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About Boethius

"Boethius" is a 40-something male tenured associate professor of philosophy at a public university somewhere in North America.

A Philosopher’s Diary, #12.2–Philosophy and Flow States, Part 2: Integrated Flow States and Philosophy as a Way of Life.

The descriptive sub-title of this blog—Against Professional Philosophy—originally created and rolled out in 2013, is “A Co-Authored Anarcho-Philosophical Diary.” Now, ten years later, after more than 300,000 views of the site, this series, A Philosopher’s Diary, finally literally instantiates that description by featuring short monthly entries by one or another of the members of the … [continue reading]

A Philosopher’s Diary, #12.1–Philosophy and Flow States, Part 1: Real Philosophy and Professional Academic Philosophy.

The descriptive sub-title of this blog—Against Professional Philosophy—originally created and rolled out in 2013, is “A Co-Authored Anarcho-Philosophical Diary.” Now, ten years later, after more than 300,000 views of the site, this series, A Philosopher’s Diary, finally literally instantiates that description by featuring short monthly entries by one or another of the members of the … [continue reading]

A Philosopher’s Diary, #9–How Much Does The Chatbot Brouhaha Affect Anarcho-Philosophical Teaching and Learning?

The descriptive sub-title of this blog—Against Professional Philosophy—originally created and rolled out in 2013, is “A Co-Authored Anarcho-Philosophical Diary.” Now, ten years later, after more than 300,000 views of the site, this series, A Philosopher’s Diary, finally literally instantiates that description by featuring short monthly entries by one or another of the members of the … [continue reading]

A Philosopher’s Diary, #6–Enlightenment, Education, and Inspiration.

The descriptive sub-title of this blog—Against Professional Philosophy—originally created and rolled out in 2013, is “A Co-Authored Anarcho-Philosophical Diary.” Now, nine years later, after more than 300,000 views of the site, this new series, A Philosopher’s Diary, finally literally instantiates that description by featuring short monthly entries by one or another of the members of … [continue reading]

A Philosopher’s Diary, #2—The Vision Problem.

The descriptive sub-title of this blog—Against Professional Philosophy—originally created and rolled out in 2013, is “A Co-Authored Anarcho-Philosophical Diary.” Now, nine years later, after more than 300, 000 views of the site, this new series, A Philosopher’s Diary, finally literally instantiates that description by featuring short monthly entries by one or another of the members … [continue reading]

Can There Be a Real Philosophy Department?

What is “real,” or what one might call “authentic,” philosophy? Can there be philosophy departments that practice and promote such authentic philosophy? Take the former question first. From the home page of Against Professional Philosophy (https://againstprofphil.org), we have the following answer to consider: By real philosophy, we mean synoptic, systematic, rational reflection on the individual … [continue reading]

From Professional Vocabularies and the Ethics of Terminology to Presentational Polymorphism: A Conversation about Otto Paans’s “The Pre-Structured Professional Philosopher.” (Re-edited February 2018)

Z: OP’s essay, “The Pre-Structured Professional Philosopher,” leads in many fascinating directions, and has correspondingly many important implications. But before I get down to that, I want to quote, between the horizontal lines directly below, a few pages of a highly APP-relevant, prescient, and characteristically beautifully-written, jargon-free essay by Susan Haack from the late 2000s, … [continue reading]

Some Remarks on Russell’s Metaphilosophy. An Edgy Essay by Boethius, With a Postcript by Z (Re-edited, January 2018)

1. The Essay, by Boethius. I’ve been reading Russell here and there recently, mostly late stuff from 1942-67, with an eye to studying his metaphilosophy. There’s at least one common metaphilosophical thread with “The value of philosophy” from 1912, one thing I’ve noticed in the tone and substance of Russell’s criticism of philosophy I’d group … [continue reading]

Beyond Enlightenment Lite.

APP Editors’ note: Boethius is a tenured associate professor of philosophy at a public university somewhere in North America. In a recent APP post, Z critically compares-and-contrasts Enlightenment Lite and Heavy Duty Enlightenment. I think most would agree with the basic complaint, namely that it’s a poor excuse for an undergraduate education to say it’s … [continue reading]