News Items from Fall 2010
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Whooshing Up!
— Wall Street Journal (Dec 31)
In their wide-ranging book, 'All Things Shining', philosophers Hubert Dreyfus (Berkeley) and Sean Kelly (Harvard) offer "whooshing up" as a key part of resolving "the 'lostness' of the modern world." (The book is also treated in this op-ed in the NY Times.)
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Philosophy Homework Leads to Surgery
—Washington Post (Dec 24)
A teacher at St. Mary's College assigned his philosophy students the task of recommending whether he should donate one of his kidneys.
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Telling Right From Wrong
—NY Times (Dec 21)
This edition of "The Lives They Lived Series" focusses on philosopher Philippa Foot.
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Crowdsourcing Jeremy Bentham
—NY Times (Dec 27)
After 50 years at the task, the Bentham Project is crowdsourcing the transcription of the voluminous writings of philosopher Jeremy Bentham -- anyone with an internet connetion can now transcribe a bit of Bentham on lunch break. The initiative is the first of its kind and could be a real breakthrough for many beleageured transcription projects. "After more than five decades, only slightly more than half of James Madison's papers have been transcribed and published, while work on Thomas Jefferson's papers, begun in 1943, probably won't be finished until around 2025."
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American Philosophy Assoc. Caught in Boston Blizzard
—Inside Higher Ed (Dec 28)
Blizzard conditions, grounded planes and frozen transportation systems in the Northeast have created many problems for the American Philosophical Association which is holding its Eastern division meeting in Boston. "Many sessions on [the first day] were canceled, and many scheduled [job] interviews did not take place. In some cases, candidates made it to Boston, but not hiring committees. In other cases, it was the opposite."
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On Forgiveness
—NT Times (Dec 26)
Philosopher Charles Griswold discusses what forgiveness is and when it is appropriate.
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A Real Science of Mind
—NY Times (Dec 19)
Philosopher Tyler Burge (UCLA) thinks a lot of the hype about neuroscience is a classic bait and switch -- it baits us with the promise of psychological explanation but really offers only unexplanatory brain science. A real science of mind will require psychology not just neurology. He discusses the real advances in perceptual psychology as a case in point.
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Philosophy Ranks Highest Over All Humanities and Social Sciences
—Discover (Dec 10)
Based on an analysis of GRE scores broken down by discipline, Razib Khan concludes that philosophers are the smartest in the humanities. That may be a tendentious reading of the data, but there is no doubt that students going into philosophy are a highly distinguished group. The pool of philosophy applicants ranks higher than any other discipline in both verbal and writing scores as well as the highest in quantitative score over all humanities and social sciences. However one takes these results, the charts on this site are interesting and the position of Philosophy in them is indeed striking.
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Embodied Cognition and Extended Mind
—NY Times (Dec 12)
Philosopher Andy Clark (Edinburgh) discusses the question of whether advanced tools with which we are deeply cognitively en rapport are properly thought of as parts of or extensions of our minds. Update: Clark has a follow-up post in which he responds to readers' comments.
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Does Thinking Really Happen in the Brain?
—NPR (Dec 11)
Philosopher Alvae Noë (UC Berkeley) discusses the question whether the thing inside us that thinks and feels and wants and decides is our brain. This, in light of recent advances in "brain reading"—computer processing "information about the brain's total state gathered from brain imaging tools (fMRI) to make reliable predictions about a person's mental state, in real time." Update: the second half of this essay can be found here.
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Can Science Tell Us Right From Wrong?
—YouTube
A panel of philosophers responds to author Sam Harris' provocative suggestion that science has now advanced to where it can settle ethical questions. "On November 6th, 2010 a panel of renowned scientists, philosophers, and public intellectuals gathered to discuss what impact evolutionary theory and advances in neuroscience might have on traditional concepts of morality. If human morality is an evolutionary adaptation and if neuroscientists can identify specific brain circuitry governing moral judgment, can scientists determine what is, in fact, right and wrong? The panelists were psychologist Steven Pinker, author Sam Harris, philosopher Patricia Churchland, physicist Lawrence Krauss, philosopher Simon Blackburn, bioethicist Peter Singer and The Science Network's Roger Bingham." The presentations and discussions are available on YouTube. Here are sample links to Harris' opening talk and the responses from Blackburn and Singer.
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Philosophy Talk Radio - Now Free
—Philosophy Talk
The radio program, Philosophy Talk, hosted by Stanford philosophers John Perry and Ken Taylor, is now available for free. Each weekly show is available for free during a one week window of opportunity. (Requires free account set up with iAmplify.) The program is syndicated on numerous NPR affiliate stations - some of which provide free live broadcasts online - which provides another way to check out the show, if you are not familiar with it.
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The Philosophy of Julian Assange
—Leiter Blog (Dec 7)
Philosopher Peter Ludlow (Northwestern) carefully examines the views of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange on the subjects of conspiracy and leaks.
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"Nihilism Stands at the Door"
—NY Times (Dec 5)
Philosopher Sean Kelly (Harvard) considers the prospect of a culture of nihilism—"the sense that it is no longer obvious what our most fundamental commitments are, or what matters in a life of distinction and worth, the sense that the world is an abyss of meaning rather than its God-given preserve"—if God-culture no longer "plays its traditional social role of organizing us around a commitment to a single right way to live." Seeking some middle way, Kelly takes a tip from Herman Melville.
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Philosophy Students Pledge to Give Away Their Income
—Rutgers Focus (Nov 29)
Three Rutgers philosophy graduate students have pledged to give to charity as much as half their income -- for life. The move is in part based on the reflection that their "modest" incomes as teaching assistants already puts them in the top 13% of wage earners worldwide. Cf. the wealth calculator at Giving What You Can organization website, founded by Oxford philosopher, Toby Ord.
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Effing the Inffable
—BQO (Nov 4)
Philosopher Roger Scruton discusses the idea that some fundamental truths are ineffable.
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Speech and Harm
—NY Times (Nov 7)
In this edition of The Stone, philosopher Ernest Lepore, considers the question "What is at the root of the power of slurs to cause unease, shock and pain?"
