The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the creation of new prizes for philosophical work on artificial intelligence. Specifically, the prizes are for philosophical or philosophically-informed interdisciplinary work on the AI2050 Hard Problems. AI2050 is a project from Schmidt Sciences, a science and technology-oriented philanthrophy, focused on how to realize the potential of AI. They put it this way: It’s 2050. AI has turned out to be hugely beneficial to society. What happened? What are the most important problems we solved and the opportunities and possibilities we real ..read more

This post is for discussion of the ongoing campus protests against Israel’s response to the October 7th, 2023 attack on it by Hamas, and in support of the Palestinians. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in its attack on Gaza, with two-thirds of the dead being women and children, according to the local health ministry, reports the Associated Press. [original photo by Jay Janner/USA Today Network, via Reuters] A round-up of recent news about protests at various college campuses can be found here. Of particular interest are questions about how universities should (or shou ..read more

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has announced its newly elected members, and a number of philosophers are among them. In today’s announcement, David Oxtoby, president of the Academy, said: We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public, non-profit, and private sectors for their accomplishments and for the curiosity, creativity, and courage required to reach new heights. We invite these exceptional individuals to join in the Academy’s work to address serious challenges and advance the common good. Seven philosophers were selected: Cora Diamond (U ..read more

Avia Pasternak, currently associate professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto Scarborough will be moving to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, where she will be associate professor. Professor Pasternak works in political philosophy, and has written on collective responsibility in democracies, the duties of citizens in unjust democracies, the permissibility of violent protest, and other topics. Her book, Responsible Citizens, Irresponsible States, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. You can learn more about her research here and here. She ..read more

Robert H. Kane, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, has died. David Sosa, chair of the Department of Philosophy at UT Austin, shared the following memorial notice: The Department of Philosophy at UT Austin mourns the passing of its longtime member Robert Kane, who was University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Philo­sophy (Emeritus). The author of seven books and more than eighty articles on the philosophy of mind, free will and action, ethics, value theory, political philosophy and philosophy of religion, inclu­ding Free Wil ..read more

Amod Sandhya Lele is interviewed by Céline Leboeuf. Why Philosophy? Amod Sandhya Lele interviewed by Celine Leboeuf What is philosophy to you? Philosophy is the love of wisdom—or more specifically, the disciplined search for wisdom that comes out of that love. It’s a quest, a search for deep answers that isn’t satisfied with the easy answers offered by others around you. Like all of our knowledge, philosophy is grounded in the traditions of those who came before us—including traditions of scientific inquiry, of political commitment, and of what is often called “religion”. But philosophy seeks ..read more

Recent links… Discussion welcome. Nevada News covers a professor’s college course in which undergraduates take part in philosophical activities with preschoolers — Professor Amy Reed-Sandoval is interviewed The American Association of Philosophy Teachers is putting on a teaching seminar at its upcoming conference — accepted participants get the conference fee waived & get a $300 grant Happy 300th Birthday, Kant. Here’s an AI-influencer based on your ideas. — “an AI-generated face based on paintings of the philosopher was projected onto a stand-in model, and a large languag ..read more

A Canadian graduate student in philosophy writes in about how graduate students at several institutions are “on strike for a substantive money raise because our funding is incredibly low.” You can read about the strike at Western University here and here. The graduate student continues: Several Canadian universities, including McGill University, York University, and the University of Western Ontario (Western University), are currently experiencing strikes as graduate students advocate for a living wage. The funding packages offered by these universities are insufficient for graduate students ..read more

Charles D. Parsons, professor emeritus of philosophy at Harvard University, has died. Professor Parsons was known for his work on the philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of logic, Kant, and historical figures in the foundations of mathematics, such as Frege, Hilbert, and Gödel. He is the author of Mathematical Thought and Its Objects (2007), Philosophy of Mathematics in the Twentieth Century: Selected Essays (2013), From Kant to Husserl: Selected Essays (2012), and many other works. You can learn more about his writings here. Parsons also was an editor of The J ..read more

Emmanuel College, Cambridge University has “cut ties” with Nathan Cofnas, a philosopher on a Leverhulme Trust fellowship there, because of his research on race and intelligence. However, Cofnas retains his fellowship as part of the Faculty of Philosophy at the university, so it is unclear whether this is merely a symbolic gesture by the college or a decision that affects his academic freedom. Emmanuel College’s decision was a response to blog posts by Cofnas earlier this year that prompted the Leverhulme Trust to launch its own investigation of him, and which spurred a student petition callin ..read more