Top News, Articles, and Interviews in Philosophy

Slavoj Žižek on what really makes him mad

17. September 2019 Philosophy News News
What really makes me mad when I read critical (and even some favorable) reactions to my work is the recurring characterization of me as a postmodern cultural critic – the one thing I don’t want to be. I consider myself a philosopher dealing with fundamental ontological questions, and, furthermore, a philosopher in the traditional vein […] The post Slavoj Žižek on what really makes him mad appeared first on OUPblog.         Related StoriesJohn Duns Scotus – The ‘Subtle Doctor’ – Philosopher of the MonthContinuing Jane Austen’s unfinished novel SanditonOriginality in Arabic [More]
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Techne Theory: A New Language for Art

17. September 2019 Philosophy News News
2019.09.12 : View this Review Online | View Recent NDPR Reviews Henry Staten, Techne Theory: A New Language for Art, Bloomsbury, 2019, 199pp., $26.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781472592903. Reviewed by Alan H. Goldman, College of William & Mary This is a book about creativity in the arts. Its thesis is opposed to the Romantic view of the artist as a lone genius who creates completely original works in flashes of inspired insight from the depths of his soul or deeply personal emotion. For the Romantic, the true genius's work will violate all past conventions and practices in embodying a radically new concept. She creates this work in a moment of divine-like inspiration ex nihilo. For Henry Staten, by contrast, there is no sharp line to be drawn between art and craft, as the artist, like the highly skilled craftsman, draws on a tradition of practical know-how built over long periods in domains within a culture. Implied in this tradition... Read [More]
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Retrenchment at St. Cloud State Targets Philosophy Faculty

16. September 2019 Philosophy News News
Three members of the Department of Philosophy at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) in Minnesota may lose their jobs if the school’s administration decides to proceed with plans for “retrenchment.” The SCSU administration has led the school into a position of projected budget shortfalls and declining enrollment over the next couple of years, according to the University Chronicle. In a scramble to avoid these problems, it has recommended dismissing eight faculty, including three philosophy professors. These professors will find out today whether they are being dismissed. Readers are encouraged to contact SCSU Provost Gregory (ddgregory@stcloudstate.edu) or President Wacker (robbyn.wacker@stcloudstate.edu) with messages of support for the philosophy faculty. In its decision to target the Department of Philosophy, the administration notes lower enrollments in philosophy courses, and identifies as causes of this curricular changes at the university that have led to fewer students being subject to requirements that philosophy courses fulfill, the development of more courses at the university outside of philosophy that students can take to fulfill these requirements, and an increase in the number of students coming to the school already having satisfied these requirements. In a response to the administration, the Department of Philosophy states that the administration’s plan “fails to consider the impact that retrenchment would have on St. Cloud State [More]
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André Gallois (1945-2019) (updated)

16. September 2019 Philosophy News News
André Norman Gallois, emeritus professor of philosophy at Syracuse University, died earlier this month. Professor Gallois was known for his work in metaphysics (especially the metaphysics of identity), philosophy of mind, and epistemology. In addition to many articles on these topics, he authored the books The World Without, The Mind Within (Cambridge, 1996), Occasions of Identity: A Study in the Metaphysics of Identity (Oxford, 1998), and The Metaphysics of Identity (Routledge, 2016). Professor Gallois studied philosophy at the University of Sussex and the University of Oxford, before taking up his first teaching position in 1971 at the University of Florida. He then moved to Australia, teaching initially at Monash University and then for many years at the University of Queensland. In 1997 he moved to Keele University, and then to Syracuse in 2002. In a post about him, Eric Schliesser (Amsterdam) writes: “André had firm views about what counts as philosophy that I sometimes thought too traditional. But once an issue was being analyzed, one could not imagine a gentler and more encouraging companion in shared, all-absorbing philosophical inquiry.” You can learn more about Professor Gallois’ work here. UPDATE (9/16/19): There is a detailed and personal obituary here. The post André Gallois (1945-2019) (updated) appeared first on Daily [More]
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Self-Control, Decision Theory, and Rationality: New Essays

15. September 2019 Philosophy News News
2019.09.11 : View this Review Online | View Recent NDPR Reviews José Luis Bermúdez (ed.), Self-Control, Decision Theory, and Rationality: New Essays, Cambridge University Press, 2018, 268pp., $105.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781108420099. Reviewed by Richard Pettigrew, University of Bristol     When José Luis Bermúdez invited the authors of this volume to contribute, he described for them the paradigm sort of case he wished the volume to consider and the two questions about it that he wanted them to answer. Here is the version of the paradigm case that Johanna Thoma considers in her chapter ('Temptation and Preference-Based Instrumental Rationality'). You have been working all morning and it is now time for your coffee break. You want to watch an episode of your favourite TV programme during the break but you're worried that, if you do, you'll be tempted to watch a second episode straight after the first has finished, and currently you don't want that because you more strongly... Read [More]
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Modernizing

15. September 2019 Philosophy News News
There have been two big distractions from blogging over the last month. Well, there have been three if you count the political chaos here in the UK, and the unnerving sense that things really are falling apart in a dangerously … Continue reading → The post Modernizing appeared first on Logic [More]
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John Duns Scotus – The ‘Subtle Doctor’ – Philosopher of the Month

15. September 2019 Philosophy News News
John Duns Scotus (b. c. 1265/1266–d. 1308) was one of the most significant Christian philosophers and theologians of the medieval period. Scotus made important and influential contributions in metaphysics, ethics, and natural theology. Little was known of his life but he was born in Scotland, became a Franciscan monk, spent his learning and professional life […] The post John Duns Scotus – The ‘Subtle Doctor’ – Philosopher of the Month appeared first on OUPblog.         Related StoriesHow Rabindranath Tagore reshaped Indian philosophy and literatureG.E. Moore – his life and work – Philosopher of the MonthContinuing Jane Austen’s unfinished novel [More]
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