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History of Philosophy Podcast
—King's College
Philosopher, Peter Adamson hosts a podcast "covering the entire history of philosophy... without any gaps!"
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Malmesbury is First Philosophy Town (UK)
—Guardian (Oct 18)
"Malmesbury [birthplace of philosopher Thomas Hobbes] is hoping to capitalise on an increasing interest in thinking and become known as the UK's first 'philosophy town'."
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Filosofi, quei teorici dell'amore erano in realtà dei pasticcioni
—Corriere della Sera (Oct 18)
If one wants to understand the nature of love, one should consult the philosophers, rather than the poets. But, judging by their own bunglings in affairs of the heart, one should think twice before looking to them for practical advice. [Italian]
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World Philosophy Day in Tehran (or Out of It)
—Inside Higher Ed (Sep 29)
A brief of developments surrounding UNESCO's controversial plan to hold its World Philosophy Day conference in Tehran, including a recent proposal to stage an on-line shadow conference in protest. [Update: UNESCO eventually withdrew its association from the conference.]
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Philosophy at the Airport
—CTV News (Oct 1)
Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton spent one week as philosopher-in-residence at London's Heathrow airport -- where he lived for a week. He writes of his experiences in a recent book, A Week at the Airport.
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How to Live Forever!
—NPR (Oct 1)
Philosopher Alva Noë makes good on his promise -- following up his earlier essay on why habits are essential to living by discussing why living habitually is also our curse.
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Hegel on Wall Street
—NY Times (Oct 3)
Philosopher J.M. Bernstein reflects on what Hegel has to tell us about the government bailout of Wall Street -- a program which officially ended Oct 3rd.
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Philosophy in Afghanistan
—The Philosopher's Zone (Sep 22)
"The Philosopher's Zone explores philosophy in Afghanistan, both within the universities and informally in the broader culture. Is there a philosophical tradition that managed to remain constant during all of Afghanistan's recent upheavals? Is there an Afghan philosophy at all and what do Afghan intellectuals think about the condition of their country?" [audio & transcript]
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Uses of Pessimism and the Danger of False Hope
—The RSA (Jul 5)
Philosopher Roger Scruton gives a brief presentation of the central ideas in his book The Uses of Pessimism and the Danger of False Hope. "Scruton argues for a culture of reason, responsibility and irony in the place of the dangerous fallacies that derive from false optimism." [video]
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The Solitary Self
—The RSA (Sep 20)
Is it time to rethink what it means to be an individual? Philosopher Mary Midgley briefly presents some core ideas from her book The Solitary Self. [audio]
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Philosophy in Daily Life
—Big Think (Sep 24)
Philosopher Tim Maudin entertains the question "How is philosophy valuable in our daily lives?" For more Maudlin on the Big Think, go here.
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In the Habit of Things
—NPR (Sep 24)
We are all creatures of habit. Philosopher Alva Noë discusses the value and necessity of living habitually.
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Meat Eaters, Human and Otherwise
—NY Times (Sep 19)
Philosopher Jeff McMahan (Rutgers) raises the moral question about meat eaters generally. Maybe you think being a vegetarian is the moral thing to do. But think of all the suffering caused by all the animal carnivores in the world. Should we do something about them as well? Update: McMahan responds to reader's comments here.
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How Baseball Explains the Nature of Language
—NPR (Sep 10)
In his inaugural essay for NPR's 13.7 column, philosopher Alva Noë explains how baseball explains the nature of language; we are introduced to the Paradox of Speech and discover that, after all, language is like baseball.
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What You Yet Cannot Do
—NPR (Sep 17)
Philosopher Alva Noë takes philosophical measure of the subtle boundaries between being able and being enabled to do.
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Philosophy Bites Back!
—BBC (Sep 17)
Philosophy Bites' podcast nears 8-million downloads and is among the top twenty most popular podcasts in the U.S.
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Philosopher Soldiers
—BBC (Sep 18)
All West Point cadets now study philosophy. "US Army cadets have to face the moral conundrum of taking one life in order to save the lives of others." Ethical theory and thought experiments like the trolley car problem help them tangle with the moral issues.
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Bioethics Needed by People and Policy
—BruDirect [Brunei]
"Citizens of all ages need to make ethical decisions on how they use science and technology and its products. Bioethics has the potential to transform policy making and already has done so in a growing number of areas of science and technology, beyond biological sciences," says Darryl Macer (UNESCO).
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"Vote for Me. I am a Philosophy Major"
—Washington Post (Sep 9)
Here is a political pitch that you do not hear just every day: 'Why should voters elect you? "Being one of the few in the country with business and philosophy degrees has allowed me to look for pragmatic ideas."'
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The Festival of Dangerous Ideas
—Los Angeles Times (Sep 6)
"Australian philosopher Simon Longstaff hopes Westerners are nearing the end of what he calls a long age of forgetting. . . in the course of hundreds — even thousands — of years, Westerners have forgotten the essence of the ideas on which many of our institutions were founded. . . And what does he suggest. . .? Dangerous ideas. Plausible yet discomfiting notions that force us to consciously ask why our institutions exist and what they should accomplish." Enter the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.
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Experimental Philosophy
—NY Times (Sep 7)
Philosopher and cognitive scientist Joshua Knobe (Yale) discusses experimental philosophy.
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Philosophy TV
—(Sep 2)
Philosophy TV is "a video website devoted to philosophical thinking," and will feature professional philosophers discussing a wide range of philosophical topics. You can easily follow the site via RSS, Twitter, etc.
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Conquering Anxiety Through Philosophy
—Psychology Today (June 8)
Philosophical counselor, Elliot Cohen, in his 'What Would Aristotle Do"' column, explains how philosophy can be used to conquer your anxieties.
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Philosopher Afloat
—Yuma Sun (Aug 26)
Arizona Western College professor, Christopher Barker, worked as philosopher afloat for the Navy.
