Philosophy

No, you CAN’T just watch the movie!

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Teaching, The Search for Values 6 Comments

I am, again, inadvertantly competing with a couple of (bad) film versions of texts that I am teaching in my classes this semester. First, there’s the mega-blockbuster Troy, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles. Now, I haven’t seen Troy (though I have recently resolved to do so ASAP), but my understanding of it was that the…

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Who’s keeping the brothers?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics, Teaching, The Search for Values 2 Comments

We’ve moved on to the story of Cain and Abel, which is actually one of my favorites in the Bible. There are so many unexplained details in that story. Why didn’t God like Cain’s offering? (I mean, Cain and Abel were only the 2nd and 3rd human beings ever… it’s not like there was an…

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Fishin’

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 3 Comments

I have to give props to one of my friends, who will remain nameless for reasons of professional interest, for the following insight. There’s an old saying that goes: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. At SPEP, the aim…

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Brain Sex

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Teaching 1 Comment

Here’s something we all need to talk more about: eros in the classroom. I was reminded of this just recently by an excellently written article in The American Scholar by Yale professor William Deresiewicz entitled “Love on Campus.” (If you haven’t read the piece already, please stop and read it now. The references follwing will…

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Thematic Uncertainty

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 7 Comments

I need your help. This fall I will be teaching a General Humanities-type course that has a mostly prefab syllabus, which I can make minor alterations to, but not many. Basically, I can add things, but can’t take any away. The course is pretty labor-intensive as it is designed, and if I were a student…

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Fun With 20 Questions

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 1 Comment

I had a couple of friends (also philosophers) down to visit this past weekend and, over coffeee one morning, we found ourselves discussing the relative merits and demerits of the popular road-trip game “20 Questions.” (You can play against a computer in an Artificial Intelligence version of the game here.) Since one of my interlocutors…

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Fighting Fire with Squirting Lapel Roses

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics 1 Comment

Last year, I saw Emory philosopher Cynthia Willet give two separate lectures culled from material for her forthcoming book Comedy, Friendship, Freedom: A Democratic Political Ethics. Willet’s project is philosophically astute, extrememly timely, and not a little provocative, and I am very much looking forward to the publication of her complete text. She is trying…

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And I Think To Myself, What Are Multiple Worlds?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Just Ask, Philosophy Comments Off on And I Think To Myself, What Are Multiple Worlds?

Part two of the “Just Ask” challenge finds this (from Daniel B.):I immediately thought of a softball question, such as “Derrida: great philosophy, or greatest philosopher?” Instead, I will test your mettle: What are the moral implications of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics? First, let me take the softball: great philosophy and great philosopher….

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This Is Your Blurb!

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 4 Comments

Just before you go on the academic job market, everyone tells you that one of the most important things you can do is to figure out a way to distill and encapsulate your entire project into a roughly 2 minute soundbite, otherwise known as a “blurb.” This is a difficult, but immensely practical, endeavor. Chances…

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The Critics Strike Back

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 2 Comments

A while ago, I noted Eduardo Mendieta’s review of Adams’ Habermas and Theology. Mendieta hit the nail on the head by opening his review with the claim: “Adjoining two nouns in the title of a book is like writing a blank check to ‘cash.’ One better know who is receiving the check and one better…

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