Z: Recently I’ve been thinking lots about how a real liberal arts education—i.e., a liberal arts education that hasn’t run into the neo-conservative cultural cul de sac and nihilist abyss of what William Deresiewicz so aptly calls the “neo-liberal arts,” and is aimed at Heavy Duty Enlightenment, not Enlightenment Lite–-might be really possible, about real … [continue reading]
sickness-unto-death@uni.edu.
1. By personal problems, I mean large or small individual or first-person difficulties, that need to be dealt with, and can be controlled to some extent by that first-person. 2. But an existential problem, as I will understand it, is a personal problem that is so profound and severe that it seriously raises the question … [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]
On Having the Name ‘Z’.
1. Recently, in reply to what I thought was a very friendly, polite, and even slightly amusing e-mail letter telling him about APP, a well-known Analytic philosopher of science–whose name I won’t name–sent me this fairly nasty little note: “Dear X,Y and Z, I tend to prefer opinions, good, bad, inane as they may be, … [continue reading]
Philosoflicks 2, Installment 2: Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus, Volume 1, Chapter 1.
WHAT IS A PHILOSOFLICK? In “Let’s Make More Movies,” the epistemological anarchist Paul Feyerabend wrote this: The separation of subjects that is such a pronounced characteristic of modern philosophy is … not altogether undesirable. It is a step on the way to a more satisfactory type of myth. What is needed to proceed further is … [continue reading]
In Praise of Semi-Professional Philosophy.
I have written in reply to a previous Edgy Essay about the benefits of membership in the Semi-Professional Academic State, which is to say the benefits of teaching at a small undergraduate university. Since such universities generally care less about one’s Reputation in the Philosophy Profession, one is more or less at liberty to think, … [continue reading]
From Enlightenment Lite to Nihilism: How Professional Philosophy Has Totally Let Everyone Down about the Real Purpose of an Undergraduate Liberal Arts Education.
Recently, someone sent me a copy of this extremely recent interesting Harper’s article by William Deresiewicz, “The Neoliberal Arts: How College Sold its Soul to the Market.” It’s a scathing critique of contemporary undergraduate liberal arts education, very nicely timed to appear with the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year. I don’t know WD’s previous … [continue reading]
The Strange Case of Don-the-Monster, Or, Coercive Moralism in Professional Philosophy
Part 1. Y’s Take on The Strange Case of Don-the-Monster. One of my colleagues (let’s call him Don) considers himself a religious man and has a strong background in ethics. He specializes in health care ethics, and also plays an integral role in emphasizing the importance of “teaching values across the curriculum” at our institution. … [continue reading]
The Pseudo-Family from Hell: Against Philosophy Departments & For Philosophy Research Groups.
Every happy philosophy department is the same, but each unhappy philosophy department is fucked up in its own special, weird way. Of course, I’m profanely spinning on the justly famous first line of Tolstoy’s titanically brilliant Anna Karenina. Tolstoy knew all about fucked-up families. But philosophers are, by nature, special, weird people; and professional academic … [continue reading]
Professional X-ian Philosophy as Dismaland for Academics. A Guest Edgy Essay by FK.
I’m a serious philosopher who also used to be a professional philosopher. And I study and write about X-ian philosophy. But all too often, professional X-ian philosophy made and still makes me feel like a whale jumping out of a toilet through a tiny hoop held by a dominatrix in a frog suit, like one … [continue reading]