Keynote Lecture for 2014 DePaul Philosophy Graduate Association Conference

I am absolutely thrilled to be presenting the keynote talk at this year’s DePaul Philosophy Graduate Student Association Conference, “Philosophy on Trial: Philosophy & Its Others.”My talk is at 4pm this Saturday the 15th in the Levan Center on DePaul’s…

A few more thoughts on the “Women in Philosophy” problem

The “why aren’t there more women in philosophy” problem pops up outside feminist philosophy circles with perennial regularity, almost like bulbs in the spring.We’re in the midst of another bloom, mainly fueled by some discussion on US-based blogs and in…

Seeing Music For What It Really Isn't

Seeing Music For What It Really Isn’t

or, “‘Reality’ is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes” This is cross-posted from cyborgology. __ I get really nervous when people start making claims about what is and isn’t “real” music. Like Princess Leia in The…

Why Theory?

[This is cross-posted at Cyborgology.] A few recent events and articles/news items have me thinking, in a somewhat disjointed fashion, about both what it means to “do theory” or to practice philosophy, and how, exactly, one should go about doing…

Is the “analytic/continental divide” a politically obsolete concept?

So, this weekend I watched GI Joe 2. For all of the things it doesn’t do–like be aesthetically “good” cinema–one thing it does capture fairly well is the obsolesce of cold-war thinking (which, obviously, was what informed the cartoons on which the…

Aesthetics & The Politics of “Philosophical” Respectability

Christy Mag Uidhir has recently posted some observations and concerns about the relative absence of aestheticians (faculty with an AOS in aesthetics) in “top” philosophy doctoral programs. What these numbers suggest is that the very best philosophy PhD programs in…

Philosophy as Medium & Material Practice

This past weekend at the American Philosophies Forum, I argued that philosophy is a medium and material practice, and that philosophers needs to (for reasons both philosophical and ethical/professional) engage transmedial practices. Basically, my argument was this: If philosophers are…

My Talk/Paper on Musical Ineffability

I’m talking Saturday at the American Philosophies Forum meeting at Emory. This year’s theme is ineffability, so I’m talking on musical ineffability. In particular, I’m talking about Jankelevitch, Abbate, & Spivak.I’m also going to attempt to do some “drastic” (i.e.,…

Some questions for future research on Jankelevitch, Levinas, & femininity/gender

     I’m tidying up a paper on Jankelevitch, Abbate, musical ineffability, and implicit understanding. In the course of reading Jankelevitch, I came up with a ton of questions about his relationship to Levinas…questions which are waaaay beyond the scope…

The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On The Plain: On Sound & The Virgin/Whore Dichotomy

Here’s an excerpt from a rough draft of a paper I’m working up for the American Philosophies Forum at Emory in April. The theme of the meeting is “The Ineffable,” so I’m writing on Vladimir Jankelevitch‘s and Carolyn Abbate‘s work…