I came across this article yesterday while browsing through bookforum.com — “Thomas Aquinas would have loved genetics” — and found it fascinating.  I think you might, as well.

Next week, readers, I will be posting on Thursday, because of the July 4 holiday.  See you then!

Lots of great items in this week’s Library News & Notes. Some of the most interesting include:

• A Bing/Google comparison
• “The end of theory in science?”
• “How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data”
• “58 Essential Resources For Every Mac Geek”
• More on Twitter and Wolfram|Alpha

Enjoy!

Five items of interest today — the first, third, and fourth items are via Bookforum.com:

• Julian Baggini reports on Jonathan Israel’s attempts to get analytic philosophy to reconsider an historical and contextual approach to philosophy.
• Simon Critchley writes about happiness.
• Nathan Schneider looks at how scientists and theologians are coming together on questions about the multiverse problem.
• Along a similar vein, in terms of theoretical physics, Paul Steinhardt and Peter Galison discuss philosophy, physics, and truth.
• Microsoft is rebranding its search engine to “Bing,” and restructuring how its searches are performed.  If I’m reading this story correctly, the new Bing engine is the next attempt to topple Google’s dominance in the search engine market.

Next week’s post will be on Wednesday, since I will be out for commencement exercises next Thursday and Friday.  See you then!

I was browsing through Bookforum.com yesterday, and found an interesting link, listing “20 Things You Didn’t Know About Time.”

Enjoy!

*From The Steve Miller Band song, “Fly Like an Eagle“

Here are the March 2009 Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews:

Moral & Political Philosophy

• Wendell Wallach, Colin Allen, Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong, Reviewed by Peter Danielson, University of British Columbia
• Louis M. Guenin, The Morality of Embryo Use, Reviewed by Alfonso Gómez-Lobo, Georgetown University/Catholic University of Chile
• Joseph Heath, Following the Rules: Practical Reasoning and Deontic Constraint, Reviewed by Joseph Mendola, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Ishtiyaque Haji, Incompatibilism’s Allure: Principal Arguments for Incompatibilism, Reviewed by Matt King, Carleton College
• Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (ed.), Moral Psychology, Volume 1: The Evolution of Morality: Adaptations and Innateness, Reviewed by Jon Tresan, University of Florida
• Eric Gregory, Politics and the Order of Love: An Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship, Reviewed by John von Heyking, University of Lethbridge
• Eckhart Arnold, Explaining Altruism: A Simulation-Based Approach and its Limits, Reviewed by Kevin J.S. Zollman, Carnegie Mellon University
• John Deigh, Emotions, Values, and the Law, Reviewed by Bryce Huebner, Tufts University

Metaphysics

• Michael J. Almeida, The Metaphysics of Perfect Beings, Reviewed by Joshua Hoffman, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Francis A. Grabowski III, Plato, Metaphysics and the Forms, Reviewed by Andrew Mason, University of Edinburgh
• Robert Sokolowski, Phenomenology of the Human Person, Reviewed by Lilian Alweiss, Trinity College Dublin
• Kevin Timpe, Free Will: Sourcehood and Its Alternatives, Reviewed by C. P. Ragland, Saint Louis University

Epistemology

• Søren Overgaard, Wittgenstein and Other Minds: Rethinking Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity with Wittgenstein, Levinas, and Husserl, Reviewed by Bettina Bergo, Université de Montréal
• Shaun Gallagher, Brainstorming: Views and Interviews on the Mind, Reviewed by Mark Okrent, Bates College
• Georg Brun, Ulvi Doguoglu, Dominique Kuenzle (eds.), Epistemology and Emotions, Reviewed by Craig DeLancey, State University of New York at Oswego

Aesthetics

• Cynthia Willett, Irony in the Age of Empire: Comic Perspectives on Democracy and Freedom, Reviewed by Bernard G. Prusak, Villanova University
• Charles O. Nussbaum, The Musical Representation: Meaning, Ontology, and Emotion, Reviewed by Jenefer Robinson, University of Cincinnati
• Dan Flory, Philosophy, Black Film, Film Noir, Reviewed by Angela Curran, Carleton College

Philosophers & History of Philosophy

• Anthony Kenny, From Empedocles to Wittgenstein: Historical Essays in Philosophy, Reviewed by Owen Goldin, Marquette University
• W. J. Mander, The Philosophy of John Norris, Reviewed by Lawrence Nolan, Marquette University, and June Yang, Grossmont College
• Michel Foucault, Introduction à l’Anthropologie (published in one volume with Foucault’s translation of Emmanuel Kant’s Anthropologie d’un point de vue pragmatique), Reviewed by Béatrice Han-Pile, University of Essex
• Oliver Feltham, Alain Badiou: Live Theory, Reviewed by Todd May, Clemson University
• S. J. McGrath, Heidegger: A (Very) Critical Introduction, Reviewed by Charles Guignon, University of South Florida
• M. Jamie Ferreira, Kierkegaard, Reviewed by Edward F. Mooney, Syracuse University
• Jeremy Wanderer, Robert Brandom Reviewed by Christopher Gauker, University of Cincinnati
• Catherine Wilson, Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity, Reviewed by Margaret J. Osler, University of Calgary

