Half Rabbits gig

The Half Rabbits (6/10) + Sennen (7/10) + Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element (7/10) + Cogwheel Dogs (6/10)

Proof the people who matter read blogs - my post on my last gig received a comment from one of the bands! Anyway, since I wasn't doing anything else, my friend Nick was also free on the Friday night, and the bill featured four bands for just £5 in support of OxJam, we decided to check it out.

First up, the Cogwheel Dogs were a rather unusual line up - female singer/guitarist and a guy with a new-fangled cello. It's quirky, with song-writing as unusual as the line-up, but soon grows on me. I have to say the single, 'Cress', was probably one of my least favourite songs, despite the unusual offer of the single plus a piece of encapsulated cress for £3 (Nick and I were struck by the word encapsulated - apparently, according to her bio, Rebecca "is driven by the omnipresent, nagging desire to encapsulate things"). Other songs, like 'Ducking Stool', were rather good though. Not much stage presence, but certainly a band I wouldn't mind seeing/hearing again.

Sunnyvale were second on the bill, and delivered pretty much as expected - at least Stuart's bass didn't give up after two songs this time! I have to say sound levels were rather high and it did seem to put a lot of people off: at the start of the set Nick and I (sat at a table on the side) couldn't see much, but by the end we had a clear view as people retreated towards the bar. Chief talking point: is it really true that to say 'How Spiderman Was Tricked By His Wife' is a song about Spiderman?

Incidentally, I found out that the reason I'd only been seeing them as a two piece lately is because Giles is taking time out to work on film projects. Also that they're launching a new remix/out-take CD-R with another gig @ Wheatsheaf on 30th May. I also got to give Stuart a couple of quid for Audioscope (BBC story) / Shelter, after recently being sent one of their old CDs.

While their experimental post-rock noise may not exactly be radio-friendly, third band Sennen (MySpace) look considerably more mainstream. In fact, as they're setting up (putting fairy lights round the drum set!) Nick and I speculate on what they might sound like - based on the fact that one guitarist looks very like Matt Bellamy (Muse) and the other someone out of The Feeling. Predictably, it's show-gazing indie and not - as I'd guessed - death metal. One of the early songs reminds me very much of The Cure's 'Friday I'm In Love' while latter on I was thinking their rockier numbers were more like BRMC as they seemed set to go out on a high - only to reveal after a gratuitous solo that they had one more song. Rather generic and derivative, but I honestly think they could be indie one-hit wonders. Also, while perhaps not the greatest band ever, I think assessed purely on live performance probably the best band of the night.

Finally, The Half-Rabbits - who I hadn't seen before, but I'd heard good things about them from Nick, who'd seen them twice before, and via Nightshift etc. I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed. They sounded rather like Interpol and - while not bad - I didn't think they were anything special in either music or performance.

Sometimes three or four bands all putting in good sets can make a really great gig. I think to be honest tonight just fell short of that. All the bands were solid, and I wouldn't be averse to seeing any on another bill, but none quite captivated me and I wouldn't be particularly inclined to go out of my way to see any again. Still, it wasn't a bad way to spend an evening and it was in support of both charity and local music.

Photos available over here.

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

If ever there was a draw that felt like defeat, this has to be a pretty good candidate. Chelsea offered very little going forward - with Drogba seemingly more intent on going down (and winning a number of free kicks for doing so - though Kuyt didn't when Ashley Cole lunged through him, in the most blatant free-kick-not-given I've ever seen). We were as dominant as one could ever expect to be, such that not adding to Kuyt's goal would have felt harsh enough, so to concede to a 95th minute own goal was a real sickener.

While the tie is still technically on a knife-edge, Chelsea now have the advantage of an away goal (something they never had in 2005 or 2007) and Stamford Bridge has never been a happy hunting ground for us as far as I can remember, save one year when we won thanks to Bruno Cheyrou(!) - I don't think we've even scored there under Benitez, as we'll need to next week. Sadly, I don't think this is our year - in which case, I hope whoever comes through the Man Utd/Barca tie can stop the Chavs in Moscow.

Fulham 0-2 Liverpool

It's pleasing to see that we can now make eight changes and still put in a professional performance and win. Particularly pleasing as we controversially lost this fixture last season, again with a weakened team and eye on the CL. Maybe Rafa was being cautious, or maybe he's concerned to get fourth place sewn up, but the line-up today was all first team players - when personally I'd have liked to have seen Insua, Plessis and Nemeth given a run out for the senior team.

