Combined TPM Blogging Feed

Soon-to-Haves

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:10:45

I am working on a book on rhetoric and, as might be imagined, this year’s American political season has been a goldmine. Recently Mitch Daniels said “We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of …

Is Education a Public Good?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:29:15

While higher education is generally regarded as a good (mainly because folks with college degrees make more than folks who lack such degrees), there has been considerable debate in the United States as to whether or not higher education is …

Towers of Ivory, Towers of Gold

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:19:44

Academics in general and philosophers in particular are often accused of dwelling in ivory towers that lift them out of the “real world” (which is, presumably, everything outside of academics). Being a philosophy professor, I do have some sympathy to …

The Atheist’s Guide to Reality: An Interview with Alex Rosenberg

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:50:22

Reality, notes philosopher Alex Rosenberg, is “completely different from what most people think… stranger than even many atheists recognize.” And having spent some 40 years trying to work out “exactly how advances in biology, neuroscience and evolutionary anthropology, fit together …

Corruption, Gravity & Litter

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:08:56

The Daily Show recently featured an interesting interview with Yale Law School professor Jonathan Macey. One part of the interview that I found especially interesting was Macey’s “defense” of capital firms like Bain in terms of what seemed to be the necessity …

Language Games: An Appeal On Behalf of Dave

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:23:04

“I’m going out with my pal Rick for a beer tonight, he’s got himself into a spot of bother with the police again. Fighting.” said Dave. I think for a minute: “Rick, I don’t think I know him do I?”. …

Don’t blame me, I didn’t want anything to do with this book…

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:20:03

This is the second in my very occasional series about amusing Prefaces (the first is here). I came across this one while browsing John Walker’s 1847 translation of and commentary on Murray’s Compendium of Logic. It seems he wasn’t a …

The Media, Gotcha Questions and Tacos

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:49:54

It has long been a common practice on the right to accuse the media of having a liberal bias. Sarah Palin added a new spin on this approach by popularizing the notion of the “gotcha” question. As might be imagined, …

Education & Unions

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:12:31

While there are many excellent schools, there are also serious problems plaguing American and other education systems. People are, of course, eager to point fingers and these fingers are often pointed at teachers’ unions. Being a professor at a state …

Disclosure. Deception. Duplicity. Defamation.

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:07:56

Here in Australia there is an interesting debate going on around the views of Melinda Tankard Reist (“MTR”), a high-profile anti-abortion and anti-pornography activist, and Jennifer Wilson, a relatively obscure (at least until now) blogger and occasional online op.ed writer. …