Brian Leiter's Blog, page 17

Spacetime, Einstein, and the Hole Argument

Philosopher John Norton discusses at IAITV.

Trumpistas threatening to suspend habeas corpus for migrants

Trump's henchman Stephen Miller, who not only thinks like Joseph Goebbels but looks like him (see below the fold), has indicated that they are "thinking" [sic] of suspending habeas corpus for migrants. Law professor Stephen Vladeck has a clear explanation...

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Family, "Emotions," 1969

ORIGINALLY POSTED APRIL 23, 2016 These Brits are not quite as obscure as some of the others recently featured, but they hardly achieved the success they probably warranted. Psychedelic, "progressive," even some British folk influences. This is one of my...

Federal judge orders immediate release of Turkish Tufts student detained...

...because of her lawful political speech. Three cheers, again, for the courts!

A memorable "funding statement" in the Journal of Value Inquiry

A philosophically-minded political scientist, Professor Michael Munger, was asked to review an OUP book of political philosophy for the Journal of Value Inquiry, published by Springer. Here is his required "funding statement": For reasons that are literally incomprehensible, the publisher...

Tenured philosophy professor at West Point will resign in protest over the attack on education at the military academies by the Trumpistas

Professor Graham Parsons explains what's going on here; an excerpt: Mr. Trump���s order prohibited any educational institution operated by the armed forces from ���promoting, advancing or otherwise inculcating��� certain ���un-American��� theories, including ���gender ideology��� and the idea that ���America���s founding...

Stanford, one of the three or four richest universities in the country, preparing for possible budget cuts...

...on the order of 10-15%, thanks to the Trump war on the universities. Stanford has a huge medical school and a huge investment in the life sciences, so is a top recipient of NIH money (and, I would expect, also...

Blast from the past: "Ayn Rand defended" (not by me!)

Back in 2009. Of the three cults that afflict philosophy and philosophy-adjacent fields--the Derrida cult, the Strauss cult, and the Rand cult--the last one is certainly the weirdest and most pernicious.

As expected, the NSF has cut "indirect cost" reimbursements to 15%...

...and many universities have filed suit. As with the cut to NIH funding, the problem is the way the Trumpistas did it, without following any of the required procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act. I expect the courts to enjoin...

Legal actions on behalf of those whose NEH grants have been terminated?

MOVING TO FRONT FROM APRIL 16--UPDATED A scholar elsewhere writes: Though I haven���t been notified, so I am not completely sure, it seems [my NEH Fellowship] has been terminated. At least that is what I have just now gleaned from...