Hopefully knocks to Hyypia and Mascherano aren't too serious, and Stevie's neck injury will have recovered in time for Chelsea on Tuesday. I think Pennant may have played his way into the team with a goal and an assist today - plus the fact that he has in the past done quite well against Ashley Cole. Several people on the Liverpool message board seem to be debating Pennant versus Kuyt, but I'd play them both (on the 'wings' of our 4-2-3-1) with Babel on the bench as an impact player.

CL Ticket Lottery

Tickets for events such as Wimbledon and the Oscars are routinely allocated by lottery. It seems that, to meet UEFA guidelines, all the Champions League semi-finalists have to announce their ticket procedures now in case they should reach the final in Moscow. I'm pleased to see that the Liverpool website says "Once we have received the applications they will not be taken first come first served because that would be unfair. Instead, we will have a random process. Having weighed up all the options and the concerns that fans had last year we feel that the system we have come up with is the best and fairest way of distributing tickets."

What's in a Job Title?

According to the BBC article, Bez (of Happy Mondays fame - seen in action here) is a "dancer". The court judgement they quote describes him as a "journalist and a musician".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Wikipedia entry fudges this important controversy, refering to him as a "dancer and percussionist".

Teaching Jobs

I recently applied for a job that required me to outline two courses I could devise and teach for final year undergraduates. Thankfully, as far as I'm aware, the job application process isn't as bad here as the other side of the pond, where it seems candidates are regularly expected to submit statements of their 'teaching philosophy', sample syllabi, student evaluations, and who knows what else. Here the norm is apparently to rely on referees (as if any of mine have any idea what I'm like as a teacher...)

Anyway, this post on Leiter Reports about advice for those applying for teaching jobs still seems to be of some relevance.

And, while I'm linking, I think I may have linked to this humorous attempt at writing a teaching philosophy before, but I also recently saw this observation about student evaluations. This, of course, raises the same question about who's competent to judge the performance of experts as Plato did long ago.

Sunnyvale Gig

Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element (8/10) + Foxes! (7/10) + 1877 (7/10)

Attempting to put right the dearth of recent gigs, I made it two in two nights (after this) by checking out some more local bands at the Purple Turtle. Contrary to some false advertising, the event wasn't free, but at only a pound not much to complain about (contrary to McDonald's poundsaver menu adds, this gig was much better than a burger).

Sadly, the PT seemed pretty disorganized. Doors were supposed to open at 8 and they were indeed open when I got there at half past but, after I saw a band setting up and sat around for half an hour, a security guy then threw me out of the performance area because they weren't ready. I had to wait in the other half of the PT until gone half nine - although there was no real indication when they finally started so by the time I actually made it to see 1877 I was only able to catch their last song. It sounded very Joy Division influenced, like Editors or Interpol. While I can't really pass much judgement from that one song, I'd certainly be willing to see them on a bill again.

Next up were Foxes! who featured a rather unusual line-up of a female singer-drummer and two guys with guitars (one of whom shared singing duties). They describe themselves as indie / powerpop / folk rock, which I suppose just about covers it, though I can't really think of anyone they sound much like for purposes of comparison. It's an upbeat kind of indie-rock that has feet tapping and people dancing - and it looks like they've brought quite a crowd of admirers, who great each song enthusiastically. Despite the poor singer having coughing fits between each song, they go down well.

Headliners Sunnyvale were due on stage at 10:45, but it's around 11:20 by the time they finally do get on. This is the fourth time I've seen them, which is more than I've seen any other band, though it shouldn't be concluded I'm that big a fan - this is over a period of six years on the local scene! Nonetheless, this is the first time since I bought the Techno Self-Harm EP, and I think I enjoy it more for knowing and recognizing most of the songs (even though they now have a full length debut album).

Sadly, things don't go too smoothly as - after just two songs - Stuart announces that his bass is busted. This results in a brief delay, before he resumes using a replacement (from 1877), which he has to play upside down because he's left-handed. Sadly, that delay when the night was already running late means the band only get two more songs - 'How Spiderman Was Tricked By His Wife' and 'Girl Thief' - in before calling it a night (whether due to technical troubles or a midnight curfew, I'm not sure). Only four songs was massively disappointing, but given the gig was only a pound one can hardly complain about not getting value for money. I enjoyed what I heard, and can't hold the technical difficulties or PT's inability to keep time against them. I guess now I might have to go see them again at one of their up-coming shows (25th April @ Wheatsheaf)...

