Philosophy

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Philosophers played a very clean game

Moreover, everyone on the philosophy team is an actual philosophy major. We’re just sayin’. And our shirts were fantastic. But, okay, it’s true. We lost. Yes, after five years of easy, breezy victories, the philosophy department was routed by classics today, 7-2. I like to think it was the fact that the game moved indoors. [...]

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Classicists Stoop Low

This morning, the Early Morning Philosopher walked into our department in Old Main, only to be greeted by this at the door:       And then, inside the door, this: and this: then this:   ,                   Well, you get the idea. Classicists. At it again, [...]

Why study philosophy? Ask Chris Hayes

  Terri Gross’s interview with young anchor Chris Hayes includes a discussion of how his philosophy major has been an asset to him in his life as a journalist and a public media figure. 

What would John Dewey say?

Is college education job training? A recent radio interview by North Carolina Governor Patrick McCrory argues that it is–and he took the opportunity of the interviewer to take a poke at the liberal arts in general and gender studies in particular: “I don’t want to subsidize that if that’s not going to get someone a [...]

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Socrates: Will Chicago Greeks find you innocent?

Dang! Wouldn’t we like to be in Chicago right this minute with a hundred dollars in our pockets???? We could watch Socrates being retried. By real lawyers and a judge! Check out some news coverage of the REtrial of Socrates. Does this mean we can look forward to a revised version of the Apology?

The Map of Philosophy

Who influenced whom?  

 
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Deane Curtin: Fulbright Scholarship in India Focuses on Translation of Western Philosophy into Tibetan

An article on the Gustavus homepage chronicles Deane Curtin’s exciting sabbatical work, collaborating with the Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, to begin translating classic works of western philosophy into Tibetan.  (Here’s a piece from the LTWA webpage!) Not incidentally, the Dalai Lama is also urging Tibetan Buddhists to study Buddhist philosophy [...]

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John Biewen on THIS AMERICAN LIFE: “Little War on the Prairie”

So, what can you do with a philosophy major? You can create an episode of the award-winning radio documentary program THIS AMERICAN LIFE, about  the Dakota Conflict, and the resultant mass execution of Dakota men that took place in Mankato. Here’s the description on the TAL website: Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, [...]

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NOVEMBER 15 is World Philosophy Day!

This year’s theme is “Future Generations.” World Philosophy Day is a UNESCO-sponsored day: In establishing World Philosophy Day in 2005, the General Conference highlighted the importance of this discipline, especially for young people, underlining that “philosophy is a discipline that encourages critical and independent thought and is capable of working towards a better understanding of [...]