I once had a colleague, now quite a well-respected person in his sub-field, and the holder of a prestigious professorship at one of The Fortune 500 Philosophy Club universities, of whom it was said that he loved refereeing because that way he could keep his enemies out of print. Indeed, after a few drinks, he … [continue reading]
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FOOC the MOOCs.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that corporations are people, so I guess it’s not surprising that universities are corporations…. and College and University Presidents are much like CEOs. The main goal of higher education, then, must be to make a profit. At my home institution, online courses were developed as a means to boost summer … [continue reading]
If We’re So Smart, Then Why Are We Such Assholes?
This is a true story about my life, followed by a short argument. Last Saturday, Y sent to the APP circle the following bit of text, which in turn was excerpted from this article, which by now everyone in professional philosophy has either read or heard about: Scholars in all disciplines have disagreements. But philosophy … [continue reading]
JAPA the Hutt?
The incomparable Wikipedia tells us that: Jabba the Hutt is a fictional character appearing in George Lucas’s space opera film saga Star Wars. He is depicted as a large, slug-like alien. His appearance has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as “Dickensian,” a cross between a toad and the Cheshire Cat. The equally incomparable … [continue reading]
Philosophical Anarchism, Political Anarchism, & Anarcho-Philosophy
Since this is my first diary entry, I thought it would be philosophically useful to distinguish between anarcho-philosophy, as I understand it, and other more familiar kinds of anarchism. Many very different political views, or attitudes, go by the scary label “anarchism.” By “anarchism” I certainly DO NOT mean either moral nihilism or political terrorism, … [continue reading]
“If you don’t have anything nice to say…”
When I was a kid, my parents used to tell me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all. I do see some merit in that recommendation. For example, I think it probably would have been better for me and my siblings to stay quiet during dinner rather … [continue reading]