RMWMTMBM Archive

The Vicissitudes of Netiquette

In the last couple of days, I’ve received a lot of criticism about this post, in which I solicited Dr. Vincent Hendricks (and encouraged my readers to solicit Dr. Hendricks) to grant an interview with me, for the benefit of his English-speaking audience, about the recent kerfuffle surrounding his decision to post on his website–…

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New “Comments Policy” at RMWMTMBM

Well, we managed to make it almost six whole years before having to address the problem of internet trolls on this blog. Not a bad run, all things considered. The practice of not “moderating” discussions or insisting on comment “approvals” has been intentional on this site so far. In my view, the delay caused by…

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Guest-Blogger Shiloh Whitney on the Hendricks Affair

[Introductory note from Dr. J: Hello, readers. Just a quick introductory note about today’s “guest blogger.” Shiloh Whitney (pictured left) is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at McGill University. She submitted a rather long comment to the previous discussion taking place on this blog surrounding the Hendricks affair, so I asked her if she wouldn’t…

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American Values Project [Update]

A lot has happened with the American Values Project since my last update. We received a generous grant from Rhodes College’s Center for Outreach and Development of the Arts (CODA) to buy some new equipment, revamp our website and, most importantly, stage a physical exhibit of the project here in Memphis. CODA has been an…

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Young Adult: The Least Funny Comedy of 2011

I’m guessing I’m not the only one who saw the trailers for the new film Young Adult (directed by Up In The Air and Thank You For Smoking auteur Jason Reitman, penned by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody) and thought to myself: that looks really funny! I want to see it! I mean, I didn’t expect…

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The Uncanny Valley 8: Pet Robots

[This is a continuation of my (now numerous) reflections on the Uncanny Valley. You can read the previous seven installments here if you’re interested.] Late last semester, as a part of my department’s semi-regular Philosophy Film Series, we screened Mechanical Love, a 2007 documentary about the ever-evolving relationships between humans and robots. The film focuses…

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If P, then WTF?! (Revisited)

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about what has come to be known in the professional philosophical community as “L’Affaire Hendricks,” in which Prof. Vincent Hendricks used several explicit and sexist photos (one example on your left) to advertise his logic course at the University of Copenhagen. I was, quite honestly, surprised to see…

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The Parking Lot Movie: In Defense of Service Workers

Many years ago, when I found myself griping about the horrible and infuriating treatment that restaurant service-people– at the time, that included me– get from their patrons, I remember my father telling me: “Everyone should have at least four types of jobs in his or her life: (1) a job in the service industry, (2)…

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Rick Perry’s Weak

GOP Presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry has released a campaign ad called “Strong,” in which he bemoans the fact that “gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in schools.” (For the record, kids can pray in schools. They can even do so “openly.” It’s…

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If P, then WTF?!

The image to your left is one of a set of images that were recently posted by Vincent Hendricks, Professor of Formal Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen and part-time Visiting Research Scholar at Columbia University, advertising his course in Logic. (The advertisement has since been taken down from Prof. Hendricks’ website, but you can…

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