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Scam watch continues: fake offers to translate
Philosopher Eric Winsberg shares this gem. He contacted the real Professor Bernofsky at her university email address who confirmed this is a fraud (note, once again, the gmail address): From: Susan Bernofsky <bernofskysusan@gmail.com>Sent: 27 August 2026 07:50To: Eric Winsberg [omitted]Subject: A German-language opportunity for *Philosophy and Climate Science* Dear Eric, Your book Philosophy and Climate…
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How the Trumpistas silence internal critics
Not quite the “night of the long knives,” but a similar spirit!
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From the working class to academic philosophy
A quite interesting essay by philosopher Duncan Pritchard (UC Irvine); some excerpts: I grew up in what was once the industrial heartlands of England, in the Midlands city of Wolverhampton. The industry is now long gone, and in its wake there’s a lot of economic hardship. Growing up I didn’t know anyone from where we…
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Princeton’s Daniel Garber elected to the American Philosophical Society
A bit belated (this was announced last May).
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“What do you do when you do jurisprudence? Challenges and New Paths”
MOVING TO FRONT–THIS EVENT IS COMING UP NEXT WEEK This upcoming roundtable at the UK chapter of the IVR (the international association for legal philosophy), organized by Daniel Murata (Surrey), will be online, for those who might be interested:
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Cottrell from Edinburgh/York U to Toronto
Jonathan Cottrell (early modern philosophy, esp. Hume), previously a permanent member of academic staff at the University of Edinburgh and, most recently, a visiting faculty member at York University, Toronto (where his wife, the philosopher of law Maggie O’Brien, teaches), has taken up a tenured position this fall as Associate Professor at the University of…
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More scams targetting philosophers
Ned Block shares this one: From: Ryan NYC Philosophy <ryanphilosophynyc@gmail.com> Subject: Invitation to Feature Your Book The Border Between Seeing and Thinking in Our NYC Philosophy & Psychology Readers Community Date: August 31, 2026 at 10:49:44 PM EDT To: [omitted] Dear Professor Ned, Few questions in the philosophy of mind are as fundamental as understanding where…
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Profiles in real courage: Florimond “Duke” DuSossoit
He parachuted into Nazi-occupied Hungary, in order to be captured and then fool the Nazis into thinking the allied invasion was coming in the Balkans. It worked. (Thanks to Jason Bell for the pointer.)
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A new policy on advertising MA and PhD programs
MOVING TO FRONT FROM JANUARY 29, 2026 (as a reminder) Going forward, I am only going to take ads from programs that I think are worth considering (the PGR will be a pretty good benchmark for that, but schools should feel free to ask me). Because many prospective students look to the blog for guidance…
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The latest transparent scam (from a gmail address, of course, using a real journalist’s name)
In today’s inbox (at least this scammer puts the $$$ request up front): From: Stig Abell <stigabell.timesradio@gmail.com>Date: August 31, 2026 at 10:08:54 AM CDTTo: Brian Leiter <bleiter@uchicago.edu>Subject: Invitation to discuss From a Realist Point of View on Times Radio Dear Professor Leiter, I hope you’re well. I’m Stig Abell, a host and broadcaster with Times Radio.…
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Trump Administration targets ABA’s role as an “accreditor” of law schools
CHE reports: A report from the Education Department is recommending that the accrediting arm of the American Bar Association lose its federal recognition. If approved, the accrediting agency, called the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, would no longer be eligible to serve as a gatekeeper of federal financial…
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How is post-tenure review working at your (public) university?
Post-tenure review started proliferating more than a quarter-century ago, but has picked up speed in recent years. It might be useful to hear about people’s experiences. You can post anonymously, but you must use a valid email address, and it must be your university email address if you are going to name the university or…
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Philosopher’s Annual: from the literature of 2025
Via Patrick Grim (who remains as “executive editor ” of PA, but has turned over editor duties for this volume to Daniel Singer): The Philosopher’s Annual volume 45 from the literature of 2025 Evan Behrle, “Desert and Economic Interdependence,” from the Journal of Philosophy Sam Berstler, “The Structure of Open Secrets,” from the Philosophical Review…
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Universities get a (partial) reprieve on the 100k H-1B visas, but international students will still face potential obsctacles
IHE reports: After a federal court struck down the Trump administration’s effort to levy a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, the Department of Homeland Security is trying a different approach to impose a similar fee. Under a proposal released Monday, new H-1B visa petitions will have to pay $103,265 in addition to the…
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Why I did not sign the most recent open letter in support of Nathan Cofnas’s “academic freedom” [sic]
CHE reports on the letter here; I’ve sent CHE the following letter to the editor: I signed two earlier letters defending the academic freedom rights of Nathan Cofnas, since the principles of academic freedom encompass racist scholarship, as long as it meets the standards of the applicable discipline, and even if it is of dubious…
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Some skepticism about AI enthusiasm among philosophers
MOVING TO FRONT FROM AUG. 24–A LIVELY AND INTERESTING DISCUSSION IN THE COMMENT THREAD (ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME) Philosopher Dan Kaufman writes: Over the last year, philosophy social media has discussed a number of academic philosophers who are actively embracing AI in their research. Perusing these posts — and the comments that follow — reveals a…
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Anonymous person falsely accuses junior scholar of using generative AI in writing an article in the online, open access journal “Political Philosophy”
The journal responds, appropriately, here. Folks should be a lot more cautious before throwing these accusations around!