Philosophy of Science

• Stephan Hartmann, Carl Hoefer, Luc Bovens (eds.), Nancy Cartwright’s Philosophy of Science, Reviewed by Mathias Frisch, University of Maryland, College Park
• Bas C. van Fraassen, Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Reviewed by Gabriele Contessa, Carleton University

Philosophy of Literature

• Peter Lamarque, The Philosophy of Literature, Reviewed by Robert J. Yanal, Wayne State University

Asian Philosophy

• Karyn L. Lai, An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, Reviewed by Manyul Im, Fairfield University
• Mengzi, Bryan W. Van Norden (trans.), Mengzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries, Reviewed by Hui-chieh Loy, National University of Singapore
• Lin Ma, Heidegger on East-West Dialogue: Anticipating the Event, Reviewed by Eric Sean Nelson, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Philosophy of Religion

• Paul K. Moser (ed.), Jesus and Philosophy: New Essays, Reviewed by Michael Rea, University of Notre Dame
• Richard Swinburne, Was Jesus God?, Reviewed by Phillip Wiebe, Trinity Western University

Here are the latest podcasts from Philosophy Bites:

• David Papineau on Scientific Realism
• Keith Ward on Idealism in Eastern and Western Philosophy

Enjoy!

I was forwarded a link to this essay the other day: “Darwinism Must Die So That Evolution May Live,” by Carl Safina.

What do you think, readers?

Here are the January 2009 Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.  Though collection development is on hold for the time being at Robbins, are any of these worth considering for purchase at a later date?

Aesthetics

• Alexander Nehamas, Only a Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art, Reviewed by Martin Donougho, University of South Carolina-Columbia
• Noël Carroll, On Criticism, Reviewed by Alan H. Goldman, College of William & Mary
• Richard Eldridge, Literature, Life, and Modernity, Reviewed by Robert Pippin, University of Chicago
• Garry L. Hagberg (ed.), Art and Ethical Criticism, Reviewed by Richard Eldridge, Swarthmore College
• John Gibson, Wolfgang Huemer, Luca Pocci (eds.), A Sense of the World: Essays on Fiction, Narrative, and Knowledge, Reviewed by Allen Speight, Boston University

Philosophers

• Michael Frauchiger, Wilhelm K. Essler (eds.). Representation, Evidence, and Justification: Themes from Suppes, Reviewed by Kenny Easwaran, University of Southern California/Australian National University
• Robert Wicks, Schopenhauer, Reviewed by Robert Guay, Binghamton University
• Thomas Parker, Volition, Rhetoric, and Emotion in the Work of Pascal, Reviewed by Michael Moriarty, Queen Mary, University of London
• Andrew Janiak, Newton as Philosopher, Reviewed by Richard Arthur, McMaster University

Metaphysics

• Joanna Hodge, Derrida on Time, Reviewed by Linnell Secomb, University of Greenwich
• Jacqueline Mariña, Transformation of the Self in the Thought of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Reviewed by C. Jeffery Kinlaw, McMurry University
• Marc A. Hight, Idea and Ontology: An Essay in Early Modern Metaphysics of Ideas, Reviewed by Monte Cook, University of Oklahoma

Epistemology

• Daniel N. Robinson, Consciousness and Mental Life, Reviewed by Sam Coleman, University of Hertfordshire
• Sanford C. Goldberg, Anti-Individualism: Mind and Language, Knowledge and Justification, Reviewed by Jonathan E. Adler, Brooklyn College/CUNY Graduate Center
• Marc Djaballah, Kant, Foucault, and Forms of Experience, Reviewed by Johanna Oksala, University of Dundee

History of Philosophy

• Pauliina Remes, Neoplatonism, Reviewed by Peter Adamson, King’s College London
• Daniel O. Dahlstrom, Philosophical Legacies: Essays on the Thought of Kant, Hegel, and Their Contemporaries, Reviewed by James R. Walker, Union College

