Rationalism in Mainline Philosophy: A Discussion
by Daniel A. Kaufman My discussion with Dan Tippens on rationalism in mainline philosophy. Originally aired on MeaningofLife.TV, part of the BlogggingHeads.TV network, 3/25/2016.
Course Notes – Thomas Hofweber, “A Puzzle About Ontology”
By Daniel A. Kaufman Over the years, our degree program has always required something along the lines of a technical, Analytic philosophy course. At one time it was Philosophy of Mind, at another, Philosophy of Science, while at yet another time, it was the philosophies of Mind and Language, as well as Metaphysics, all bundled together. Back in 1999, I […]
Course Notes
The Editors of The Electric Agora are pleased to announce the beginning of a new series on the magazine, “Course Notes.” A number of EA contributors are teachers, and it occurred to us that a lot of interesting things go on in our classrooms — interesting material, interesting lectures, interesting exchanges and discussions with students — and that our readers might enjoy […]
Happy Birthday, Babylon 5!
By Michael Boyle and Daniel A. Kaufman Twenty-three years ago, the pilot for a new American science fiction series, Babylon 5, was first broadcast. The following year, B5’s production team embarked on a five-year journey that would see the development of one of the most respected and admired science fiction series ever produced, netting several Hugo and Emmy awards. The brainchild of longtime TV […]
Provocations
By Daniel A. Kaufman The behavior of some of us on the political left lately makes me wonder whether we are trying to erase all the demographic advantages that should be leading us to electoral and legislative success for the foreseeable future. Indeed, some of what we have been doing is so stupid and aggravating that it’s almost as if […]
Science and Disenchantment
by Mark English At the age of seven, I went with my mother, brother and baby sister on a long plane journey. We flew for many hours, landing once for refueling (late at night). It was a rough journey, and I recall a certain amount of nausea and vomiting, but the positives certainly outweighed the negatives as far as I […]
Hitler’s Rant: The Efficacy of a Modern Rhetoric
by E. John Winner With Mein Kampf in the news recently, we’ll here consider two rhetorical strategies found in Hitler’s text. The first targets the well-known anxieties of Hitler’s expected audience. The second finds Hitler identifying with his audience or rather, a particular segment of that audience, the young and rebellious. Hopefully, the reading will reveal something about the people […]
Brief Hiatus
Dear readers, Unfortunately we will be light on publications this week. Dan Tippens and Dan Kaufman are both constrained for time as the latter is currently traveling, and the former is attending to graduate school application requirements. We will resume our ordinary publication schedule starting next week. -Dan Tippens and Dan Kaufman
Please Welcome Our New Editor!
Dear Electric Agora community, Please welcome Margaret Huang to our editorial team! Margaret graduated Summa Cum Laude from NYU with a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy. She will be attending Harvard Law School starting in the fall of 2016. Margaret’s more relevant interests include metaethics, logic, modal logic, philosophy of mind, and law, kayaking, and singing. One of Margaret’s less […]
What Ails Our Discourse? Part Two
By David Ottlinger In my last essay, I made use of Glenn Loury’s work in exploring possible explanations for our polarized and partisan discourse. [1] I suggested that his work might help explain how society divides into distinct communities of discourse, each exhibiting a natural tendency to suppress their moderates, such that only the most uncompromising tend to remain. I […]
