Philosophy

Author: heldke

  • What are you reading?

    What are you reading?

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    by

    heldke

      On the last day of class, a couple of  students came up to ask me for suggestions for summer reading. I have a sneaking hunch they asked me because I’d earlier confessed to the class that I almost always find reading philosophy to be a kind of agony of the first water. They probably…

  • We say: bring it on! We have no cavities!

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    by

    heldke

    The now-firmly-annual Gustavus Classics vs. Philosophy Kickball Match is ON! The classicists have flung down an idle taunt about us having cavities (which we note they’ve misspelled).   But in response, we say to them: numbers don’t lie. Three years; three wins.           And together, we, the denizens of the first…

  • The Blue, Brown…and PINK Books??? A Wittgenstein Archive Unpacked

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    heldke

        Two boxes of manuscripts and papers belonging to Ludwig Wittgenstein are in the process of being studied and prepared for publication by Arthur Gibson of Trinity College, Cambridge, the college at which Wittgenstein himself was a professor. Reportedly, the contents of the archive include a pink notebook, whose contents are written in both…

  • That’s a Non-Sequitor at the Thirty Yard Line

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    by

    heldke

    What if Monty Python’s famous football match had been refereed? It might have looked like this…. On the other hand, consider memorizing these signals for the next time you go to a philosophy conference.

  • Philosophy podcasts of note

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    heldke

    I’ve been spending a lot of time in the car these past weeks, which means I’ve caught up on my podcast listening. I’ve heard a few casts that might spark the interests of students of philosophy. First, the granddaddy of philosophy podcasts, Philosophy Bites, recently produced an interview with Martha Nussbaum, on a topic near…

  • Aristotle CAN kill you…at least if you’re a bore…er, a boar

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    heldke

    It seems that being force fed Aristotle can kill you. At least if a volume of it is literally shoved down your throat, and you are a wild boar. According to legend/lore/myth/academic tall tale–as repeated by Phillip Brunelle on Weekend Edition Sunday–in the fifteenth century, a Queens College, Oxford scholar on his way to mass…

  • World Philosophy Day…yesterday

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    heldke

    It has come to our attention that yesterday was World Philosophy Day. Who knew? Since 2002, UNESCO has named the third Thursday in November World Philosophy Day, as a way to “make philosophical reflection accessible to all (professors and students, scholars and the general public, the young and the less young), thereby enlarging the opportunities…

  • Fifty-EIGHT channels, and FINALLY somethin’ on….

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    heldke

    (With apologies to Bruce Springsteen.) Announcing, the arrival of Philosophy TV!

  • WWP[lato]S?

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    by

    heldke

    Check out the latest entry on the Classics blog. At issue: should violent video games be protected under the First Amendment?  The Supreme Court will be taking up the issue later this year, and as  philosopher Alexander Nehemas notes, the case “may have the unusual result of establishing a philosophical link between Arnold Schwarzenegger and…

  • Desperately Seeking Plato

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    heldke

    The Greek government is claiming it will develop a new museum honoring Plato. This may be some consolation for the fact that the remains of his Academy are apparently lost for good. See the BBC story here.