The Pedanticist

I am considering pulling them off of my list and I have my fee for application waived there! I'm more worried about the way the administration will treat departments that stand in support of Salaita. They also have a somewhat questionable placement record of late. Also, Leiter has a bunch more about the situation on his blog. http://leiterreports.typepad.com/

I'm going to argue that Nietzsche isn't really the hardcore supporter of justified true beliefs that everyone says he is.

I think your plan is fine. Hopefully all goes well for you. I'll be applying to at least 15 schools.

I think I was slightly tired when I wrote the earlier post. The work is, if I remember correctly, a compilation of readings from different authors Bergson being one.

The most influential philosophers/works for me have been... 1) Thomas Reid "Principles of Common Sense" 2) Kierkegaard "Fear and Trembling", "Either/Or" and the rest of it. 3) The late Wittgenstein especially "Philosophical Investigations", "On Certainty" and "Blue Book" 4) Plantinga "Warrant and Proper Function" 5) Davidson in general

I would suggest checking out Patrick Heelan and Joseph Kockelmans. You might also look at Joseph Rouse's work. He does sort of a hermeneutic take on science using the early work of Heidegger. You've probably already done a lot with some of the historical figures in the tradition, but have you read much Babich? She mostly works on Neitzsche, Heidegger, Hodderlin and Adorno. But her work seems quite decent. Also, Henri Bergson wrote the Blackwell book on continental philosophy of science, and those are always good too. Another more "fun" and generally informative resource you might checkout is the International Society for Hermeneutics of Science. They have a number of other publications, bios and information sources that can be useful.

My advice, for what is worth, is that you should create a couple of "tiers" of schools in terms of ranking on "safeness". I would suggest picking 2 schools from the four you have chosen so far and placing those as your "top tier" schools (I would choose MIT and Penn, but that's just me), then choose two as "second tier" schools you might include schools ranked 20th or below (Miami might be included here) on the Gourmet report and choose a school in the 35 - 45 range. If you want to be really safe add one that isn't ranked but has strong faculty in your areas of interest. Schools for this category might include Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri (ranked 50th) or Illinois. No one really knows the likelihood of getting into any one school, but this type of program gives you the best chance of getting into a school that meets your needs. Again this is just what I've been advised to do by professors. From what you've said I really do hope you get to study philosophy further.

I would suggest looking into both Arizona and Virginia. How "safe" do you want the school to be?

I'm not taking it too seriously, but it does say that its main purpose is to train people for further graduate studies. And since it is coming from such a good program there has to be something there at least...but who knows. Maybe I'll contact some profs I know on adcomms. The nice thing about it is that you can apply whenever and work at it part time. You can actually still apply for this coming September. (Which is both nice and quite concerning at the same time). This might be just the thing for people who are returning, or want a part time gig or who have not got much of a background in phil. It would be interesting to see some placement, if any, from this program in a couple of years.

Apparently Edinburgh is offering their MSc/Dip/PGCert Epistemology, Ethics and Mind (Online). It says on the website, "This programme would be an ideal foundation for further graduate work in Philosophy, providing a basis for research especially in the core areas of epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of mind and cognitive science. The programme would also be suitable for those who simply wish to gain an insight into cutting-edge topics in contemporary philosophy." At least they are suggesting that the program is for furthering a students graduate education... What do you guys think of this program? It seems like things are going in this direction. At my school I've been put on the task force to move our public speaking classes(!) online. It might be an intriguing program if someone doesn't get in anywhere else, especially since one can complete the PG certificate in 9 months.

I've heard it both ways. Some of my advisers say that whatever area within a larger field it is it shows that you understand the methodologies. I've also seen some doctoral websites that say it should be closely related with what is in your SOP. I would check the websites of the programs you are applying to and ask your LOR writers.

Anyone see the last comment on the page? It makes me shudder a bit... God forbid...

For the most part I agree. Miami really is kind of a niche department. I just really like some of their faculty like Thomasson, Lehrer and Slote. Their placement record does seem to place a lot of people to Dade or within the department itself.

My problem is that if the situations worsens while I'm there some people might think that any graduates who are white and male may have become a part of the problem. At any rate, if I were to get in there and not somewhere else in the top 40, I would certainly go there. Miami is amazing. The city is awesome. The campus is incredible. It's probably my second favorite place in the lower 48 behind Seattle. I also have a friend up at Fordham and she really loves it up there. U of Chicago just sounds like a dream from everything I've read and seen.

Cool. I was just wondering because if you used SPSS I would have also been able to run some other tests. I'm pretty new to using the quantitative software and just learned how to use the SPSS so far. Thanks again for your work.

By the way if you are interested in Virtue Ethics you should check out Miami! They really do have a top notch program. I started getting into virtue ethics a while back and that quickly transferred into an interest in virtue epistemology.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've considered the program, but I'm just not sure how to interpret the current situation in terms of how it will effect students chances of placement from the program. Obviously, that's not stopping me from applying to Miami, but I still feel like the situation in Colorado seems more extreme. On the plus side, maybe less people will apply to these programs.

HI everyone Graduate/Undergraduate Education: I went to an unknown state school getting a bachelor’s degree in communication and one in philosophy as well. I also have a minor in creative writing. Basically, since everyone convinced me that I shouldn't do philosophy I decided to get the practical degree in communication. That last until my junior year when I decided to also major in philosophy. I applied to the MA in Liberal Studies program at the university and got accepted with a very generous TAship. I've focused on philosophy classes, classes in history, science and communication. I'm currently writing my thesis on Alvin Plantinga, and his cohorts, Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism. I'm also working as an applied ethicist/researcher at my school for issues related to hunger awareness. Interests: I'm interested in epistemology (especially evolutionary epistemology), philosophy of history, ethics (especially applied ethics as it applies to issues in poverty) and philosophy of religion. I'm also very interested in interdisciplinary studies especially philosophy of pop culture and philosophy of primatology. I've actually published and conferenced a number of times in this area, right now it’s really wide open in terms of research. Programs I'm applying to: Rutgers (don't we all?), Cornell, Washington St. L, Duke, UNC, Virginia, Chicago, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Rochester, Iowa, Miami, NIU, Toronto, Cambridge and Georgia State. That it’s for right now anyways. Many of them seem like such a stretch, but its is worth a try I guess

Thanks!

Quick question for those of you who have applied, or are attending, British universities. I'm currently getting my Masters of Arts in liberal studies here in the states. The degree has a significant portion of philosophy classes but gave me the chance to take other classes related to my major areas of interest. (It also offered top notch funding.) I also have an undergrad degree in philosophy. I was wondering if anyone had had any experience with how the British system would treat a degree like this, would it be treated as something beyond the BA (like an MA in philosophy) or not?

Thanks so much! I really do appreciate this! Thanks for this as well. What software did you use for this?