Moral & Political Philosophy

• Christopher O. Tollefsen, Biomedical Research and Beyond: Expanding the Ethics of Inquiry, Reviewed by John McMillan, University of Hull
• David Owen, Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality, Reviewed by Peter Poellner, University of Warwick
• Ronna Burger, Aristotle’s Dialogue with Socrates: On the Nicomachean Ethics, Reviewed by Steven Skultety, University of Mississippi
• Raymond Geuss, Philosophy and Real Politics, Reviewed by Thomas Hurka, University of Toronto
• Tamsin Shaw, Nietzsche’s Political Skepticism, Reviewed by Brian Leiter, University of Chicago
• Mark E. Button, Contract, Culture, and Citizenship: Transformative Liberalism from Hobbes to Rawls, Reviewed by Anna Stilz, Princeton University
• Stephen R. Brown, Moral Virtue and Nature: A Defense of Ethical Naturalism, Reviewed by Emer O’Hagan, University of Saskatchewan
• Philip Pettit, Made with Words: Hobbes on Language, Mind, and Politics, Reviewed by Alan Nelson and Matthew Priselac, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Philosophy of Law

• Larry Alexander, Emily Sherwin, Demystifying Legal Reasoning, Reviewed by Dan Priel, University of Warwick

Philosophy of Religion

• Adam C. English, The Possibility of Christian Philosophy: Maurice Blondel at the Intersection of Theology and Philosophy, Reviewed by Oliva Blanchette, Boston College

Philosophy of Science

• David Bostock, Space, Time, Matter, and Form: Essays on Aristotle’s Physics, Reviewed by Inna Kupreeva, University of Edinburgh

Here are four articles on Charles Darwin and evolution to pique your curiosity:

• Evolution’s Evolution: Darwin’s dangerous idea has adapted to modern biology
• Darwin’s natural selection redefined the idea of design
• Computing Evolution: Scientists sift through genetic data sets to better map twisting branches in the tree of life
• Molecular Evolution: Investigating the genetic books of life reveals new details of ‘descent with modification’ and the forces driving it

A hat-tip to Bookforum.com for these.

Have a good weekend!

Image at left taken from here.

Good morning, readers!

Last year, I wrote a post about pop culture and philosophy, talking about an editorial that used Batman v. the Joker to show how popular culture can be used to explore and discuss (charged) philosophical topics.

In the same spirit, I will review, today, three books which I’ve recently read.  The books, from the same Philosophy and Pop Culture series as Batman and Philosophy, are:

• Food and Philosophy: Eat, Think, and Be Merry, Fritz Allhoff (Editor), Dave Monroe (Editor)
• Beer and Philosophy: The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Drinking, Steven D. Hales (Editor), Michael C. Jackson (Foreword)
• Wine and Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking, Fritz Allhoff (Editor), Paul Draper (Foreword)

Now, before you hold your nose and pass on today’s reading, declaring them unfit for general philosophical consumption, let me rise to their defense and say that the books in this trilogy are well worth your time to read and ponder.

For one thing, there are some fascinating discussions of philosophy of language, aesthetics, ethics, and epistemology in this book.  For instance:

• Why do we limit artistic and aesthetic pleasure to sight and sound alone, but not to taste, touch, or smell?
• Just what is it that we are describing when we describe a bottle of wine?  Or in a glass of beer?  Are we using metaphor alone?  Or are we describing objective, measurable features of the wine or beer?
• How do we account for things like taste?  Is taste purely subjective?  Or is there an objective component to it?
• What sort of legal and Constitutional issues are involved in the prohibition of shipping alcohol across state lines? In limitations on homebrewing?  How do laws in regards to these differ in Canada as opposed to in the United States?
• In regards to food: what do our cultural dietary consumption patterns reveal about us as a people? As individuals?
• What are the arguments for and against hunting?
• What does it mean to say that certain food experiences are both delicious and disgusting at the same time?

These are but some of the many questions discussed in the trilogy, covering a wide range of topics of interest to philosophers.

Another reason that I liked this trilogy is that many of the essays are simply hilarious even as they explicate some serious philosophical points.

For example, Steven Hales’ essay, “Mill v. Miller, or Higher and Lower Pleasures,” in Beer and Philosophy is a witty examination of what exactly goes into performing a hedonistic calculus according to John Stuart Mill, through the example of determining which beer (a greater amount of lower-quality, less pleasurable beer v. a lesser amount of higher-quality, more pleasurable beer) should be purchased with a limited sum of money.

Likewise, Glenn Kuehn’s “Food Fetishes and Sin-Aesthetics: Professor Dewey, Please Save Me From Myself,” in Food and Philosophy, examines why we have such guilt over food in American culture, with references to Kant, Dewey, and Indiana Jones.

Finally, as pedagogical tools, the essays in these books may help to illuminate questions of perception, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics for students who may need a concrete example or two, to see how a theory might be applied in practice.

In short, I definitely recommend these books.  You will, I think, find them not only insightful, but amusing and helpful as well.