Eco-Theme

Just a quick recommendation for a blog by one of my past philosophy students.  Abi was one of the first students to graduate in philosophy at Bath Spa and will be beginning a Masters degree in Philosophy at Kings College London this year.  I'm very much impressed with her ecological and evironmental writings over at EcoTheme.  Keep up the good work.

GOP Anti-Intellectualism

One of my growing fears is well-articulated by Paul Krugman in the New York Times, namely that many of the potential Republican presidential nominees are anti-science and, in a more sweeping sense, anti-knowledge too.  This perhaps isn't shocking news for many, however, the possibility that the most powerful nation on the Earth might be governed by an individual and party that is wilfully anti-intellectual and possesses these epistemic biases is, as Krugman concludes, 'a terrifying prospect.'

Upcoming Conference - Philosophy and ...

I will be attending the Society for European Philosophy annual conference at York St John University in the week ahead (31st August to 3rd September). A rather last minute decision on my part, but I’m now very much looking forward to the diverse selection of papers, including several on feminist philosophy and object-oriented ontology.  Plenary speakers include Michele Le Doeuff and Graham Harman, so my two main areas of philosophical interest are usefully covered.  I hope to meet some people I’ve only corresponded with via blogs and email and also touch base with some old friends (Bev, Pamela).

London Burning

A good commentary on the recent London riots by Žižek for the London Review of Books here.  Many useful posts at Lenin’s Tomb and Infinite Thought too, including counternarratives to those presented in the mainstream media and another offensive piece of interviewing by the BBC here.

Processes versus Objects Reloaded

Two weeks away with minimal internet contact and what do I find?  The process versus object debates seem to have renewed themselves, inititiated by some queries and speculation by Ben Woodard at Naught Thought here.  I won’t provide a comprehensive list of all the relevant links, I’m still reading through some of them.  Ben has a good summary of them here.

White Paper Object(ions)

A good critique of the British government’s treatment of higher education during the last year is available here.  Focus is directed towards the white paper, but there is good contextualisation and elaboration of the inconsistencies and litany of procedural and other errors that constitute the madness so far.  A good introduction for the interested outsider.