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Get Your Brain in Gear
—The Independent (Aug 22)
"Get your brain in gear: Pop philosophy is taking over the bookshops. . . Booksellers [are devoting] whole stands to popular philosophy, and this autumn alone sees a wave of new releases headed to the shelves." Including Edmonds and Warburton's Philosophy Bites—interviews with philosophers from the popular podcast of the same name—Barry Loewer's 30-Second Philosophies, and many more.
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Exploring Happiness
—Wall Street Journal (Aug 20)
Review of philosopher Sissela Bok's book, Exploring Happiness: From Aristotle to Brain Science
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Is Nothing Sacred?
—Guardian (Aug 20)
Do we hold too much sacred? Should we hold nothing sacred?
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Woolgathering Down Under
—NYT Sunday Book Review (Aug 20)
"Do geography and climate influence philosophy? Are cold and dark places more conducive to thinking than hot, barren and bright ones? Is it true, as one character in Murray Bail's new novel, 'The Pages,' puts it, that "too much light is fatal for philosophical thought?" And where does all that leave Australia?" According to one of Bail's published notebooks, that leaves Australia with "psychology and philosophy, too much of one, not enough of the other."
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Reclaiming Imagination
—NY Times (Aug 18)
Philosopher, Timothy Williamson (Oxford), discusses the important uses of imagination in philosophy, science, and everyday life.
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Philosophy and . . . Sex or Cycling or Gardening
—Publishers' Weekly (Aug 19)
The book publisher, Wiley, "is in the process of rolling out a new series on pop philosophy called Philosophy for Everyone. The series takes subjects like yoga, college sex, pornography, and serial killers, and looks at them from a philosophical point of view." Titles slated for this year are: College Sex: Philosophers With Benefits, Cycling: A Philosophical Tour de Force, Climbing: Because It's There, Hunting: In Search of the Wild Life, Porn: How to Think with Kink, Cannabis: What Were We Just Talking About?, and Serial Killers: Being and Killing.
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The Hotel of Philosophy
—Design Crave (Aug 13)
That would be Hotel de Filosoof in Amsterdam whose rooms are designed after various thinkers -- "rooms that celebrate the life, work and thoughts of a particular philosopher. The 'deep thought' decor takes inspiration from Georges Bataille's concepts of sexuality and eroticism, Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophies of language, ethics and mysticism and Henry David Thoreau's obsession with time, age and nature." Cf. hotel site
News Items from Summer 2010
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Mad Men and Philosophy
—Time (Aug 8)
Article on philosopher William Irwin and the phenomenally successful Philosophy and Pop Culture book series. And introducing the andphilosophy.com website where you can weight in about movies and shows you would like to see get the treatment.
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Against Free Will
—NY Times (Jul 22)
In this NY Times essay, philosopher Galen Strawson gives an overview of the problem of free will and rehearses two common-sense arguments against.
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Is Having Children Morally Justified?
—NY Times (Jun 6)
Philosopher Peter Singer considers this surprising question. How good does life have to be, to make it reasonable to bring a child into the world?
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Latest Craze - Kids Having Philosophy Parties
—The Times (May 28)
The craze is sweeping France: les goûters philos — philosophical teas. "The parties are held in cafés, public libraries and at home and involve food, drink ... and debate. . . . One goûter philo, for instance, was initiated in Le Petit Monceau café in Paris by Oscar, a nine-year-old primary school pupil who wanted to talk about such themes as God, war and evil.
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Philosophy is for Inquisative Minds
—Hindustan Times (May 26)
What would you be studying if you studied Philosophy in India today? This article gives a quick view "A student needs to be inquisitive, be able to have a critical insight, needs to have good command over language and be able to put things in perspective besides having a flair for logical analysis. However, any[one who is] intelligent minded and a keen learner can pursue this course [of study]."
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Jobs for Philosophers
—Huffington Post (May 25)
Philosopher Shannon Kincaid (CUNY) just published a book recounting the sixty-two different jobs she has held.
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Applied Philosophy: Running for President
—Latin American Herald Tribune (May 27)
Philosophy MA, Antanas Mockus, is the front-running challenger in Columbia's presidential race. "Few would have bet that the least politician-like of all the candidates would be the one to beat in the final stretch of the campaign." He attributes his campaign success to basic decency. Mockus has been mayor of Bogota and was chancillor of the National University there. As mayor he was known for creative initiatives, like putting mimes on public streets to promote civil behavior. As chancillor, he made a splash by mooning hecklers at a speech he was giving -- which puts a whole new slant on the idea of "adopting a philosophical attitude." See also the Christian Science Monitor
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Applied Philosophy: Jazz
—RFI (May 23)
French philosopher and jazz composer, Andre Manoukian talks at a jazz festical in Paris about Descartes, Coltrane, Nietzsche, Wagner, and Berkeley. "Everyone must find his philosopher."
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Arthur Danto on Performance Art
—NY Times (May 23)
Philosopher Arthur Danto reflects on performance art and becomes part of a performance piece currently running at MoMA in New York City.
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Applied Philosophy: Puzzle Master
—NY Times (May 23)
Philosophy major, Martin Gardner, best known for his long-running puzzle column in Scientific American, was a genuine poly-math with a suitably diverse list of accomplishments to his name. His only college degree, however, was a BA in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Instead of trying to pursue philosophy professionally, Gardner turned to writing, because, as he once said, "if you're a professional philosopher, there's no way to make any money except to teach." See also the reissued profile of him in Scientific American.
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Philosophy: There's an App for That
—AppScout (May 21)
Question: How many philosophers can fit in your hip pocket? Answer: about thirty. The AskPhil app (available for iPhone and Android platforms) brings the philosophers of AskPhilosophers.com to your smartphone. See also.
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Philosophy Comes to Fashion
—Financial Times (May 15)
"Should fashion be more meaningful? . . . After the Aesthetic Dress movement of the 19th century; after the love affair between fashion and art . . . after a flirtation between style and literature . . . comes fashion and philosophy." Designer Philip Colbert collaborates with cult philosopher, Alain de Botton, for a new fashion line. Says Colbert, "[De Botton] has so many ideas that gave me thoughts for clothing – he said fashion was closer to cookery than architecture . . . and that was amazingly funny and surreal."
