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Towers of Ivory, Towers of Gold
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:19:44 +0000
Academics in general and philosophers in particular are often accused of dwelling in ivory towers that lift them out of the “real world” (which is, presumably, everything outside of academics). Being a philosophy professor, I do have some sympathy to … Read more »
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The Atheist’s Guide to Reality: An Interview with Alex Rosenberg
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:50:22 +0000
Reality, notes philosopher Alex Rosenberg, is “completely different from what most people think… stranger than even many atheists recognize.” And having spent some 40 years trying to work out “exactly how advances in biology, neuroscience and evolutionary anthropology, fit together … Read more »
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Corruption, Gravity & Litter
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:08:56 +0000
The Daily Show recently featured an interesting interview with Yale Law School professor Jonathan Macey. One part of the interview that I found especially interesting was Macey’s “defense” of capital firms like Bain in terms of what seemed to be the necessity … Read more »
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Language Games: An Appeal On Behalf of Dave
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:23:04 +0000
“I’m going out with my pal Rick for a beer tonight, he’s got himself into a spot of bother with the police again. Fighting.” said Dave. I think for a minute: “Rick, I don’t think I know him do I?”. … Read more »
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Don’t blame me, I didn’t want anything to do with this book…
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:20:03 +0000
This is the second in my very occasional series about amusing Prefaces (the first is here). I came across this one while browsing John Walker’s 1847 translation of and commentary on Murray’s Compendium of Logic. It seems he wasn’t a … Read more »
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The Media, Gotcha Questions and Tacos
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:49:54 +0000
It has long been a common practice on the right to accuse the media of having a liberal bias. Sarah Palin added a new spin on this approach by popularizing the notion of the “gotcha” question. As might be imagined, … Read more »
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Education & Unions
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:12:31 +0000
While there are many excellent schools, there are also serious problems plaguing American and other education systems. People are, of course, eager to point fingers and these fingers are often pointed at teachers’ unions. Being a professor at a state … Read more »
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Disclosure. Deception. Duplicity. Defamation.
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:07:56 +0000
Here in Australia there is an interesting debate going on around the views of Melinda Tankard Reist (“MTR”), a high-profile anti-abortion and anti-pornography activist, and Jennifer Wilson, a relatively obscure (at least until now) blogger and occasional online op.ed writer. … Read more »
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Religion for Atheists: An Interview With Alain de Botton
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:29:27 +0000
Alain de Botton, co-founder of London’s School of Life and author of The Consolations of Philosophy, has been kind enough to provide an interview for Talking Philosophy about his new book Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses … Read more »
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Warbots
Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:05:13 +0000
The United States and many other nations currently operate military remote operated vehicles (ROVs) that are more commonly known as drones. While the ROVs began as surveillance devices, the United States found that they make excellent weapon platforms. The use … Read more »
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