UF President Machen calls for a new university budget that eliminates the PhD program in philosophy

President Bernie Machen has proposed that UF’s Ph.D program in philosophy be eliminated (along with Ph.D program in Romance Languages and Literatures with concentration in French and Ph.D. program in German) to help balance the university’s budget. Here is the same information presented in .pdf format; the relevant information is on page 7.

UPDATE (Vitz, 05/06/08): Professor Jamil (Miami Dade College) has created a petition so that we can gather signatures to send to President Machen at the University of Florida.

UPDATE (Vitz, 05/09/08): The petition has received, roughly, 1300 signatures in three days.

Opting Out of Gen Ed Math?

Should an introductory logic course satisfy a college’s or university’s general education math requirement? A reader wants to know:

I have a two-part question for the blog readership:

1. Are there any colleges or universities in Florida that will permit an Introduction to Logic course to satisfy part of their math Gen Ed requirements? My understanding from one or two other contacts is that while logic can be approved as a substitute with an appeal and a counselor’s approval, it isn’t accepted as satisfying part of the math Gen Ed requirement without an appeal, and only then under special circumstances.

2. Is there any evidence, other than the anecdotal kind, that dyscalculia or other math-related learning disabilities do not affect the ability to learn or do logic? (FYI: I am skeptical of this claim, but able to change my mind!)

Thanks for any and all answers.

Regarding the first question, as far as I know, an introductory logic course will not satsify the general education math requirement at UNF. Regarding the second question, I am unaware of any such evidence suggesting that “math-related learning disabilities do not affect the ability to learn or do logic,” and even the anecdotal evidence of which I am aware is extremely thin. What is the perspective on these issues from those at other colleges and universities?

The Science of Freewill

Here is a story on Talk of the Nation, on NPR which discusses studies on the science of decision making using fMRI’s.

3rd Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

at
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Keynote Speaker:

Professor Susan Bordo
Otis A. Singletary Chair in the Humanities
University of Kentucky

Author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book Unbearable Weight

Call for Papers

A Word to the Wise, Kids

Read the secondary lit.

Yankton Sioux Hog Farm Protest

Here’s an issue going on right now that’s relevant to my sporadic ongoing series on American Indian political issues.

You can listen to this recent broadcast of Native America Calling to get a sense of the issues. (And there are many: tribal borders, jurisdiction, and environmental impacts, to name a few.)

From the Native America Calling website:

More arrests have been made in South Dakota as tribal members continue to protest across the site where a hog farm is being built. The farm is being built near Yankton Sioux tribal lands and tribal members are concerned about potential air and water contamination. State troopers have arrested dozens of protestors for disorderly conduct. A group called the Yankton Sioux Tribe Head Start Concerned Parents filed a complaint in federal court to halt the project. Who will win out? Our guest is Oi Zephier (Yankton Sioux), a former tribal police officer for the Yankton Sioux Tribe.

Sayre-McCord Interview: Metaethics

Here’s a nice interview with Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (UNC-Chapel Hill).

(HT: Pea Soup)

Students Bring Razor Blade Laced Muffins to Philosophy Class

I know it sounds absurd, but…well, it’s supposed to be.

(HT: PJMB)

Sweet Deal

Via the wonderful SWIP-L list, I’m informed of a new collection of essays called Global Ethics: Seminal Essays (Eds. Pogge and Horton). Here’s a blurb from the publisher:

In recent decades, there has been an explosion of interest in global ethics — the study of ethical issues with significant global dimensions. This book, a companion volume to Global Justice: Seminal Essays, provides a sample of the best recent work on those issues. Topics treated include whether individuals and governments in rich countries should give more aid to people in poor countries, and what the nature of any such duties might be; the causes of persistent poverty in certain countries; the conditions under which military action aimed at protecting human rights in foreign countries might be morally justified; the moral basis for the right to self-determination; whether attitudes such as patriotism and nationalism are morally justified in today’s world, and if so, what justifies them; what “development” is; whether there could be a genuinely universal consensus on human rights; and what response might be morally required to such global problems as population growth and climate change.

Nussbaum Interview: Liberty of Conscience

Here’s a link to an interview with Martha Nussbaum about her recent book Liberty of Conscience.

(Hat Tip!)

The 68th Philosophers’ Carnival

is here.

Is Philosophy a Blood Sport?

There are a couple of really interesting discussions here and here about the blood sport aspect of philosophy and philosophical debates.

(Thanks, Feminist Philosophers!)

UPDATE: Over at Feminist Philosophers, JJ has started a follow-up post on the blood sport aspect of philosophy. Many people find the cut throat, attack style of some philosophical debate inappropriate and harmful in different ways. See the links above for more on this. But if these are things we should not do in philosophy, what should we do? JJ’s follow-up post lists some good ideas. If you have any of your own, or would like to comment on the blood sport aspect of philosophy, feel free to comment (here or at Feminist Philosophers).

