In this post I take a break from my series on the Circumstances of Justice to abuse Irfan’s trust and hospitality in order to promote a web project of my own: Free Range Philosophers. From the site description:

Free Range Philosophers presents interviews of people with advanced training in philosophy who are either working outside of traditional academic jobs or engaged in philosophical outreach or other philosophical activities outside of the academic classroom. … In addition to serving as a resource for graduate students and PhDs who are exploring other career options, the hope is that these interviews will help philosophers inside and outside the academy expand our conception of what philosophy is and what it can be.

My first two interviews are with a philosopher who left a tenure-track position in order to better pursue his conception of what philosophy should be and with a philosopher-designer who found a nonfaculty position that allows her to combine both of her passions. Enjoy!

This is Part 3 of a four (or five) part series based on a conference-length version of a longer paper I’m currently preparing for submission to academic journals. Part 1 is just a brief introduction to the paper, but it has generated a deep and ongoing conversation about the nature of justice which is well worth reading (and joining). Part 2 is primarily exegetical, presenting and interpreting the key passages from Rawls and Hume on the “circumstances of justice.” But it too has generated a much deeper discussion of the nature of justice. You can also consult the full paper at any time.

In this section, I focus on showing how the internal consistency of Hume’s account does not survive Rawls’s attempted appropriation of that account. This is another short section, and I suspect the discussion will mostly pick up on some of the same issues that have already been raised with respect to Part 2.

Continue reading →

This is Part 2 of a four (or five) part series based on a conference-length version of a longer paper I’m currently preparing for submission to academic journals. Part 1 is just a brief introduction to the paper, but it has generated a deep and ongoing conversation about the nature of justice which is well worth reading (and joining). You can also consult the full paper at any time.

This section of the paper is more substantial, but it is also primarily exegetical. I’m certainly interested in hearing critiques or additions to my interpretations of Rawls and Hume. But we can also continue some of the deeper discussion about justice if some readers would like to critique substantive elements of Hume and/or Rawls as interpreted. Another question that might be worth exploring in light of our discussion of Part 1: how similar or different is this account of the circumstances of justice from the account(s) we find in Plato’s Republic?

Continue reading →

In a rather hilarious development, my class here at Al Quds was canceled yesterday due to lack of enrollment. Apparently, the enrollment minimum for summer classes here is 20. Since my class has only 14 enrolled (of whom only four students have regularly attended), it was canceled. (This comes after a strike shut down classes on the first day.)

I don’t know whether I was thrilled or dismayed to learn of the cancellation, but I ended up going from office to office with my friend and translator Hadi Abu Hilweh to see if an exception could be granted in my case. On the one hand, the prospect of a whole summer without academic responsibilities was an attractive one, to put it mildly. On the other hand, it seemed a little absurd to have traveled 10,000 miles to teach a class and not teach it. And then, I kind of needed to get paid, so that I could cover the costs of my airfare here. We finally ended up at Academic Affairs, and after some skillful negotiation (on Hadi’s part), got the class re-instated. Definitely a first in my career–begging to teach a class that’s been canceled. Continue reading →