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Time to Philosophize
—BusinessWorld [Manila] (May 16)
"When I have time to kill in a bookstore, it is the Philosophy section that I find myself spending time in. . . . If asked by some glossy magazine in the future what subject in college I feel helped me most in life, I seldom mention differential calculus or botany. Always, for me, the most helpful subject in school as well as afterwards is philosophy."
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Philosophers Speak to the Times - New NY Times series 'The Stone'
—NY Times (May 16)
"The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless. . . .The Stone is a new opinion series that will feature the writings of contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless — art, war, ethics, gender, popular culture and more."
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Magnets Impair Moral Judgments
—NPR (Mar 29)
"A person's moral judgments can be changed almost instantly by delivering a magnetic pulse to an area of the brain near the right ear, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
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Bio Nietzsche
—NY Times (Apr 29)
Book review of Julian Young's recent biography of Nietzsche.
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Theory, Literature, Hoax
—NY Times (Apr 29)
Philosopher and novelist, Rebecca Goldstein, pokes wicked fun at the philosophical ambitions of university English Departments.
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Applied Philosophy: Computer Revolution
—NY Times (May 6)
Many of us early workers in computers were philosophy majors. You can imagine our surprise at being able to make rather comfortable livings. —Max Palevsky (1924-2010). "Palevsky [was] a pioneer in the computer industry and a founder of the computer-chip giant Intel," a philanthropist and a patron of the arts. He had a BA in Philosophy, a BS in Math, and studied philosophy and logic in graduate school at Berkeley and UCLA—where he once taught philosophy. Cf. also WSJ
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French Philosopher Scales Skyscraper
—Santiago Times (Apr 28)
A French citizen reputed to be "a philosopher by trade" scaled a skyscaper in Santiago, Chile. At 32-floors, the Telephonica building is the third tallest building in Chile and was designed to look like a big (mid-90's) cell phone. Said the climber, "It is because I love Chile and I didn't know what else to do."
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Adam Smith Not So Free-Market After All
—New Statesman (Apr 23)
According to Amartya Sen, philosopher Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations has come to be read too narrowly by economists. A more balance reading of the work as well as the intellectual framework of Adam's Theory of Moral Sentiments is necessary to see the whole picture -- which, Sen argues, has a great deal to say about current economic times.
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Being an Expert on Nothing
—Columbia Spectator (Apr 27)
Barnard College philosophy major, Yurina Ko, explains the value of being an expert on nothing.
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Middlesex to End Philosophy -- It's Highest Ranked Department
—Guardian (Apr 29)
"Under the banner of the financial crisis. . . philosophy has been singled out by several [UK] institutions. Threats to philosophy at Liverpool and King's College London were greeted with international outcry and management retreat. The [recent] decision to cut philosophy at Middlesex. . . is a particularly terrible blow, both to the standing of philosophy in the UK and to the future of critical thought in our universities as a whole. [It] appears not to be motivated by any of the 'obvious' reasons: economic rationale, falling student numbers or poor research standing. Middlesex philosophy has one of the largest MA programmes in the country, has experienced increasing postgraduate recruitment, and was the highest-scoring department in the university in the recent research assessment exercise. . . . Interest in philosophy has. . . grown massively in recent years. This is, in part, due to . . . the widespread desire for critical thought and analysis in the face of an increasingly disorienting world. Closure at Middlesex would be a step back to the bad old days. . ." See also The New Statesman
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Philosophy of Holes -- on CNN
—CNN
[When Jonathan Dancy appeared on the Late Late Show, we noted how one doesn't often see philosophers on TV programs, and that brings to mind this entertaining segment on CNN featuring philosopher, Achille Varzi, on the metaphysics of holes. It dates from 2000.]
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Could Your iPod be Part of Your Mind?
—The Guardian
"The question is not as daft as it sounds." Philosopher, David Chalmers, uses the example to illustrate the Extended Mind Thesis, and it turns out that the seemingly-obvious reasons to answer 'No' are surprisingly inconclusive.
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Politicians and Political Philosophy
—The Guardian (Apr 21)
Philosopher Julian Baggini discusses the relation between politicians and political philosophy -- how those who are educated in the philosophy feel they need to disguise it, and how those aren't could use some.
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Applied Philosophy: Sustainable Agriculture
—Grist (Apr 14)
Philosophy PhD, Fred Kirshenmann--who has happily embraced the title of 'agri-intellectual'--talks in this interview for Grist about the importance of taking a whole-system perspeective, about the emerging ecological agriculture model and what it means for our current industrial argiculture model.
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How Doing Good is Good for Business
—ABC News (Apr 22)
Dov Seidman is in the news again. The philosophy-BA/MA-turned-business-consultant speaks to Diane Sawyer about why doing the moral thing is good business practice.
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Philosopher Makes Brain Music
—True/Slant (Apr 23)
Philosopher Dan Lloyd sets brains to music. "Music of the Hemispheres" show in Brooklyn combines philosophy, neuroscience and music theory.
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Antony Flew, Philosopher and Ex-Atheist, Dies at 87
—NY Times (Apr 16)
"Antony Flew, an English philosopher and outspoken atheist who stunned and dismayed the unbelieving faithful when he announced in 2004 that God probably did exist, died April 8 in Reading, England."
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Bringing Human Values to Environmental Decisions
—University of Texas (Apr 14)
"When Conservation International began working with one of Indonesia's largest energy companies on an environmentally conscious development plan two years ago, the groups looked to a philosopher for guidance. . . [Philosopher Sahotra Sarkar] is among a growing group of scholars and environmentalists promoting the 'social ecology' model of conservation. . . .Sarkar rejects the so-called fortress model of preservation popular throughout much of the 20th century that espoused putting a fence around a region and making it off limits."
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The Examined Life at Age 8
—NY Times (Apr 8)
"A few times each month, second graders at a charter school in Springfield, Mass., take time from math and reading to engage in philosophical debate. There is no mention of Hegel or Descartes, no study of syllogism or solipsism. Instead, Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg and his undergraduate students from nearby Mount Holyoke College use classic children's books to raise philosophical questions, which the young students then dissect with the vigor of the ancient Greeks. . . . 'Everyone is interested in basic philosophical ideas; they're the most basic questions we have about the world,'" says Professor Wartenberg.
