As the years went by, and we both left Princeton, I am afraid the incipient intellectual and emotional gulf between us got wider, especially after what I saw as Dick’s turn toward ultra-nationalism with the publication of Constructing Our Country. Dick had always been and remained to the end of his life a “liberal” (in the American sense, i.e., a “Social Democrat”): a defender of civil liberties and of the extension of a full set of civic rights to all, a vocal supporter of the labor unions and of programs to improve the conditions of the poor, an enemy of racism, cruelty, arbitrary authority, and social exclusion.
Author Archives: Irfan Khawaja
Letter from a Chevalier to a Lady of No Quality
Dear Lady Who Was Sitting in the Middle of Row E at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra’s All-Beethoven Concert, Enlow Recital Hall, Kean University, Hillside, New Jersey, February 6, 2016, between 7:30 and 9:30 pm:
I think it’s really cool that you brought your three young children to an orchestral performance, I really do. Audiences for classical music are starting to dwindle nowadays, and if classical music is to survive, it needs the support of the younger generation–like your three delightful little children.
But still, I would like to point out to you that
Reason Papers 37.2 is now out
The latest issue of Reason Papers, vol. 37, number 2 is now out; officially, it’s the Fall 2015 issue, but we only just managed to put it up on the website last night. This link will take you to a monster-size PDF to the whole issue (almost 250 pages). This link will take you to the journal’s Archive page, where you can access individual articles for this or any past issue (you have to scroll down a bit). Finally, this link will take you to three (time sensitive) Calls for Papers issued by the journal’s editors: one on “the philosophy of play” (March 1, 2016); one a fifteen-year retrospective on 9/11 (July 1, 2016); and one an Authors-Meet-Critics symposium on Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas Rasmussen’s forthcoming book The Perfectionist Turn: From Meta-Norms to Meta-Ethics (February 1, 2017).
Student Papers Written via Translation Software: A Conundrum?
I’m curious what PoT readers think of this.
I just got out of a faculty meeting in which one of the faculty from the Dept of Communications gave a short presentation on a problem he said he’s recently encountered. The problem is as follows. Some of our students come from non-English-speaking households. Obviously, they can speak English in a functional way, but they feel more comfortable writing in their native languages, especially if they have to do so for credit. When assigned writing assignments for class, some students in this situation will write the paper in their native language (say, Spanish), translate the paper into English via an online translation app (e.g., Google Translate), and then submit the translated version of the paper for credit without disclosing what they’ve done.
Maintaining the Realty Orientation: Objectivist House Hunting with Ayn Rand
I don’t know who Kyle Sammin is, but props to him: this is hilarious.
ht: Suleman Khawaja
“Exploring Liberty” at The College of New Jersey
Yet another conference announcement, care of TCNJ’s James Stacey Taylor:
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) will be hosting a wonderful conference on “Exploring Liberty” on Feb. 19th (in the evening) and 20th. This seminar will be thoroughly interactive, with students and professors discussing the ideas as peers…. Not just in the formal events, but over refreshments and meals, too, all of which will be provided.
This event is not limited to TCNJ students; all are welcome, and in the past students from PA, NY, MD, and MA have attended. We expect a similarly diverse group this year. It is possible that accommodation could be provided for students attending from out of town–please email me directly (my address is below) for details.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, Classics, and Religious Studies, and the classical liberal educational non-profit The Institute for Humane Studies.
Please send any questions to me, James Taylor, at jtaylor AT tcnj DOT edu
I strongly encourage all to attend-including faculty!
Here’s a link to the conference announcement and registration page at the IHS site.
“My Existential Valentine”
Wow, this looks like the perfect place to take a date for Valentine’s Day–assuming you have a date for Valentine’s Day.
Is Valentine’s Day an opportunity for meaningful celebrations of love, or is it merely a chocolate-covered con? As lovers, should we resist being seduced into spending billions of dollars annually on red roses and teddies (be they bears or lingerie)? Or should we surrender to the superficial satisfactions they represent? Be there as Skye Cleary takes us on an existential look at the hype and the possibilities for authentic loving. And bring someone you love.
Those are all really good questions, but they seem awfully hypothetical, at least to me. Put it this way: they cut to the essence of love, but as Sartre taught us, existence precedes essence.
Update: American (and Muslim) Complicity in Saudi Theocracy
I’ve updated the January 5 post on our complicity in Saudi theocracy.
CFP: The Ethics of Bodily Commodification
James Stacey Taylor of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at The College of New Jersey has asked me to post this CFP on what turns out to be a rather timely topic.
CALL FOR PAPERS
“The Ethics of Bodily Commodification”
Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
Keynote Speakers:
Mark J. Cherry, St Edwards University
Samuel J. Kerstein, University of Maryland
To be held at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ
The College of New Jersey’s attractive Georgian campus is located just a few miles from Princeton, and is easily accessible by public transport (just over an hour’s travel time) from both central Philadelphia and central New York.
Problems from Locke
I can’t be the first one to have spotted this, but I’m teaching Locke tomorrow, and on my nth reading of Second Treatise chapter 5, it suddenly occurs to me that the assumption commonly attributed to Locke as the starting point of his discussion of property in the Second Treatise is much more puzzling than I had previously realized. Locke says that revelation makes clear that God gave the world “to mankind in common.” But how can that be, if God gave the Promised Land to Israel?
Policy of Truth 