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It’s Not Them . . .
It sometimes happens that things I learn in my private life have a profound impact on some aspect of my professional life, usually to the benefit of those I work with. In particular, I have been involved in the American traditional dance scene since I was a graduate student: contra dance, English country dance, and… Continue reading
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On Banning Electronics from the Classroom
A post appeared on The Daily Nous, today, taking up a question raised by an editorial in The Washington Post: Should an instructor at the university level, as a matter of explicit policy, forbid students to have or use their own electronic devices in the classroom? I used to have such a policy, as I… Continue reading
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Philosophy in 2015
Dr. Leigh M. Johnson’s “Morbidity and Mortality Report” on the travails of Philosophy as a profession in 2014 has started me thinking about my own relationship with the field in which I was trained. I have often been pleased to point out that I have not worked in a philosophy department since 1998, following instead… Continue reading
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A Field Guide: A First Sketch
This blog grew out of an idea I had, sometime last year, to write a Field Guide to Basic Values for use in my ethics courses, building on the idea of attuned awareness to which I referred in my previous post. I once used this analogy with students: There are no doubt some people who… Continue reading
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Self-Driving Cars: A View from the Sidewalk
I have not been following the hype over self-driving cars closely enough to tell whether it’s a passing fad or something more enduring. As is often the case with emerging technologies that excite people’s imaginations, many claims for the benefits of self-driving cars come across as exaggerated, almost utopian. In any case, benefits are cast… Continue reading
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An Ethicist Walks to Work
A few months ago, something that happened on my morning commute provided an example of moral perception I could use in class later that day: what it’s like to see the ethical texture of an entirely mundane situation. I was walking along North Avenue on my way from the transit station to my office on… Continue reading
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From the Archive: What Philosophers Do
Since I’m in the midst of mid-winter revels, of one kind and another, I’m still drawing from the archives of my other blog, The Ethics of Metropolitan Growth. Today’s revived is from October 9, 2011. It takes up a question that will continue to occupy my mind as I develop this new blog: What should… Continue reading
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From the Archive: On Expertise
As I’m on holiday break, I’m relying on the archives of my other blog, The Ethics of Metropolitan Growth, to keep things moving along with this new blog. I will resume the development of new posts soon. Today’s entry, from May 27, 2011, takes up a question that is still of concern to me, especially… Continue reading
