Emeritus Professor Frederick Olafson (1925-2012)

UCSD Emeritus Professor of Philosophy Frederick Olafson has died. The following is a message from his son:

I'm sorry to report that Frederick Olafson has died. He passed away quietly at about 7:30 on Tuesday evening at a San Diego Hospice unit in Carlsbad. He was 87. 

A distinguished scholar and author, Professor Olafson taught at Vassar, Princeton, Johns Hopkins and Harvard before joining UCSD's philosophy department in 1971. He remained there until his retirement in 1991 -- including a period as department chairman in the '70s -- and returned in the mid '90s to lead seminars. 

His numerous books include Principles and Persons: An Ethical Interpretation of Existentialism (1967), Ethics and Twentieth Century Thought (1973), The Dialectic of Action: A Philosophical Interpretation of History and the Humanities (1979), Heidegger and the Philosophy of Mind (1987), What Is a Human Being? A Heideggerian View (1995) and Naturalism and the Human Condition: Against Scientism (2001). 

Professor Olafson is survived by his three sons. His ashes will be scattered by his children in a private ceremony. A memorial service is planned for the fall.    

Links to some of Professor Olafson's many papers are available through philpapers.

Pat Churchland interviewed by Charlie Rose

Emerita Professor Pat Churchland was recently interviewed by Charlie Rose.

Charlie Rose - The Charlie Rose Brain Series 2: Consciousness

The Charlie Rose Brain Series 2: Consciousness with Eric Kandel of Columbia University, Patricia Churchland of University of California, San Diego, Stanislas Dehaene of College De France, Nicholas Schiff of Weill Cornell Medical College and Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia. 

Marcuse in Verso's Radical Thinkers series

A Study on Authority

by Herbert Marcuse

Translated by Joris De Bres

The great theorist of radical liberation analyzes the relationship between authority and freedom.

This is the first paperback edition of what is now recognized as Marcuse’s most important collection of writings on philosophy. He analyzes and attacks some of the main intellectual currents of European thoughts from the Reformation to the Cold War. In a survey that includes Luther, Calvin, Kant, Burke, Hegel and Bergson, he shows how certain concepts of authority and liberty are constant elements in their very different systems. The book also contains Marcuse’s famous response to Karl Popper’s Poverty of Historicism, and his critique of Sartre.

Paperback, 111 pages

ISBN: 9781844672097

January 2008

$12.95 / £6.99

• Part of the Radical Thinkers series
  
  

Reviews

• “Marcuse brought a forceful clarity to the leftist table; a classical Marxism willing to confront new realities.”
  – The Nation
• “Lucid and powerful.”
  – New Society
• “It is a worldly philosopher's dream: his long neglected works catch fire, illuminate his times and emblazon his name for posterity. It does not often come true, but it did for Herbert Marcuse.”
  – Time Magazine
• “Well worth reading.”
  – Radical Philosophy

San Diego Free Press feature on Angela Davis

An article on Angela Davis from from volume 1 of the San Diego Free Press (contained in the Radical Press collection at UCSD's Geisel Library). I gather this is from 1969, given that this number is stamped Oct. and (according to Wikipedia) the San Diego Free Press was started by UCSD Philosophy graduate students in November 1968. Davis had finished an M.A. in the Philosophy Department at UCSD, and was working with Herbert Marcuse on a Ph. D.
San Diego Free Press

Getting a Job in Philosophy (advice by UCSD Ph. D. Brian L. Keeley)

Over at Inside Higher Eduction, Brian L. Keeley (UCSD Philosophy Ph. D., 1997; presently Professor of Philosophy, Pitzer College) has written an extremely useful article for graduate students entitled: Getting a Job in Philosophy. Year-by-year advice is given: this is extremely useful, and I wish I had had it. More about Brian (from his c.v. at his website):

Ph.D., Philosophy and Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego;
Thesis: “Cognitive science as the computational neuroethology of intelligent behavior: Why biological facts are important for explaining cognition.”
Chairs: Patricia Smith Churchland, Sandra D. Mitchell.

"Scientist's Nightstand" interview with Patricia Churchland

A recent interview of Patricia Churchland about what she likes to read is available online here in American Scientist. 

2011 Commemorative Newletter

The commemorative Philosophy Department newsletter in celebration of the 50th anniversary of UCSD is available here. On pages 5-10 is printed the latest version of my essay "From Historical to Eliminative Mateialism (via German Idealism)", in which I attempt to summarize what I have learned about 47 years of history of the department in 5 pages. Allow me to point out a couple of things about that essay:

(1) All dates are based upon dates found in the UCSD General catalogue. Thus, for example, some people may have been hired a whole year before the date noted in the essay, if their name did not make it onto the department roster until the next year's printing of the roster. Since the department does not retain personnel files on those who are no longer on its faculty, the General Catalogue was only the only consistent source of information to which I had access. This also goes for all the information in the chronology section of this blog.

(2) Much has been left out, and some important people neglected. This is mostly due to my own ignorance. One reason I embarked on this project is because I did not feel that I had a sufficient grasp of the history of the department and its past achievements. I still feel this way. Although I have discovered (for myself at least) many interesting things about the department, and learned about the fascinating people who have been associated with it, I still have a lot to learn. It has already been brought to my attention that I should have said more about Clark Glymour (Professor 1995-?) and Sandra Mitchell (Assistant Professor 1989-1994; Associate Professor 1994-1999). I would also add Helen Longino (Assistant Professor 1971-?) and Elisabeth Lloyd (Assistant Professor 1985-1988) to the list of people about whom I am looking to find out more. Of course there are many others as well. Hopefully I can feature some of the work they produced while at UCSD both on the blog and in later versions of the essay.

(3) I still need help filling out details, and even many larger things. On each segment of the essay I posted on this blog, I begged readers for input, additions, and corrections. And many people have provided me with these and continue to help. Thanks to them, and to the rest of you, I still need help. Please let me know if you notice anything or anyone left out. I hope to have a more complete and final version of the essay done for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Philosophy Department in 2013.

Herbert Marcuse on the Frankfurt School (Video interview by Brian Magee)

An insightful interview of Herbert Marcuse in 1977 (while he was Honorar Professor of Philosophy at UCSD) by Brian Magee for the television series "Modern Philosophy" is now available on Youtube. (In 5 sections; section 1 below:)

New reviews of Pat Churchland's BRAINTRUST

Update: Pat was interviewed on KPBS this morning: you can listen the interview or read a transcript here.

Following up the earlier post on Patricia S. Churchland's new book Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality (Princeton 2011), here are some recent reviews available electronically:

• Margaret Boden. If it feels good, perhaps it is. (Review of Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality) Times Higher Education Supplement 5 May 2011. 

• Steven Poole's Nonfiction Choice- Reviews. The Guardian 7 May 2011. 

• Richard S. Mathis. Our Caring Neurons. (Review of Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality). Science 13 May 2011: Vol. 332 no. 6031 p. 793. (Note: requires institutional access.) DOI: 10.1126/science.1205721

Congratulations to Pat on these very engaging and laudatory reviews.

Martini or Chardonnay?

One of my favorite moments at yesterday's Symposium to Celebrate UCSD's 50th Anniversary was when Henry Allison hypothesized that his philosophical differences from Paul Churchland might stem from Henri's preference for Martinis over Chardonnay (the drink Paul and Pat use to restore their glucocorticoid and dopamine levels). What interesting arguments the great German Idealist and the great Eliminative Materialist must have had while playing golf! I should've asked who won-- the golf game, I mean.