Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Philosophy Born Of Isolation

Australians have warmed to Queensland’s strict stance on re-opening its borders, saying the state should seriously consider staying shut on a permanent basis.

After initially criticising Queensland’s decision to remain closed until at least September, many people can now see the sense of the policy.

Australians Urge Queensland To Keep Border Closed Indefinitely


We know the world is complex. ATO Assistant Commissioner Misha Kaur wants policymaking to reflect this

The Tax Office is rethinking government interventions and services for a complex world using a new, multi-disciplinary approach. Assistant Commissioner Misha Kaur discusses the value of systems thinking.

At the beginning of this year, few could have imagined we’d end up hoarding toilet paper and spending months in our houses.

Or that entire industries could almost completely dry up.

No-one had heard of social distancing, and the idea of walking in a wide arc around neighbours on the footpath would have been deemed insulting.


Alcoholic killer monkey leaves one man dead and 250 injured after going on rampage when his booze supply dried up.


Philosophy Born Of Isolation

“Social isolation has given me the clear stretch of time that Descartes says is required to do philosophy. Teaching has been cancelled or moved online; birthday parties have been abandoned; the spare bedroom is warm enough once I wrap a blanket round my shoulders. But disciplined reflection is difficult, and more so when one is surrounded by those who have a claim on one’s time and attention.” – Times Literary Supplement


“Imagine volunteering for a challenge study and the very worst happens: you die… What conditions would need to be in place for you or your family to conclude that you had been treated fairly?” — Carl Elliott (Minnesota) in the NYR



A History of Philosophy Journals Using Topic Modeling (guest post by Brian Weatherson)


When you go looking for patterns in over 32,000 academic philosophy articles, what will you learn?

In the following guest post*, Brian Weatherson, Marshall M. Weinberg Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan, describes how he applied topic modeling to articles published in philosophy journals between 1876 and 2013 and shares some of his findings.