by E. John Winner Words are instructions or directions for behavior, and they may be responded to either appropriately or inappropriately, but the appropriateness or inappropriateness depends upon the judgment of someone. — Morse Peckham (1) A dialogue between a rhetorician and a logician R–Let’s say we have one audience that sets stock in logic-based discourse; another prefers appeal to […]
by Lillie Sauer If you’ve ever listened to The Smashing Pumpkins, you might already appreciate their dreamy melodic themes, lyrical nuance, or general shoegazey brilliance. If you haven’t, hopefully you will soon at least be able to appreciate where I’m going with this clumsy introduction to my thoughts on the impracticality of our naturally idealistic human memories. Of all the […]
Lillie Sauer is working towards graduating from Missouri State University in 2018, with a BS in Philosophy and Psychology. After dabbling in the biological sciences, interested in pursuing research opportunities in the field of neuroscience, she decided to finish her undergraduate degree with the addition of a second major in philosophy. In doing so, she was happily able to reconcile […]
by Daniel Tippens On September 23rd 1952, Richard Nixon, after being accused of misusing money in his political expense fund, delivered his famous “Checkers” speech directly to the American people by, for the first time in history, purchasing a 30 minute slot of prime time television. 60 million people watched as Nixon explained all of the details of his personal […]
by Daniel A. Kaufman No one likes hyperbole more than I do, but it’s reached a point, now, in our public discourse, where it’s making us say and do crazy things, and as we all should know, buying your own bullshit – like getting high on your own supply – is always a bad idea. Take the word ‘safe’. Right […]
by Daniel A. Kaufman http://www.pitt.edu/~mthompso/readings/mmp.pdf We are nearing the end of the semester in my Theories of Ethics course and have just completed our discussions of my favorite reading, Elizabeth Anscombe’s “Modern Moral Philosophy.” (MMP) Not only do I think it is Anscombe’s greatest philosophical accomplishment – beyond her translating, editing, and publishing of Wittgenstein, of course – but it […]
by Mark English The great Romantic writer and statesman François-René de Chateaubriand is virtually forgotten today. The steak or the sauce named after him is still well-known, however. I can’t help feeling that this tells us a lot about our cultural priorities. One of the things that Chateaubriand is known for (by the few who even recognize his name) is […]
by CJ Uberroth As a high school math teacher, I have had my fair share of interesting conversations, ranging from my students’ favorite music to my addiction to American Spirit cigarettes. Sure, some may say that I shouldn’t speak with students about things like alcohol and nicotine but I can’t imagine a stupider objection. How else are they supposed to […]
Craig (CJ) Uberroth graduated from Missouri State University with a B.S.Ed in Mathematics, where he focused primarily on set and ring theory as well as number theory. Teaching was a great dream of his, one that he realized directly after completing his undergraduate study. Nevertheless, he continues to read and study mathematics in his spare time. CJ also has great […]
by Margaret Rowley Ethnographers tend to like stories, as do many non-ethnographers. Much of the point of ethnography is simultaneously to hear people tell their stories (interview) and watch them live their stories (observation), and then try to critically analyze what’s happening (theoretical intervention). At least one ethnographer, Clifford Geertz, has suggested that the definition of culture is “stories we […]
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