Paul L. Franco

You talked about a war going on in Cambridge between historians and philosophers of science, but the sixties at Harvard seems that was also a place of confrontations… Did you feel that way when you were studying there in those years? Not at Harvard, in part because in a sense the war had already concluded. I took courses from Hillary Putnam and Israel Scheffler. The philosophers did not speak with the historians of scien- ce, and the historians of science did not speak with the philosophers. At Cambridge they were still together in one Department, and the colloquium was a battlefield. Particularly among the historians of Medicine, Robert Young and Karl Figlio, a Marxist approach was dominant, which was anathema to the philosophers. That was the early seventies, when the battle lines were poli- tical, and to some extent I think also national. Both Karl Figlio and Bob Young, that made their careers in Cambridge, were Americans. Among the philosophers, Mary Hesse was British and Gerd Buchdahl was German. It was in part a clash of different national, intellectual traditions and formations. I certainly never regretted the work that I did with Mary Hesse nor what I learned about Kant and Goethe’s Naturphilosophie from Gerd Buchdahl,. Howeverr, it was quite clear that a reconciliation among the warring parties was not in the offing, and for the graduate students who were there at the time it was like being in the midst of divorcing parents: you had to declare which side you were on. It was at that point that I decided that I was not going to continue my PhD at Cambridge

Lorraine Daston on historians and philosophers of science at Harvard and Cambridge (the university) in the 1970s.

ojs.fhce.edu.uy/index.php/co...

Socrates's h-index was 0.

Find the person in your department who is the commissioner of a yearly fantasy league and you will have someone who is ready for an internal leadership role. And if they are commissioner of a dynasty league, they are ready to be your university's next president.

Silent Flight An ideal reader and honest seeker dives into the world of Zhuangzi, the great Chinese philosopher.

A classic of world philosophy, the Zhuangzi revolutionized ethics and ontology forever with its Dao.

Now, in our latest issue, Rose Novick brings this masterpiece to a new generation of English readers with her magisterial translation & commentary.

strangematters.coop/rose-novick-...

I can't even recognize that time slice of me who thought he might have publishable professional opinions about Kant any more.

Kant by Paul Guyer and Kant and the claims of knowledge also by Paul Guyer open on my desk with a blue bandana next to it, which I suppose would be my old Kantian colors.

Bugs Bunny with a gun with a caption: "Lord forgive me but its time to go back to tha old me."

It's that part of the term in Modern Philosophy.

We're excited to announce the Spring 2026 PSA office hours! Come learn, ask questions, and connect with leading voices in philosophy of science!

Details in the 🧵
Registration at this link: www.philsci.org/psa_...

Is Mina Kimes the first Kantian to win an Emmy?

The book cover is out! This project consumed much of my brain for several years, and I learned a ton working on it.

As a pedestrian, there's nothing more delightful than crossing a street diagonally at an all-way walk.

A diagram. A tree to the right affects the senses of a person to the left giving rise to a thought bubble with two trees in it. Underneath a dashed line is a head using reason to come up with concepts that match the world.

Space and underneath are lots of s1s and then a square inside a circle inside a larger circle.

Latest achievements in whiteboard work.

You're right; I need to own this and also start showing up to the office in JNCOs.

I decided to listen to Korn yesterday because I have these 1990s yellowing harman kardon computer speakers in my office and was feeling nostalgic and then a colleague knocked on my door to chat and I forgot to minimize the Spotify window and now I'm worried my colleague doesn't respect me any more.

If saying things like: "Hello. I'm your naturally intelligent companion this term. I can solve PhD-level problems. Is there a question about class I can help with?" will encourage my university to put as many resources into teaching students how to use office hours as they are into AI, I'll do it.

I think we should rebrand Professors as "Natural Intelligence Companions" in the hopes of getting universities to throw a bunch of resources behind getting students to come to class and office hours to use our services.

Median home price Roku City

If you are driving a car and become angered by a bus this should be a You Must Change Your Life moment. The gentleness of this great beast, and its great indifference, should reveal you to yourself.

My sartorial advice for academics: If *you* can't remember what shirt from your teaching outfits you wore last time to teach, your *students* can't remember either.

Like this.

A picture of sam darnold, Seahawks QB, wearing an old school hawks jersey looking downfield. Behind him is the text: FACING CRITICISM in all caps.

Please, someone start doing this for academic philosophers. Please.

Susan Stebbing on Logic and Analysis This volume contains new scholarly essays on the work of Susan Stebbing and offers fresh perspectives on logic and the philosophy of science

'Susan Stebbing on Logic and Analysis' (ed. S. Chapman) is now out in the Philosophers in Depth series. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Just when I thought I was finally nearing the top of the faculty power rankings something like this happens....

I also made it clear that anything might influence the power rankings. Ask a good question at a colloquium? Expect to go up a few spots. Fail to say hi to me in the hall? Don't be surprised to see a dip. Defend your dissertation? You better believe you're at the top that week (no guarantees after).

I'm reflecting on my term as Director of Grad Studies as it nears its end and one of the most effective things I did was write and distribute a weekly power rankings report of all the grad students in the program. It did lower morale, but less than expected, and yielded massive productivity gains.

A coffee table book about tables owned by famous philosophers interspersed with quotes of philosophers using tables to make philosophical points would sell dozens of copies at least..

Slide that says: You're welcome! in bold text. Underneath that is further text what says: "I’d be happy to share further insights in the hotel lobby over a beer (your treat), otherwise, I gladly accept tips:" and underneath that is redacted information for Cash app, Venmo, and PayPal.

In the past, I've always ended my talks with a "Thank you!" slide and I give my email if people have any further questions, but this year, I'm going with something new.

Also, tools like this strike me as a good way to make sure that no hidden gems that say interesting things are found and further entrench particular views about particular topics.

Can AI Write a Useful Philosophical Literature Review? (guest post) - Daily Nous A pair of philosophers have developed a new research tool that uses AI to provide comprehensive and reliable philosophical literature reviews, and they'd like you to give it a try. Just last week I ch...

One part of my job I like most is looking at tables of contents of old philosophy journals on JSTOR and taking a quick look at articles and telling other people about them, so I don't relate to the comments here that are like, "That's the worst part of doing research."

dailynous.com/2026/02/12/c...

every type of guy is an eternal thought in the mind of Mencia