ANOTHER UPDATE: I’ve just noticed that two other blogs take up the issues raised at Feminist Philosophers. See this post at Siris, in reply to this one at Kenny Pearce’s blog.

Don’t know much about tribal sovereignty?

Well, read this, then!

New Era of Indigenous Rights

Off blog obligations have kept me from writing about the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples here. But fear not, dear readers! I shall not miss the opportunity to pass along this article discussing the new era of indigenous rights.

Here’s a snippet:

Over the past 30 years, indigenous peoples around the world have expressed greater public self-consciousness of their needs for recognition of land, resources and greater political and cultural autonomy. While indigenous peoples have always sought to protect their cultures throughout colonial history, the last three decades mark a dramatic increase in the recognition of indigenous rights and self-expression in local, national and global contexts.

Indigenous peoples are surrounded by nation-states as well as regional and local governments that often do not fully honor or recognize indigenous land, or cultural and political rights. Implementation of the indigenous peoples’ movement’s recent achievement, the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, will make it difficult for world governments to ignore indigenous rights.

1st Annual Interdisciplinary Approach to Philosophical Issues Conference (2008)

Call for papers:

“At the Crossroads of Philosophy and Psychology”
Sponsored by University of South Alabama Philosophy Department
September 2008 (exact date TBA)

Keynote speaker: Joshua Knobe, University of North Carolina

Florida Philosophical Association Call for Papers

Call for Papers

Paper submissions are invited for the 54th annual meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association which will be held November 14-16, 2008 in Daytona Beach at Embry-Riddle University. Program Coordinator: Dr. Marina Oshana. Local Organizer, Dr. Reinhold Schlieper.

This is a Very Pleasant Pineapple

Looks like you can watch the whole film, “Wittgenstein,” here.

Philosophy in the News

Right here!

The 66th Philosophers’ Carnival…

is here.  Thanks to the Uncredible Hallq for hosting - I really like the awards format.

The 67th edition will be hosted by blog.kennypearce.net with the following theme from the host:

“The 67th carnival will be focused on the theme of “idealism” - the view that minds and/or their ideas are the fundamental stuff of reality. Posts are invited which argue for or against idealism, which track down the consequences of idealism, or which examine the views of historical idealist philosophers, such as Berkeley, Hegel, Schopenhauer, or Bradley (to name a few). Space permitting, I will include all posts with substantive content related to academic philosophy, but posts related to the theme outlined above are especially welcome and will have pride of place at the top of the page.”

~Q

Pragmatism Conference at FAU

There is an upcoming conference on pragmatism at FAU. The conference, “Human Nature and Self: Pragmatist Theory from European Perspectives,” will take place on Thursday, March 20, from 2 to 5 PM,  in the Majestic Palm Room B of Florida Atlantic University’s main campus.

The 64th Philosophers’ Carnival…

is here.  Thanks to Movement of Existence for hosting.

Kudos to our bloggers: Linda Harris’ post “On Organs and the Mighty $$” was featured along with Jennifer Lawson’s post on  Article 10 and Jennifer Giesselmann’s post on Situationism and Virtue Theory.  Great work ladies.

The next carnival is being hosted by Philosophy, et cetera on March 17th.

~Q

Philosophy Slam News

For those in Jacksonville, from Erich Freiberger (Jacksonville University):

Situationism and virtue theory: Can we know if we are virtuous?

Recent debates in ethics and moral psychology have attempted to call into question the foundations of virtue theory by using empirical research from the social sciences. The situationists claim that virtue theory is empirically inadequate because although people’s behavior can be consistent in similar situations, it is often not consistent across different types of situations. Ross and Nisbett state that we cannot accurately predict how a particular person will respond in novel situations using information about that person’s dispositions or past behavior (Ross & Nisbett, 1991). They believe this suggests that there is no such thing as robust character traits and that, instead, behavior is influenced more by the situation than by individual differences (Doris, 1998). Not only do these situational factors affect our behavior, but they also claim that we are often unaware of the extent to which these factors influence us. This tendency to overlook the influence of situational factors is one component of the fundamental attribution error, what Ross and Nisbett define as “people’s inflated belief in the importance of personality traits and dispositions, together with their failure to recognize the importance of situational factors in affecting behavior” (Ross & Nisbett, 1991, p. 4).

Article 10

In my most recent writing on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, I looked at Articles 1 and 2. Today, I’m going to jump down a little bit to Article 10 simply because forced relocation has been on my mind lately.

Article 10 is this:

Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.

In keeping with my American Indian theme, I’ll discuss forced relocation of Indians, although we should keep in mind that indigenous peoples outside of the U.S. have been subject to similar polices.

The Problem of Evil on NPR

Here’s an interview with Religious Studies Professor Bart D. Ehrman (UNC-Chapel Hill) on the problem of evil, the Bible and his new book God’s Problem.

(Thanks, Tara, for the heads-up!)