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Applied Philosophy: Film Editor
—Gustavus Adolphus College (Apr 6)
Philosophy blogger Lisa Heldke talks with a guy who is a TV commercial editor about the value of his philosophy major.
News Items from Spring 2010
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Crisis of Philosophy?
—Inside Higher Ed (Apr 11)
Philosopher Jason Stanley (Rutgers) addresses the question of whether recent philosophy has turned inward and away from its traditional, humanistic concerns.
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Philosophy on the Late Late Show
—CBS (Apr 3)
You don't often see a bonafide philosopher on any TV show. Here is a rather entertaining segment with moral philosopher Jonathan Dancy on The Late Late Show (CBS).
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Survey of Philosophers' Views
—Intelligent Life - WSJ (Mar 29)
The results of a wide-ranging PhilPapers survey of the views of philosophers has been posted. Also posted are preliminary results of a metasurvey done simultaneously which looked at people's predictions about the result of the other survey -- the survey result shows how close or far off those expectations were from the actual results. (The survey results are here, and a popularized summary of some of the findings can also be found in Intelligent Life.)
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Philosophy of 24
—Huffington Post (Mar 27)
Philosopher, Tom Morris, on the philosophy of the TV show 24.
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Applied Philosophy: Your Consciousness in 3D
—NY Times (Mar 26)
The latest show from Ali Hossaini -- philosophy PhD turned media artist -- is "'Ouroboros: The History of the Universe,' a 3-D visual collage of vibrating mandalas, exploding galaxies, astronauts and corporate logos, among much more, on six screens, all in the service of reconnecting consciousness and cosmos. It's now running in a darkened basement at the Ise Cultural Foundation in SoHo. Put on your 3-D glasses . . . and plug yourself back into the cosmos."
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Geneticist-Philosopher Wins Spirituality Prize
—Chron of Higher Ed (Mar 25)
Geneticist and professor of philosophy and logic, Francisco Alaya, wins $1.5 million Templeton Prize for work affirming "life's spiritual dimension." Alaya, a former Dominican priest, holds that, "if properly understood, science and religion cannot contradict each other because they concern different matters, yet each is essential to human understanding." He has also argued that evolution is "more consistent with belief in a personal god than intelligent design." See also coverage at NPR. In related news, as for faith, reason and science being compatible, according to his address of 24 Mar, the Pope agrees.
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Fish on Pragmatism
—NY Times (Mar 25)
Stanley Fish talks about pragmatism and Joseph Margolis' new book, 'Pragmatism's Advantage'.
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Pitt Establishes Rescher Prize
—Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Mar 25)
The University of Pittsburgh has established the Nicholas Rescher Prize for Contributions to Systematic Philosophy, named for long-time Pitt philosopher, Nicholas Rescher. Recently, Rescher agreed to donate his personal collection of philosophy artifacts which includes "papers, letters and manuscripts of many philosophers who emigrated from Europe during the mid-20th century and shifted the orientation of American philosophy to include more input from the sciences."
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Philosophy of Risk
—Princeton (Mar 22)
An interesting brief on a current philosophy class at Princeton titled 'Philosophy of Randomness and Extreme Risk'.
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Dennett on Pastors Who Lose Faith
—Washington Post (Mar 15)
Philosopher Daniel Dennett and clinical social worker Linda LaScola report on a series of interviews with clergy members who do not believe in God.
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Applied Philosophy: Running the Treasury
—MarketWatch (Mar 15)
Last year, Israel put a trained philosopher rather than an economist in charge of their Treasury. So, how is he doing? Aside from "his sometimes tedious allusions to Aristotle and Plato during meetings with senior business people", he is doing rather well -- and, according to MarketWatch, better than his economist counterparts.
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Philosophy in Bangladesh: Promoting Peace, Eliminating Superstition
—Daily Star (Mar 12)
"The study of philosophy can eliminate all kinds of superstitions through logic and help peace prevail in the world," according to former Bangladesh chief justice, Tafazzul Islam -- who urged students and alumni to help rescue the country from its "acute crisis of morality" by applying what they had learned from philosophy.
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Having Breakfast with Socrates
—Wired (Mar 12)
"Every day we follow a routine generally filled with the same day to day activities . . . From waking up, driving to work to going to lunch, on vacation or having sexual relations there are deeper meanings . . . in each of these seemingly mundane routine behaviors. It's these deeper meanings that Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day seeks to explore and explain." Drawing on themes and theories from philosophy, psychology and theology, "author and former Oxford Philosophy Fellow Robert Rowland Smith sets out to show us the hidden meanings in our daily lives."
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Philosophy for Non-Profit
—Western Ontario News (Mar 11)
In 'Ethics in Action' course, students must help a local non-profit organization address a specific practice, policy or goal by applying ethical theory.
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Plato for the People
—Addison Independent (Mar 10)
An experiment in living philosophy: rewriting Plato's Laws for the populace of Addison County, Vermont.
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Applied Philosophy: Conceptual Art
—New Yorker (Mar 9)
Amherst philosophy BA, Jonathon Keats, is "an American conceptual artist known for creating large-scale thought experiments." His quirky art projects make social commentary and pose questions in entertaining ways. In one staged performance, he thought for 24 hours and sold the results as art. He copyrighted his mind in 2003, arguing that the Copyright Act would give him some measure of immortality -- seventy years postmortem, to be exact. He has sold San Francisco real estate in the extra dimensions of space-time proposed by string theory -- 172 extra-dimensional lots sold on the first day. He once campaigned to have the law of identity passed into law in Berkeley, California. A recent installation for plants is described in theNew Yorker. A video profile from KQED - San Francisco gives interesting details of two of Keats' projects -- i) selling futures on his brain, and ii) locating God on the phylogenetic tree. For a comprehensive list of curious art projects, check out Wikipedia.