Liverpool 3-1 Blackburn

On their day, Blackburn are difficult opposition, as shown by the way they frustrated us earlier in the season. Thankfully today was one of their off-days, perhaps because they now have little to play for - it seemed they'd hardly turned up.

Even so, it looked like it might be one of those days when it took an hour for Gerrard to open the scoring. After that, it wasn't quite the opening of the floodgates but it certainly paved the way for Torres to net his 30th of the season (in front of the Kop, unsurprisingly) before Voronin put a slightly flattering gloss on the score at the end - only to have it pegged back by an injury-time consolation from Santa Cruz.

Mark Hughes may well moan that things could have been different had Skrtel been red-carded when he brought down Roberts. The commentators on the radio certainly seemed to think it could, if not should, have been red - but Samba could well have seen red earlier on for a challenge on Gerrard, so I don't think there's much to complain about.

With Everton set to play Chelsea this week, hopefully this leaves us in pole position for 4th.

Winchell Riots gig

Winchell Riots (8/10) + Her Name Is Calla (8/10) + This Et Al (7/10)

I haven't been to a gig in quite a while - at least, unless you count the cover band at Nick & Roo's wedding - but tonight I put that right by going to see The Winchell Riots (formed by ex-members of Fell City Girl) play a gig at the Wheatsheaf, with Nick & Roo.

Opening band, This Et Al, weren't one I'd ever heard of before, but they were pleasant enough, with songs ranging from stoner rock to upbeat indie-pop - while none really stood out at least there was some variety.

The band I'd really come to see was Her Name Is Calla, who we saw supporting Glissando at the Port Mahon last July. A truly multi-instrumental post-rock group, they only serve up three of their typically epic songs, but are typified by closing number New England, which veers from fragile vocals over sparse backing to a rousing crescendo which culminates with all four of the band beating drums. Thoroughly enjoyable.

As I said, it was Her Name Is Calla that I'd initially come to see, having joined their mailing list at the previous gig, but - while I was never a Fell City Girl devotee (having seen them only once) - the chance to check out Phil McMinn's new band was a welcome one. I don't remember Fell City Girl making a particularly distinctive impression on me, though the songs from their later Swim EP did grow on me.

The Winchell Riots were playing to launch their debut EP, Histories, which I bought after the show, and I thought they had a lot more character and individuality - though that's probably me being unfair to FCG. Perhaps they can go on and achieve the big things FCG were tipped for. They'll need to write some more songs first though - Phil admits they have no more for the encore, so resorts to a solo performance of FCG classic February Snow to popular acclaim and participation. (That YouTube video is actually from the gig itself; here's the FCG original)

Music Personality Test

See my results here.

Pretty interesting, but I wouldn't call them terribly accurate. It seems to assume, for example, that if you like rock and metal you prefer music that's 'edgy and aggressive' rather than 'reflective and complex', as if all metal was Amen rather than Tool.

Consequently I get some inaccurate ("People with low scores on the reflective and complex music-preference dimension tend to be traditional, physically active, and prefer the straightforward to the complex") and contradictory ("People with high scores on the energetic and aggressive music-preference dimension tend to enjoy taking risks and engaging in thrilling experiences. They also tend to be dominant, imaginative, and energetic. They tend to be politically liberal, and believe that freedom, independence, and excitement are important aspects of life. When it comes to lifestyle, lovers of edgy and aggressive music, tend to come from the middle to lower classes" versus "People with low scores on the energetic and upbeat music-preference dimension tend to be introverted, less assertive than the average person, and detail oriented. As for politics and values, they tend to lean to the conservative side, and value intellect, ambition, and high art. When it comes to lifestyle, low scorers on the energetic and upbeat dimension often come from the middle and upper classes") personality results...

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal (CL, 2nd leg)

So, after two recent draws (1, 2), it's Liverpool who establish an aggregate victory and progress to the Champions League semi-finals - and pretty much ending a season that had initially promised so much for the Gunners.

I have to say, this was the most nervous game of football I've endured in a long time, probably more than either of the recent CL finals I've experienced. It was always going to be close, but the way Arsenal began looked ominous - they were all over us, opening the scoring after just twelve minutes. I always though one away goal wouldn't be enough! Thankfully, at Anfield, almost anything is possible and - having been very much under the cosh for almost half an hour - we equalised when Hyypia lost Senderos at a corner to head home. I'm not so sure whether it was our belief growing or Arsenal (who'd been on the back of a poor run, until beating Bolton) faltered, but certainly the goal swung things in our favour.

