review, 1st quarter: January, February, March

January

John Finnis and Hastings Rashdall

Is the tide finally turning on the New Infantilists and "thought police" in academic philosophy?

Philosopher Alex Byrne (MIT) on the idea of "gender identity"

Wittgenstein's letter of recommendation for "Mrs. Geach" (i.e, Anscombe)

The American Academy of each other's friends in the Arts & Sciences

February

Per student value of university and college endowments at the end of 2018

The real diversity problem in Anglophone philosophy

Steven Salaita today

Yale-NUS's Robin Zheng interviewed (and the Tuvel case redux)

2018: Philosophers who passed away

The passing of the following philosophers was noted on the blog during 2018:  Stefan Bernard Baumrin, Lawrence C. Becker, Sylvain Bromberger, Stanley Cavell, Robert Coburn, Fiona Cowie, Herbert Fingarette, C. Michael Gelven, Adolf Grunbaum, Isaac Levi, John J. McDermott, Mary Midgley, Marilyn Pearsall, George W. Pitcher, Vincent Shen, John Tienson, Yirmiyahu Yovel.  You can find more information, including (often) links to obituaries by scrolling through the "Philosophy Updates" category (in which this post also appears).

2018 Year in Review, fourth quarter: October, November, December

October

My five favorite Americans of the 20th-century (and reader favorites)

What to do about the APA?

A reader response to the poll about the APA and the "diversity" issue

Academic fields of readers:  the results

Philosopher Adriel Trott, who particpated in the on-line harassment of Rebecca Tuvel, has the audacity to lecture others about on-line harsasment in philosophy!

Professions of the non-academic readers of the blog

Where blog readers live

Co-author of APA Code of Conduct violates it, without embarrassment

On "harassment":  a guide for beginners (and cry-babies)

November

Best 'general' journals of philosophy, 2018

Doe v. Kipnis, HarperCollins has settled

Rosenberg on the "threat" posed by neuroscience to our self-understanding

December

Fascists force the CEU out of Hungary, but the CEU will continue in Vienna!

Universities ranked by membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

The Twitter cesspool