Most influential public intellectuals

Prospect Magazine has released its annual list of the most influential thinkers in the world.
8 of the top 20 are philosophers.
Go go go Liz Anderson!

These annual lists go back to 2005, and I want to make it my job, first, to make sure that I've read something or other by the philosophers that have appeared in them. (Yeah, I've got sabbatical coming up…)

And second, that by the time they graduate, the philosophy majors I teach have at least heard of most if not all of them.

Awards and Cognitive Bias

I want to keep track of this post—"When a series of entirely reasonable decisions leads to biased outcomes"—about the Waterman award not only because of the clear argument but also because of the bountiful links to more information which it provides.

Climate Change and the Ethics of Inquiry

My department colleague Lawrence Torcello is wading through hate mail as a result of this piece he published online:
https://theconversation.com/is-misinformation-about-the-climate-criminally-negligent-23111

He evaluates the level of harm done by those who knowingly, willfully discredit climate scientists in order to derail the public policy that would address climate change.

The piece has caused a firestorm across climate skeptic sites, including this report at FOX News:
"Philosophy Professor Demands Imprisonment for Climate Change Deniers"

Am I reading the same piece they are?

The university (president, dean, provost, chair, HR) has been receiving tons (hundreds? thousands?) of calls for his termination. The university refers letter-writers to this statement:
http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=50607

Faculty women and service commitments

Some links related to how service commitments affect the advancement of women faculty:

"The Ivory Ceiling of Service Work"

“[W]omen associate professors taught an hour more each week than men, mentored an additional two hours a week, and spent nearly five hours more a week on service. This translates to women spending roughly 220 more hours on teaching, mentoring, and service over two semesters than men at that rank.

"Gender and Succes in Academia: More from the Historians’ Career PathsSurvey"


"Being Married Helps Professors to Get Ahead, But Only If They’re Male"

“Professors of both sexes do care a great deal about furthering an institutions goals and enriching the community, but men assert greater control over exactly how that happens.”