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Curiouser and Curiouser
—LA Times (Feb 27)
Recent essay collection, Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy, explores philosophical themes in Alice's adventures underground and through the looking-glass.
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Lost Descartes Letter Discovered
—Chronicle of Higher Ed (Feb 25)
"A long-lost letter by René Descartes has come to light at Haverford College, where it had lain buried in the archives for more than a century, and the discovery could revolutionize our view of one of the 17th-century French philosopher's major works." Read more at NYT, Haverford, and CHE.
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Philosophy education for ethics and innovation
—Irish Times (Feb 24)
In the wake of reesearch showing that Ireland needs to make renewed investment in education, "the answer to the question of what might be a more desirable education for Irish children arguably lies in a more unexpected quarter philosophy."
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Americans Need More Philosophy to Find Common Ground
—Press-Citizen (Feb 18)
[Americans need to study humanities like history and philosophy now more than ever in order to find common ground in a society that is more divided now than at any time since the 1800s. So says NIH chief and former Republican congressman, Jim Leach. And yet university humanities programs are under great stricture as states have sought to cut their budgets.]
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Was Descartes Poisoned?
—The Guardian (Feb 14)
"For more than three and a half centuries, the death of Rene Descartes one winter's day in Stockholm has been attributed to the ravages of pneumonia on a body unused to the Scandinavian chill. But in a book released after years spent combing the archives of Paris and the Swedish capital, one Cartesian expert has a more sinister theory about how the French philosopher came to his end."
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Can Philosophy Save Us?
—The Guardian (Feb 6)
"Why is there virtually no mainstream news or debate about the deeper questions of existence?...Surely there is more to the only self-aware creature in existence than jobs and money...Is this the highest ambition of human beings?....We need to reverse the Cartesian maxim and create a society defined by 'I am, therefore I think.'"
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Applied Philosophy: Hip-Hop
—Colorado Springs Independent (Feb 4)
What do empiricism, utilitarianism and hip-hop have in common? That would be philosophy major and hip-hop fusion artist, Dessa. Her new album with Doomtree, "A Badly Broken Code", "deconstructs the tropes of hip-hop and recombines them in unexpected ways." She talks music and philosophy with the Colorado Springs Independent.
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Rock Music or Philosophy? - Quiz
—Crawdaddy (Feb 2)
Can you tell the difference between philosophy and rock music? Find out with this quiz at Crawdaddy Magazine.
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Moral Philosopher Teaches Fortune 500 to Be Good
—Fortune (Feb 2)
"Virtue is supposed to be its own reward, but according to an emerging line of thought, it's profitable too...A trained moral philosopher, [Dov] Seidman has built a highly successful business on the theory that in today's wired and transparent global economy, companies that "outbehave" their competitors ethically will also tend to outperform them financially."
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Philosopher Helps U.S. Military with Evil Robots
—Cal Poly (Jan 29)
"Philosopher Patrick Lin explains the roots of robot fear and which robots to keep an eye on in the future in the February edition of "Popular Mechanics" magazine...Lin is author of a report commissioned by the U.S. military titled 'Autonomous Military Robots: Risk, Ethics, and Design.' He is developing ethical guidelines for robots for the United States Navy." Includes links to the magazine articles.
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$4.4 Million Award for Free Will
—FSU (Jan 25)
"FSU philosopher Alfred Mele has been awarded a $4.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to get to the bottom of [the question of free will]. Mele, the William H. and Lucyle Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, will oversee a four-year project to improve understanding of free will in philosophy, religion and science." [See also the 'Free Will: Human and Divine' project site here.]
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Lying . . . More or Less
—Virginia Insight (Jan 25)
Philosopher James Mahon and psychologist, Greg Henriques, discuss the philosophy of lying on the radio program, Virginia Insight.
"Mahon, who wrote the definition of lying in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, thinks that while lying is a serious problem, people don't tell lies as much as most people think . . . [whereas Henriques] believes people may be doing some version of lying more frequently than they realize." (audio)
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36 Arguments for the Existence of God
—Boston Globe (Jan 21), Chron of Higher Ed (Jan 24)
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, the Boston-based philosopher and author of the best-selling "The Mind-Body Problem" and "The Dark Sister," was awarded the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" prize for her ability to "dramatize the concerns of philosophy without sacrificing the demands of imaginative storytelling." Goldstein's new novel, "36 Arguments for the Existence of God," bolsters that claim with a freewheeling satirical tale that is compelling, heady if sometimes stultifying, and laced with a deliciously dark wit.' (See also here and here.)
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Disaster in Haiti: Facing the Problem of Evil
—BBC News (Jan 19)
"At the heart of Haiti's humanitarian crisis is an age old question for many religious people - how can God allow such terrible things to happen? Philosopher David Bain examines the arguments."
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Philosophy in Business
—Business Week (Jan 12)
"Forget economics. Philosophy offers a deeper, broader way of thinking to help guide companies through times made tougher by overspecialized experts. . . Philosophy can help us address the...challenges the world currently confronts, but only if we take it off the back burner."
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Making College 'Relevant'
—New York Times (Jan 3)
In uncertain economic times, what parents and students expect of a college education is at greater odds with what employers want to see in the hiring pool. While parents and students come to expect more job-specific training, it turns out that even in tough economic times, what employers want to see in their new hires is not job-specific training. They come to see it as even more important that students learn broad skills -- "the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing" (89%), have better "critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills" (81%), and "the ability to innovate and be creative" (70%).
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Philosophy Club - Middle School Version
—Washington Post (Jan 3)
"During lunchtime at Kenmoor Middle School in Landover, the youngsters sitting in a small circle were tackling the really deep questions: Ethics. Fairness. How to split dessert."
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Philosopher Takes on Santa Claus
—Baltimore Sun (Dec 13)
Philosopher David Johnson (King's College) offers some straight talk about Santa Claus. Sorry, Virginia... Johnson is a contributor to a forthcoming Blackwell volume entitled "Christmas and Philosophy."
