Leigh M. Johnson

How I Feel About It…

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Memphis, Sports 1 Comment

It occurred to me, long after posting this picture, that I posted it without explanation. For those to whom it wasn’t obvious at the time, this is how I felt after the University of Memphis lost the NCAA Basketball Championship Game to the University of Kansas. And, for the record, I still feel this way…

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Strategic Misreading

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, Teaching Comments Off on Strategic Misreading

I used to say that one of the things I both loved and hated about philosopher Richard Rorty’s work was that he was a master of what I call “strategic misreading.” If you’ve ever read Rorty’s famous foray into the “Continental” (European) philosophical tradition, Contingency, Irony, Solidarity, you may have some sense of what I…

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Why Hillary Should NOT Drop Out (yet)

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Politics 10 Comments

I suppose it was inevitable that, when the results came back from North Carolina and Indiana, people would begin calling for Clinton to drop out of the race. I don’t think she should. I’m not going to appeal to the most obvious reason, which is that many of the superdelegates still remain uncommitted. (In the…

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Debating the κανών

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Open Source Pedagogy, Philosophy, Teaching, The Search for Values 6 Comments

I’m giving the discussions of Hillary Clinton and strategic misreading a rest for a bit to make room for another, more immediately pressing, question of mine. What counts as the central “canonical” text of Platonism? Let me set the stage for this question: At my academic home, we have a great-books-ish series of courses that…

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We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Politics Comments Off on We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby?

Consider this a friendly (though not completely unrelated) break from the Clinton/feminism discussion of late on this blog.

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Human Rights Goes Viral

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Human Rights Comments Off on Human Rights Goes Viral

If you keep a blog, I urge you to check out the upcoming event Bloggers Unite for Human Rights, which will occur on May 15th (in just a couple of days). This blog will be participating!

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Habeus Corpus

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Human Rights, Politics Comments Off on Habeus Corpus

[Argh! I was having blog problems on the UNITE day, so this post is late (and severely truncated). I think I have things figured out now, though, so more on human rights later…] Bloggers Unite for Human Rights day is a joint venture of Amnesty International and BlogCatalog.com intended “to help elevate human rights by…

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2 recommendations

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Dr. J's Lists, Film, Film Reviews, Music, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Teaching Comments Off on 2 recommendations

Now that the semester is over, I had the rare opportunity to actually see a movie in a movie theater last night. For the last year, I’ve been almost entirely reliant on Netflix, and I had forgotten the magic of the big-screen experience. My friend and I went to see The Visitor, a film about…

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Better Late Than Never…

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Uncategorized 2 Comments

After a (too) long absence on this blog, I am happy to report that things are beginning to slow down enough in the Life-of-Doctor-J to make my return here possible. I’m in the process of marking final papers and exams now. Grades are due on Monday. Commencement will follow shortly after that (May 10). Then,…

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Mardi Gras Mayhem

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Uncategorized 2 Comments

It was a rough day in Memphis yesterday. When I got to my office, it was almost 75 degrees outside, and humid. It didn’t feel anything like February. It felt like April or May… and to a native Memphian, that means it felt like “tornado season.” Turns out, it was. As I am sure many…

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