Fred-RiveraIvette and LeechJessica, eds. Being Necessary: Themes of Ontology and Modality from the Work of Bob Hale. Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-19-879216-1 (hbk); 978-0-19-186687-6 (e-book). Pp. x + 290.

Thoreau was a fault-finder; Emerson, a showoff. They wanted to be friends, but, as Emerson put it, “Friends such as we desire are dreams and fables”

War is coming. Two nations have set aside their differences to fulfil their historical ambition: to reclaim a province lost long ago. As with any war, arms and armor are needed and who better to claim a long-lost armory stocked with Imperial equipment than the bold adventurers? Complicating the situation is the fact that the old armory is located near the ruins of the summer estate of Count Bekus, a necromancer who was killed, beheaded, burned and interred in a special vault so that he would not plague the world again. Adventure #1 in the Tholm Series The adventure can be run as part of the Tholm campaign series; run as a standalone adventure or even cannibalized for encounters to use in your own adventures. For characters level 1-4. Pay what you want on DriveThruRPG

2019.06.21 : View this Review Online | View Recent NDPR Reviews Candice Delmas, A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil, Oxford University Press, 2018, 295pp., $29.95 (hbk), ISBN 9780190872199. Reviewed by Christopher Finlay, Durham University In this book, Candice Delmas defends quite radical conclusions based on intuitions, principles, and theories frequently cited within a relatively mainstream liberal and cosmopolitan literature: what she calls 'ordinary and critical morality' (9). Her argument builds on three, closely-related ideas: the widespread public endorsement of a right of civil disobedience; the permissibility of methods that exceed the limits of that doctrine; and the deontic status of this permission as a duty rather than a liberty-right. The result is a cogent, insightful, provocative, and original contribution to the political theory of oppression, the philosophical debates about political obligation and its limits, and the ethics of resistance to social injustice and domination. The belief that people generally have a right of civil disobedience... Read More

Eugene Garver Ph.D.’s is from the Committee for the Analysis of Ideas and the Study of Methods at The University of Chicago. Since then, he ... Read more...

Here’s a new Mini-Heap. “How, then, do corporate executives—who, through manipulation and deception, sell products they know to be potentially lethal—differ morally from ordinary murderers?” — Jeff McMahan (Oxford) on this and related questions “One can wonder whether the next generation of young people will be as focused on and obsessed with discussion as their predecessors were between 1950 and 2000” — Jürgen Habermas turns 90, and Raymond Geuss reflects critically on his legacy A history study using machine learning vindicates… Hegel? — “many events that will one day be viewed as historic attract little attention at the time” (from the abstract linked to in the article) “How much does it matter that our future is biological?” — an interview with David Chalmers (NYU) in the NYT The Symposia on Gender, Race, and Philosophy has a new website — and a new editorial team An internet radio station churning through nearly 900 episodes of some of the best philosophy podcasts, playing them on continuous shuffle — created by Kelly Truelove “The thing that I learned from philosophy was an ability to articulate theories crisply, which led to an ability to express crisp theories of human nature, which aligns with some of the most interesting things around” — an interview with tech entrepreneur and investor Reid Hoffman, who has an MA in philosophy, in the NYT (via Eddy Nahmias) Mini-Heap posts appear when 7 or so new items accumulate in the Heap of Links, the ever-growing collection of items from around the web that may be of interest to philosophers. The Heap of Links consists partly of suggestions from readers; if you find something online that you think would be of interest to the philosophical community, please send it in for consideration for the Heap. Thanks! COMMENTS POLICY The post Mini-Heap appeared first on Daily Nous.

[Revised entry by Eric Pacuit on June 24, 2019. Changes to: Main text, Bibliography] A fundamental problem faced by any group of people is how to arrive at a good group decision when there is disagreement among its members. The difficulties are most evident when there is a large number of people with diverse opinions, such as, when electing leaders in a national election. But it is often not any easier with smaller groups, such as, when a committee must select a candidate to hire, or when a group of friends must decide where to go for dinner. Mathematicians, philosophers, political scientists and economists have devised various...

Philip Larkin's parents were awkward people and not very good at being happy. "These things rub off," he said

There is a famous Seinfeld joke about public speaking. It's based on an old opinion poll result that reported that people fear public speaking more than death. Seinfeld used this to make the wry observation that the next time you are at a funeral you should reflect on the fact that the person giving the eulogy would rather be in the coffin.Suffice to say, I don't feel that way about public speaking. I have many social anxieties but speaking in front of a large (or small) audience is not one of them.1 That's not to say I'm any good at it, of course. But I have at least done a lot of it and grown accustomed to its rhythms and its demands. Furthermore, I have learned from the mistakes that I have made over the years so that even if I amn't particularly good at it, I am at least better than I used to be.This is all by way of justifying what you are about to read. I get asked quite often for advice on giving talks (by students) and I am frustrated that I have still not got around to formalising my thoughts on the matter. What follows is my first attempt to do so. If you are in a hurry and are just interested in reading my 'tips' on how to give a talk, then you can find them summarised in the poster that accompanies the text. If you have more time, and are willing to tolerate the occasional diversion, then I hope you will read the full thing because I'm not just going to explain the methods I follow when giving talks, I'm also going to reflect on things I love and hate about the process, give some rants about academic conferences, consider the larger purpose and philosophy behind the practice of giving talks.As always, what follows is my own take on things. I am not claiming that the things I find useful when giving talks will be useful to others, or that I have undertaken a detailed survey of the evidence concerning what works and doesn't. I'm just distilling the lessons I have learned from my own experiences. This means, inevitably, that my reflections are geared. . .

Is discussion overrated? Is it not as likely to generate bitterness, and division as it is to enlighten or foster consensus?