News Items from Fall 2009
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Iranian Philosophy Undergraduate Keeps Protest Diary for the AP
—Associated Press (Dec 14)
"On Dec. 7, tens of thousands of students marched at universities across Iran, in the most significant anti-government protests in the country for months. The Associated Press asked a 20-year-old philosophy undergraduate at Tehran's Allameh Tabatabei University to record his thoughts and experiences in a diary before, during and after the protests...The diary entries [are here] translated from the Farsi." You will recall the galvanizing impact of the shooting death (June 20) of a young philosophy student, Neda Agha-Soltan, during the initial protests of the Iranian election.
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JAX U President Delivers Philosophy Slam
—Florida Times-Union (5 Nov)
Jacksonville University president, Kerry Romesburg, held forth at the London Bridge Pub on questions of ethics and business. The event was part of the JU-UNF Philosophy Slam series -- philosophical topics and high-spirited debate in a public setting.
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Philosophy of Wine
—New Zealand Herald (2 Nov)
"Philosophers have regularly used wine to lubricate their debates - at the ancient Greek symposium, wine likely flowed as fast as the thoughts on which Western philosophy was founded. However, wine itself being a worthy subject for deeper intellectual inquiry or aesthetic contemplation is a relatively recent phenomenon, albeit one that's now being paid attention in today's temples of wisdom."
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Thanks for the Zombies
—Chronicle of Higher Education (25 Oct)
Philosopher Stephen Asma examines the role of monsters in our moral and cultural development. "People frequently underestimate the role of art and imagery in their own moral convictions....In a significant sense, monsters are a part of our attempt to envision the good life."
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World Philosophy Day - Nov 19th
—UNESCO (19 Nov)
November 19th is World Philosophy Day. Initiated by UNESCO in 2002, WPD aims to "bring philosophy closer to everyone." Russia is this year's official WPD host and will sponsor special events in Moscow on that day. World Philosophy Day falls on the third Thursday in November each year. You can read more about UNESCO's several philosophy initiatives here.
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Climate Change as Moral Dilemma
—Toronto Star (28 Oct)
Economist and Oxford philosopher John Broome argues that the challenge we face in facing the prospect of climate change is primarily and profoundly a moral dilemma.
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Pondering a Philosophy for the Academy & Academics
—Chronicle of Higher Ed (25 Oct)
"In one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates warns a student that teachers can be dangerous. "You do not even know to whom you are committing your soul," Socrates says, "and whether the thing to which you commit yourself be good or evil."...."People often think that education works either to improve you or to leave you as you were," philosopher Stephen M. Cahn says. "But that's not right. An unsuccessful education can ruin you. It can kill your interest in a topic. It can make you a less-good thinker. It can leave you less open to rational argument. So we do good and bad as teachers—it's not just good or nothing."...Many graduate schools offer courses and workshops on research ethics, but...seminars that combine the ethics of teaching, research, and administration have been much rarer." [Full access to this article requires on-campus connection or Chron H. Ed. subscription.]
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Consciousness Revisited and Reviewed
—Times Literary Supplement (16 Oct)
You can catch Jerry Fodor's review of Michael Tye's new book, Consciousness Revisted, in the Times Literary Supplement.
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Hobbes Cycle-a-thon
—Gazette & BHerald (13 Oct)
Three cyclists are riding from Ault Hucknall to Malmsbury to raise money for…17th century philosopher, Thomas Hobbes.
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Bertrand Russell Hits the Top 10
—The Independent (13 Oct)
"Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth", the 300 page graphic novel starring Bertrand Russell and the search for the foundations of mathemtics is one of the Top 10 sellers on Amazon in both the US and UK.
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A New Citizenship
—BBC (12 Oct)
In the 2009 Reith Lectures, political philosopher, Michael Sandel, explores "the prospects of a new politics of the common good." His series of four lectures, collectively entitled "A New Citizenship", are available in audio online from the BBC.
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Aristotle After School
—Columbia Daily Spectator (8 Oct)
Columbia University Philosophy students launch a Philosophy Outreach program. Now in its second successful year, the program has started after-school philosophy clubs in high schools across New York City and offers guest speakers to high school classes on a wide variety of topics. The program was conceived of and is staffed by graduate students from Columbia University's Department of Philosophy and the Philosophy and Education program there. Philosophy for younger students can translate into tangible benefits. An early Philosophy for Children program was able to show "significant improvements in the reading and critical thinking skills of middle school children."
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Philosophers Set Up Lab for Thinking Scientists
—Western News (8 Oct)
Philosophers at the University of Western Ontario have set up a "lab" where scientists can think about science. The new Rotman Institute of Science and Values brings scientists together with ethicists and philosophers of science in "an interdisciplinary space where graduate students and professors are able to engage in philosophical discussions that explore the basic foundations of science….The institute encourages researchers to ask critical questions that lie at the interface between ethics and the epistemology of contemporary science."
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Philosophy Comes to Prime Time TV
—New York Times (25 Sep)
Justice', a twelve-week course taught at Harvard by political philosopher Michael J. Sandel has become a nationally-televised mini-series. The Justice course is legend at Harvard and enrolls some 1,000 students a year. Now, shot in HD and using the high-production values of a network television series, it is coming to the small screen. Naturally, there are tie-ins -- a Justice website, a new book, and Dr. Sandel is on (lecture) tour. On the reading list reading list, works by Aristotle, Locke, Bentham, Kant, Mill, Rawls. The idea that a national television program will spend an hour a week seriously talking about these works—and the very real questions of morality, social justice and citizenship that they concern—is, well, heartwarming.
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Is it a Lie? Ask a Philosopher
—Insurance Journal (25 Sep)
After that infamous shout-out in Congress, the Insurance Journal turns to a philosopher to find out what really constitutes lying.
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Moral Philosopher as Sleuth
—(21 Sep)
The lead character of Alexander McCall Smith's popular Sunday Philosophy Club series is Isabel Dalhousie, an Edinburgh professor of philosophy and editor of a journal of ethics. Styled as detective mysteries "only in a rather quirky, incidental way," the books deal with "everyday moral and philosophical conundrums through Isabel's work as the editor of a philosophical journal." An odd turn making philosophical themes central to a book series? Perhaps not. Smith is a retired professor whose specialty was in law and bioethics.