If Arsenal had had the best of the first half hour, then we probably edged the next third of the match - either side of half-time - coming out after the break all guns blazing in the search for a winner (at 1-1, the prospect of extra-time and penalties loomed). No surprises who delivered, in front of the Kop - Torres scoring a goal worthy of winning any match. The 2-1 lead (on the night) was always precarious, however, because another away goal for Arsenal would take them through.

At this stage, both teams were looking tired and nervy, but while Liverpool may have been caught between whether to stick or twist, there was only one option for Arsenal - to attack. The commentators had been warning all game about the impact Theo Walcott could make, coming on from the bench to run at tired defenders, and their words proved prophetic as - after a fluffed corner at the other end - he was allowed to run most of the length of the pitch and cross for Adebayor (with two other Arsenal players) to tap in from close range. It was a great run, passed several players, although to be honest I was disappointed with the defending. Had it been Hyypia, instead of Aurelio, on the half-way line I guarantee he'd have - as the commentators put it - 'taken a yellow [card] for the team' (i.e. cynically brought Walcott down, although - unlike Rob's favourite Solksjaer moment - with cover behind him).

I'd been literally shaking with nerves during parts of this match and now, with one late (85th minute) goal looking likely to snatch defeat from the jaws of defeat, I was utterly deflated. When the commentators had earlier been building up Walcott's potential impact, however, I'd been reassuring myself that our own Babel is also quite an impact player, and so he proved. Just minutes after the goal, he charged into the Arsenal area before going down under contact from Toure. The penalty gave us a chance to restore our lead (3-2), but it took nerves of steal from Gerrard to score - seemingly completing a real rollercoaster of a match. In fact, there was time for Babel to prevent any further see-sawing, as a long ball gave him the opportunity to race through Arsenal's half (the tired Fabregas was never going to catch him, despite his despairing attempt to grab Babel's shirt) and slot in the decisive fourth.

It's hard to sum up such a match; it's a real shame either team had to lose (of course, I'd far prefer Arsenal to Man Utd or Chelsea). At the end of the day, whether through inexperience, lack of squad depth or (related) tiredness Arsenal lost. Of course, Wenger's first response was to blame the ref. While I think Toure's challenge on Babel probably did merit a penalty, I have to admit that it was probably no worse that Kuyt's on Hleb in the first leg, so in that respect Arsenal can count themselves unlucky to have one given against them but not get one themselves. Neither, however, were cast iron penalties, so perhaps to the extent that one makes a 50/50 challenge in the box one opens oneself up to moral luck...

How to Pay the Rent

I just got paid for last term's teaching, and was pleasantly surprised that it was actually a bit more than I'd been expecting - although it still won't cover a term's rent until I get round to reclaiming tax (which, with the new tax year, I should be able to do as soon as I get the various necessary P60s - which will probably take a while).

Teaching, on an hourly paid basis, can just about support you, if you can get enough of it (and, sadly, exams next term mean there isn't much to go round) but it's not exactly a decent living. That's why I'm job-hunting now. It seems, however, that it's possible to earn up to £30,000 (via) - more than most of the lecturing jobs I've applied for - writing essays for other students!

As the article notes, these essay writing services normally claim their products are to be used as guides or templates. I've been tempted to provide my students similar model answers myself, and don't see anything wrong with that. The problem is that most of them allow students to not only ask for any essay title they like but also include further personalisation, such as the bibliography style (and, presumably, what's on it/referenced). Their defences would be more credible if they made it harder to pass off these essays as one's own - e.g. supplying them in a distinctive format, in PDF files, with the source clearly identified, and copies submitted to online plagiarism checking sites.

White Wedding

Last night was my friend Nick's wedding. Since I'm not currently in Oxford, it meant a quick trip back. This reminded me how bad public transport can be. Buses from my house to Colchester station are supposed to be about every 20 minutes on a Saturday but, since the one I went for didn't seem to turn up, I had to wait about 25 minutes - ironically it took me about as long to get to Colchester station as it then took to get to Liverpool Street. Thankfully the rest of the journey went smoothly, with short waits for quick trains - even one from Paddington that only stopped at Reading and Oxford (which I don't think I've ever had before). Sadly, things look like they'll be much worse today, although at least I'm not in Kent.

I wasn't at the service itself, but the reception was held in Teddy Hall - which confusingly has a hall named the Wolfson Hall. Nick and his wife had booked an indie covers band and chosen songs to be played between and after their two sets, which gave the night a really individual feel - they both have good taste in music and the result was very them. I did think a few of the song choices were a bit odd though, but that will have to be a separate post.

