Cogito Ergo Sum

Here is a New York Times story about the resurgence of interest in philosophy.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) on Philosophy

But this priviledge, is allayed by another; and that is, by the priviledge of Absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man onely. And of men, those are of all most subject to it, that professe Philosophy. For it is most true that Cicero sayth of them somewhere; that there can be nothing so absurd, but may be found in the books of Philosophers. And the reason is manifest. For there is not one of them that begins his ratiocination from the Definitions, or Explications of the names they are to use; which is a method that hath been used onely in Geometry; whose Conclusions have thereby been made indisputable.

(Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, rev. student ed., ed. Richard Tuck, Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, ed. Raymond Geuss and Quentin Skinner [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996], chap. 5, p. 34 [italics in original] [first published in 1651])

Graduate Record Examinations

This may be of interest to our philosophy majors and minors.

Religion

Richard John Neuhaus reviews a new book by philosopher Austin Dacey.

Is Socrates Relevant?

See here.

Ayn Rand

Looking for some easy money? Okay, maybe not easy. If you've read Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged (1957) and can write an essay of 800 to 1,600 words about it, you could win up to $10,000. See here for details.

From the Mailbag

Dear Keith,

I am writing from the Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University to mention our terminal M.A. program; I hope that, as our deadline for applications approaches, you might recommend us to any of your promising students. The program has already received critical acclaim, but we think that our placement record into Ph.D. programs speaks for itself. While the last year for which we have official placement records is 2005, I should also mention that, last year, we had students admitted with funding to many top 20 programs.

The strengths of the program are ethics, history & philosophy of science, and epistemology, though we also offer broad analytic coverage. As intimated above, we focus on preparing students for Ph.D. work in philosophy, and do especially well preparing students who might not have otherwise been competitive for top programs coming straight out of their undergraduate studies. We offer strong support packages for our funded students. This support is usually earned through teaching, which also makes the students more attractive to Ph.D. programs. Even if you have students applying directly to Ph.D. programs now, I might encourage them to also apply to some of the top M.A. programs in case they are unsuccessful in their aspirations; we have ended up with many of these students and greatly improved their future prospects by completion of the M.A. (I also get the sense that more and more Ph.D. students at top programs are doing M.A. degrees first.)

If you have any students who you think might be a good fit for our program, I would certainly appreciate the recommendation. If I may answer any questions directly, please feel free to email me or to call me at the below number; I would also be more than willing to speak with students directly regarding their preparation, goals, or fit with the department. The deadline for applications to be considered for funding is February 1, so please keep this in mind. Thank you for your consideration!

Best wishes,
Fritz

Fritz Allhoff
Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5328