John Searle is interviewed at New Philosopher. He’s in fine Searle form (and well-armed, as you can see from the photo accompanying the interview): “It upsets me when I read the nonsense written by my contemporaries, the theory of extended mind makes me want to throw up.”
Jeremy Shearmur is interviewed at 3:AM Magazineabout his work on Karl Popper and F. A. Hayek. Standpoint magazine on Hayek and religion.
A memorial conference for the late E. J. Lowe will be held this July at Durham University.
Steely Dan is being sued by former member David Palmer. GQ magazine looks back on Steely Dan’s Aja, and The Quietus celebrates and cerebrates the 40thanniversary of Pretzel Logic. Donald Fagen’s book Eminent Hipsters is reviewed in City Journal and in the New York Observer.
John Haldane discusses Alasdair MacIntyre, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis at Ethika Politika.
In The New Atlantis, Roger Scruton on “Scientism in the Arts and Humanities.”
Philosopher of language Scott Soames is interviewed at 3:AM Magazine. Soames discusses, among other things, his defense of a variation on the originalist approach to interpreting the U.S. constitution. This is a subject explored in some of the essays in Soames’ new book Analytic Philosophy in America and Other Historical and Contemporary Essays, wherein he comments on Roe v. Wade and other crucial Supreme Court cases.
That Sony holds the rights to make Spider-Man movies has so far kept him from joining the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But there are several ways it could still happen.
Elmar J. Kremer has just published Analysis of Existing: Barry Miller's Approach to God. Bill Vallicella comments on the book. That Sony holds the rights to make Spider-Man movies has so far kept him from joining the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But there are several ways it could still happen.
Some other recent books of interest: Stephen Boulter, Metaphysics from a Biological Point of View, “a defense of Scholastic metaphysical principles based on contemporary evolutionary biology”; Charlie Huenemann, Spinoza’s Radical Theology; Peter Adamson, ed., Interpreting Avicenna: Critical Essays (reviewedat Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews); and Stephen Mumford and Matthew Tugby, eds., Metaphysics and Science (also reviewed at NDPR).
Some forthcoming books: From Brian Davies, Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae: A Guide and Commentary; and from Mark Anderson, Plato and Nietzsche: Their Philosophical Art.
When was the last time you heard the Thomist A. D. Sertillanges, or even Aquinas himself, being discussed on the radio? For me it was (to my surprise) this afternoon after tuning in to The Hugh Hewitt Show. Turns out that Lee Cole, who teaches philosophy at Hillsdale College, and Larry Arnn, the president of Hillsdale, have been discussing Aquinas with Hewitt in a series of shows. You can find the show transcripts here.