Since Nick and his wife have known each other since school, there were obviously lots of old friends who have known them both a long time. There weren't too many from Oxford, although we did have a 'Jesubite' photo (the couple plus me, Lisa, Sara, Steve & Vicki). It didn't matter too much, as I knew several from the stag weekend and met a few others (through them), then spent most of the night dancing anyway. I should also mention the food - there was a very nice buffet selection (which I wish I'd had more of!), particularly the brandy snap baskets and - instead of a traditional wedding cake - a selection of cup cakes.

All in all, it was a very fun night, and I wish the two of them many future years of happiness together. Too bad that when it ended, at midnight, there hadn't yet been any snow though. Waking up this morning, Oxford was covered in a particularly beautiful layer of white that really would have made it a white wedding!

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see this match as I was travelling back to Oxford for a wedding, but I did get to follow most of the second half. This is the third meeting between these two sides this season to end in a 1-1 draw (first, second). I suppose I should be grateful that it's better than last season, when we got knocked out the FA and League cups in the space of a week!

Another 1-1 draw on Tuesday, in the second leg of our Champions League quarter final,
will see the match go to extra time (which, other things being equal, I'd probably settle for right now - we'll be at home and I think our players seem fresher). It's no doubt with that in mind that both managers chose to rest players, with Benitez making eight changes including handing a debut to 20 year old Plessis (who's earned good reviews in the reserves this season).

Liverpool's second string had the better of the first half, and led through a Crouch goal. (I was surprised not to see Crouch last week, given how he tormented Arsenal last season). Sadly, Bendtner made some amends for clearing a shot off our line on Tuesday by equalizing and that was how the match ended, despite cameo appearances from Gerrard and Torres.

I can't say I'm too disappointed. Assuming Everton beat Derby, they'll now only be three points behind us, but their remaining five games include Arsenal and Chelsea, which will both be tough even if the London clubs rotate/rest players. A point from the Emirates isn't bad, especially with the side we put out (though Arsenal rotated too) and Tuesday is more important now.

Random Acknowledgement Link

I was just working on an application for a job in Aberystwyth when I remembered that I once read some papers for Nkiruka Ahiauzu, who's a lecturer in law there. I saw the one she gave in Oxford has been published, with me thanked: ‘Multiple Principles and the Obligation to Obey the Law’ Deakin Law Review. Vol. 10. No. 2. 2005. p. 524-44.

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (CL, 1st leg)

So the second match between Liverpool and Arsenal this season also ends in a 1-1 draw (read about the first here); again with Arsenal probably dominating play, but not overly exerting Reina. Many pundits said an away goal could prove crucial, but at one a piece I think this is still the most closely balanced of the four semi-finals (Chelsea's shock defeat makes that now close, but I'd still expect them to progress at home).

Arsenal have such dangerous attacking players that I wouldn't bank on a clean sheet at Anfield, and if our away goal is cancelled we need a win or extra time (which could be a distinct possibility). Before that, there's another visit to the Emirates in the league, but I'd probably be willing to concede defeat there in exchange for progress on Tuesday. Only time will tell whether arsenal will still be in the hunt for two trophies...

UPDATE: It's something of a shock to see Wenger criticizing someone for not seeing something on a football pitch.

Priority in Practice Report

I'm happy to say the Priority in Practice workshop (mentioned here) was enjoyable. I got to see several interesting papers and, though I didn't really meet anyone I didn't kind of know already, I did get to catch up with some familiar faces and cement a few acquaintances. Plus, since there was no registration fee, it proved that there is such a thing as a free lunch too!

I stayed with my friend Mike in LSE halls too, which gave us a welcome chance to catch up (though we in fact have a gaudy [college reunion] next week to do that). He helped escort me round London - I now have somewhat better bearings, and was able to walk from UCL back to Liverpool Street, which took about an hour and gave me a blister, but was good exercise, a chance to see the sights and did avoid the very crowded rush hour tube.

Liverpool 1-0 Everton

Torres was unavailable for the Goodison derby, but it was his finish that made the difference here in a typically tight game. Too bad we spurned some other chances, but I'd always take 1-0 in one-off games.

Hopefully five points ahead with six games to play puts us in a stronger position, and takes some pressure off our up-coming Premier League visit to Arsenal - I'd like to say maybe we can afford to lose that, but we have some other tricky fixtures still (I'm including those at the bottom, because they'll either be scrapping for their lives or suddenly playing without pressure, and teams often start winning once relegated).

