Three men who died recently are brought before the throne of God and told that they may each have one wish. The Briton asks for an end to war. The American asks for an end to hunger. The Russian smiles slyly and says, “In my village, I have a neighbor who has a cow. I […]
A Russian joke about petty envy Read More »
An example of using social fear to intimidate students who might ask the “wrong questions.” From a review of Rebecca Goldstein’s Betraying Spinoza: Goldstein tells of “the particularly Jewish way in which Spinoza entered her life. It initially happened, she tells us, in a yeshiva high school for girls. Her favorite teacher, Mrs. Schoenfeld, told
Spinoza as cautionary tale about asking the wrong questions Read More »
School is out and another season of family vacations begins. Some philosophical insight for the road ahead.
The philosophy of family vacation Read More »
The gall of some people. Apparently Malcolm Gladwell has gone after John Paulson for giving $400 million to Harvard University. It takes a special kind of immorality to feel comfortable doing any of the following: (a) bossily telling other people how to spend their own money, (b) telling them how to spend their philanthropic dollars,
On Gladwell’s chastising Paulson Read More »
The opening of my latest column at EveryJoe: “I ran out of money in my final semester of graduate school. My first teaching job awaited me in the fall semester, but I had no income for the three summer months before then. “So I gave up my apartment and moved into a shared house with
Blamestorming and Environmental Problems (Part II) [new The Good Life column] Read More »
For use in my courses, additions to my Texts in Philosophy page. All files are PDFs. “Arachne and Athena.” James Buchanan, “Public Choice: Politics without Romance,” Policy Magazine (2003). Martin Heidegger, “Reunion Speech” (1934). HTML version here. Heinrich Himmler, “Speech at Posen” (1943). John Maynard Keynes, The End of Laissez-Faire (1926). HTML version here. John
Texts in Philosophy — early 2015 additions Read More »
Coisas ruins acontecem no livre mercado. Algumas pessoas mentem, utilizam atalhos, cometem fraudes e passam cheques sem fundo. Outros não cumprem contratos, oferecem ou aceitam suborno, pagam propina, roubam e assim por diante. Frequentemente isso se traduz em argumentos em prol da regulamentação governamental. O livre mercado maximiza a liberdade, diz o argumento, dando mais oportunidades
Corrupção — a regulamentação governamental ajuda? Read More »
Data on faculty composition in higher education: 1969: 21.7% non-tenure track and 78.3% tenure-track positions. 2009: 66.5% ineligible for tenure and 33.5% tenure-track positions.[1] Three questions about quality in higher education, in light of the data. 1. Do adjuncts or tenure-trackers deliver better instruction? Adjuncts tend to be younger, hungrier, more excited about being instructors,
Adjuncts and academic quality in higher education Read More »