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Searle on P.F. Strawson
Galen Strawson kindly shared this address John Searle gave at a memorial for Peter Strawson, which includes, among other things, a charming description of tutorials with Strawson: Early on, Searle writes that while studying at Oxford in 1954-55, I attended lectures and seminars not only by Peter, but by J L Austin,Paul Grice, Isaiah Berlin,…
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Israel is now bad for the Jews
A more nuanced assessment (than my title) from UCLA professor Dov Waxman: 1. We must unequivocally condemn antisemitic acts against Jews and not make excuses for those who commit them. 2. We also need to acknowledge that Israel’s actions fuel much (but not all) of the anger and hatred directed against Jews nowadays. 3. Conflating…
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Here’s how the Republican steal the midterm elections in the House
Law professor Michael Dorf discusses.
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Advertising update
There is at least one first or second spot available each month this fall at present. Email me at bleiter-at-uchicago-dot-edu for more information.
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Life in authoritarian America, a case in point
To be clear, American has done this kind of authoritarian shit before, but far less of it since the 1970s.
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In Memoriam: Gabriele Taylor (1927-2026)
Dr. Taylor, who spent her career at Oxford University, where she was a fellow and tutor at St. Anne’s College, was best-known for her work in moral psychology and the philosophy of emotions. The St. Anne’s memorial notice is here. Philosopher Roger Crisp, who called this to my attention, notes that, “Her collected essays, as…
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Blast from the past: “How Trump Can Attack Higher Education: A Guide”
Back in 2024, and, sadly, it was prescient. While Title VI has, indeed, played a very large role, I did not anticipate the sheer lawless way the Trumpistas would deploy it (i.e., no investigation, no process, just going straight to suspension of federal monies).
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Against viewpoint diversity
A scholar at Johns Hopkins, Lisa Siraganian, makes seven useful points!
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Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels’ continuing war on academic freedom
First he was involved in the Trump Administration’s document calling for a massive violation of academic freedom, and now he intends to take the war on academic freedom to every department at Hopkins by pushing for “a shift in the recruitment of faculty,” partnering with the conservative American Enterprise Institute in order “to move with…
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Nathan Cofnas probably is in violation of Ghent’s “Code of Ethics”…
…as this piece argues (with some pretty choice quotes from Dr. Cofnas), but the Ghent “Code of Ethics” is obviously incompatible with academic freedom, so my conclusion is that researchers at the University of Ghent do not have academic freedom with respect to the topics the Code touches. (This Twitter thread about Dr. Cofnas’s work…
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Carney, Trump and Tariffs
An amusing assessment from an anonymous Australian.
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Philosopher Nathan Cofnas, who launched the media frenzy about Jason Arday, has been suspended by Ghent University in Belgium…
…pending an investigation into possible “discrimination” against the late Professor Arday. It was Dr. Cofnas’s July 21 substack post that opened the flood gates of media coverage of allegations against Professor Arday, that ultimately led to (what everyone is assuming was) his suicide. While many of the allegations were clearly warranted, the tone and style…
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What is it like to be a philosopher? Briana Toole edition
Courtesy of Clifford Sosis, as always. A really interesting trajectory into philosophy, I encourage folks to read this one. (What she says about UT Austin, although after my time, does ring true. I hope it’s better now.)
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Reaction formation watch: Republican politician in Florida who proposed the death penalty for pedophiles…
….arrested on child sex abuse charges. Dr. Freud strikes again! (Thanks to David Gordon for the pointer.)
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Tyler Harper on the Arday affair…
…at The Atlantic, and worth reading.
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Habermas’s destruction of the Frankfurt School, an ongoing saga
I’ve remarked on this for years (and more systematically), and although Habermas has a lot of groupies and loyalists, occasionally others do remark on this as well. This rather uneven piece by the philosopher Lorna Finlayson is the latest example. (You have to skip the first part of the essay to get to the interesting…
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Jason Arday dead
Readers will no doubt have heard this news already, but here is one account. No cause of death is given, although one suspects suicide of course given the public humiliation and vilification he suffered. A tragic story. (Earlier coverage here.) (Thanks to David Zimmerman for calling this to my attention.)
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In Memoriam: David Charles (1947-2026)
Professor Charles, who was emeritus at Yale (where he taught from 2014 to 2023), was a leading scholar of ancient philosophy, especially Aristotle. Prior to Yale, he taught at Oxford from 1979 until his move to Yale. Most recently, he was visiting professor of philosophy at Stanford. Comments are open for remembrances from those who…
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Do “liberal” faculty “indoctrinate” their students to be liberal?
This study says the answer is “no.” I cannot comment on the methodology, but let’s remember that many of the most important right-wing figures in American life are graduates of Harvard and Yale (e.g., Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, J.D. Vance, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Vivek Ramaswamy, and on and on). Perhaps they are anomalies, or…
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There is a slippery inference from the premise that we have struggled to converge on important philosophical truths to the…
I can corroborate Jason’s remarks about the UW System’s implementation of post-tenure review. In part because I was a participant…
The Wisconsin legislature made UW system implement post-tenure (5-year) reviews several years ago. The statutory requirements were fed into the…
Sorry, this may be a bit off topic, but if done well, I would really welcome some equivalent of a…
Isn’t one of the problems in this interesting converation how we define “philosophy”? Is philosophy just what is taught and…
I don’t think I misread the paper. Its lament is clear. (It’s a good paper, in style and substance, even…
I would note that there are a lot of structural reasons why senior staff might produce less research than people…