A quick link to Philosophy, Etc., and a post that discusses the burning question of what kind of contribution philosophers should try to make to the public discourse.
Filed in Philosophy
Archive for July, 2006
Philosophers at Large
Posted July 12, 2006 By Dave ThomerLosers
Posted July 11, 2006 By Dave ThomerRemember when I said I might have been lucky not to go to a Phillies game? Well, I’m pretty sure of it now. One of the team’s owners, former managing partner Bill Giles, just got back from a trip to Italy and promptly put both feet in his mouth. The stuff about how the team […]
Filed in Special Order Speeches
In Brightest Day?
Posted July 10, 2006 By Dave ThomerI don’t have much to add to this post, but Matt Yglesias’ use of Green Lantern to illustrate certain conservative visions of foreign policy deserves a read. The emphasis on willpower is especially dangerous, I think, because it’s one of the things that leads to any criticism of the government or the military policy being […]
Filed in Public Policy
Great Google-y Moogly
Posted July 10, 2006 By Dave ThomerThe Los Angeles Times reports that the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary has added “to google” as a verb in its latest edition, joining the Oxford English Dictionary’s online edition as recognizing that the name of the search engine has become a word in its own right. The article says that the first use of the verb […]
Filed in Life in Practice
An Economic GOOOOOOAL?
Posted July 9, 2006 By Dave ThomerBack when the Wor;d Cup started, the Inquirer’s economic columnist Andrew Cassell argued that many economists were rooting for Italy to win. Apparently, it’s been reasonably well documented that the country that wins the World Cup experiences a jump in economic growth in the following year. Cassell argued that Europe was most in need of […]
Filed in Special Order Speeches
Political Podcasting, Poverty and Pollution
Posted July 8, 2006 By Dave ThomerI decided to take a break from my CD listening project to check out the growing arena of political podcasting. It’s an interesting medium, although I’m not sure it really clicks with me. I’m not great at getting information purely from speech – I need the visual engagement that comes from seeing and exchanging gestures, […]
Filed in Public Policy
San Diego, Here They Come
Posted July 7, 2006 By Dave ThomerComic-Con International is almost upon us. I have to admit, at this point, I feel almost no pangs of regret that Pattie and I aren’t going this year. We’ve done it three times, and it is truly exhausting. There’s a little bit of a diminishing returns factor, in that we’ve seen a lot of the […]
Filed in Comics
Blogging Dewey: Dewey and Religion
Posted July 6, 2006 By Dave ThomerA couple of bloggers mention Dewey in the context of the role of religion in today’s world. Thoughts from Kansas discusses a Washington Post article where physics is called a “secular ideology” along with capitalism and communism. Josh Rosenau brings up Barack Obama’s recent speech on religion (which I really need to discuss in its […]
Filed in Philosophy
Redefining Bad Luck
Posted July 5, 2006 By Dave ThomerPattie and I had really good seats for tonight’s Phillies game, with a fireworks show afterwards. She wound up having to cover for a vacationing coworker, so we sold the tickets – to said vacationing coworker. I’m really not sure who got the better deal out of that one.
Filed in Life in Practice
Lieberman and the Meaning of Party
Posted July 3, 2006 By Dave ThomerSo, confirming speculation that’s been buzzing for a while, Senator Joe Lieberman announced that he will begin circulating petitions to run for re-election as an independent. Lieberman is still running in the Democratic primary this August, but he’s facing a challenge from businessman Ned Lamont. So he’s decided to hedge his bets – if he […]
Filed in So Now What?