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Philosophers and Scientists Sort Out the Multiverse
—Discover (20 Sep)
Dr. George Ellis, one of the world's leading cosmologists, has brought a group of scientists and philosophers of science together at Oxford to address the question of whether postulating a multiverse—currently popular in cosmology—represents a fundamental and worrisome break with scientific standards, since the existence of a multiverse would appear to be in principle untestable. Sean Carroll (CIT) blogs what is said at the meeting in some detail. Here and here.
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Italian Town Boosts Culture and Economy with Philosophy
—Ansa (18 Sep)
The Italian town of Modena, known in the U.S. primarily for its balsamic vinegar, is hosting a philosophy festival. Now in its ninth year, the three-day festival draws 130,000 people. Some 50 philosophers host a series of "debating classes" on philosophical topics. The event has grown to include films and music events as well. Local restaurants offer "philosophy meals" that are "designed to incorporate...symbolic ideas into delicious local specialty menus."
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John Locke Lectures available on iTunes U
—(16 Sep)
The University of Oxford has begun making the John Locke Lectures available online. Recent years' lectures are available as free podcasts through iTunes U. The John Locke Lecture series is one of the most prestigious lecture series in philosophy. Each year, a distinguished philosopher gives a series of six lectures. Currently available on iTunes U are the lectures of Robert Stalnaker (MIT) and Hartry Field (NYU). You can also hear the first five lectures from this year's lecturer, Thomas Scanlon (Harvard) on Oxford's website.
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Nussbaum on Why Democracy Needs the Humanities
—Badger Herald (15 Sep)
The University of Wisconsin's 'Year of Humanities' began with a lecture entitled 'Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities,' by philosopher Martha Nussbaum, an Ernst Freund distinguished service professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago.
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Science and Philosophy at Risk in the Czech Republic
—Brains (10 Sep)
The government of the Czech Republic has proposed to liquidate the research institutions of the Czech Academy of Sciences as well as to stop funding all basic research (including philosophy).
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Top Ten Essays in Philosophy for 2008
—Philosopher's Annual (9 Sep)
The Philosophers' Annual selection of the ten best philosophy essays for 2008 has been announced. The PA convenes a board of distinguished philosophers each year (since 1978) to settle on a list of ten articles that would represent some of the best in philosophy published during the past year. A daunting and improbable task, but the results are always interesting and the chosen articles rich in ideas. In recent years, the PA has been able to put these articles on-line, making them more readily available to all.
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Economics, Justice and Social Well-being
—Financial Times (4 Sep)
Financial Times columnist Samuel Brittan discusses Amartya Sen's book The Idea of Justice and the social and political philosophy on which the book is based.
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Ought We Engineer Pain-Free Livestock If We Can?
—Discover (4 Sep)
In his recent essay in Bioethics, philosopher Adam Shriver says the answer is 'yes'. He argues that "all people concerned with animal welfare should agree that we ought to replace the animals currently used in factory farming with animals whose ability to suffer is diminished if we are able to do so." Richard Haynes' (UF) book, Animal Welfare, might suggest that, in focusing only on pain, Shriver has too narrow a measure of animal welfare. You can pick up the thread in Discover, New Scientist as well as what promises to be a rousing discussion in the Shotgun Blog in the Western Standard.
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Understanding Innovation through Philosophy of Science and Epistemology
—Cham Press (3 Sep)
Santiago Montenegro, visiting fellow at the Center of Hemispheric Policy (Miami) suggests that the key insights to understanding and promoting innovation are to be found in philosophy. "[I have read the work of] some of the world's leading experts on innovation….but as I went through these texts...I soon realized that these clever ideas had already been developed by the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of science....Should business administration students and future business managers immerse themselves in the philosophy of science, they would not only become more knowledgeable and have greater respect for science; they might also become more rigorous and more competent....It is past time that some basic principles in the theory of knowledge and of philosophy of science be introduced into schools of business administration."
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Bertrand Russell: Thinking Person's Superhero
—The Independent (2 Sep)
An improbable superhero, philosopher Bertrand Russell stars in a new graphic novel—"a rich and enthralling encounter with myth, maths, theatre and the giants of 20th-century philosophy." Logicomix is "an absorbing 350-page narrative about how the search for logic and first principles drove most of its practitioners round the twist and threatened to do the same to the 3rd Earl Russell in the early 20th century."
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Philosophical Life in Fiction
—Winnipeg Free Press (23 Aug)
Annabel Lyon's historical novel The Golden Mean gives a fictionalized account of the life of Aristotle. Told in the first-person, the novel centers around Aristotle's time in Pella. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, "The novel illustrates how real life can give rise to monumental ideas, and succeeds in weaving those ideas unobtrusively into the narrative."
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Philosophy in the Streets
—(15 Mar)
Examined Life is a film about philosophers and their ideas. You can view the trailer here.
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor accompanies some of today's most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas.
Peter Singer's thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenue's posh boutiques. Slavoj Zizek questions current beliefs about the environment while sifting through a garbage dump. Michael Hardt ponders the nature of revolution while surrounded by symbols of wealth and leisure. Judith Butler and a friend stroll through San Francisco's Mission District questioning our culture's fixation on individualism. And while driving through Manhattan, Cornel West--perhaps America's best-known public intellectual--compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be. Offering privileged moments with great thinkers from fields ranging from moral philosophy to cultural theory, Examined Life reveals philosophy's power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it.
Featuring Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwarne Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor.
The film debuted in February and is now showing in selected theatres.
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World Philosophy Day: Four Questions to Make Your Brain Hurt
—BBC News (20 Nov 2008)
Philosophy involves standing back and thinking - intensely and rigorously - about aspects of our lives that are at once ordinary and fundamental. And when the surface is scratched, what you find below is extraordinary - or, rather, extraordinarily difficult to make good, clear sense of. Lying in wait are arguments that lead to, if not sheer lunacy, then bullets we're loathe to bite. So, with World Philosophy Day upon us, here are some pesky arguments to apply your minds to...