Priority in Practice

I'm off to London today, to stay with a friend for a couple of days and attend the Priority in Practice workshop. Sadly, this clashes with the annual PSA Conference, which I have a feeling I should be at, but I can't afford it anyway. (A particular shame as it's held in Swansea and I just applied for a job there). Anyway, no updates - including the Merseyside derby - until I get back.

If We're All Incompetent Anyway, Why Not A Lottery?

In a timely follow-up to my recent post on incompetence, Keith Sutherland writes a very interesting post over at OpenDemocracy. He claims "surveys show that the public does slightly worse in estimates of the parties’ positions on most issues than it would do if it proceeded by flipping a coin", though sadly the link only reveals the table of contents from this book (certainly seems worth checking out).

If this was true, it would certainly be a blow for those who defend epistemic theories, such as David Estlund, who places considerable stress on democracy being 'better than random' (although he does, in fairness, nuance this account somewhat - for example, noting that what really matters is avoiding what he calls 'primary bads').

If voters are so incompetent that their votes are effectively random, then we can't have much faith in majorities, for the majority itself is effectively random. This means there's no real reason to prefer a random majority to a randomly chosen individual voter.

In fact, Sutherland proposes randomly constituted chambers. His forthcoming book (a much revised version of this one) in Imprint Academic's exciting new series on sortition (which, by the way, also includes my friend Olly) presumably sets out the argument in more detail. I have to admit, I'm not sure the solution to low political competence is more democracy; but then as Carole Pateman noted long ago, competence may be an endogeneous factor in the political system.

Plato and Incompetence

While I'm thinking about Plato: In both Republic and Statesman, Plato compares the art of governing to navigation. He likens the demos (people) to an incompetent ship's captain, easily persuaded by demoagogues with pretty rhetoric but no true knowledge of statescraft, while the ones who does know (the navigator, analogous to the philosophy) is dismissed as a useless star-gazer.

Aristotle responds, in the Politics, that people don't have to be competent to perform a task themselves in order to be capable of judging it, pointing out that one needn't be a chef to judge the quality of the meal one eats. There's probably some truth to this, but it also begs the question against Plato, who explicitly deals with such a response: in the Gorgias he compares the philosopher to the doctor administering drugs, demagogues to confectioners, and the demos to children - of course the people prefer sweets to medicine, but that's no indication of what's really good for them, as they aren't capable of rational choice.

Though both Plato and Aristotle accept that certain ends are rational, I think that this dispute may ultimately come down to the question whether we accept this or Hume's dictum that reason ought only to be the slave of the passions. If we agree with Hume, then we might think that the people should set the end (i.e. destination of the ship), leave getting there to the experts, but at the end of the day hold the experts to account. (Although this, of course, involves some problems - the people wouldn't know, for example, whether anyone could have done better or, if so, who). Plato, however, thinks we're not like passengers on a ship wanting to be taken to a particular, given destination by the best route; rather, we don't even know where we should go.

Anyway, I'm digressing slightly. The real motivation of this post was recent scientific research indicating that less competent people are more likely to over-estimate their competence and make bad judges of others (via Scott Adams).

The fact that the majority of people believe themselves above average is, I thought, reasonably well known. To some extent, the fact that incompetent people over-estimate and competent people under-estimate their ability isn't too surprising, as there's more room for error in that direction. In any case, it seems to offer some kind of support for Plato's thesis that most people not only don't know what they're doing but aren't fit to judge those that do. (This runs counter to what Willmoore Kendall argues is the implicit premise behind Locke's theory - that most people are rational and just).

Adams thinks this explains why people vote. I think it may play some part, but not for the reasons he suggests. He claims his political preferences switch in ways suggesting he isn't capable of judging who should be president but, recognizing his incompetence, he abstains. It may be true that most people over-estimate their ability to make the right choice (assuming, of course, that there is one), but even so observed levels of voting surely depend on people over-estimating the efficacy of their votes - which, in large scale elections, is near zero. I've written on these issues before, here and here.

Wells and Plato

Today, I finished reading two books. Firstly, Malcolm Schofield's Plato: Political Philosophy - an academic text I was reading as a refresher before teaching Plato next term, review forthcoming in PSR. Secondly, for leisurely/bed-time reading, H. G. Wells' sci-fi classic The Invisible Man (text available here). There are some surprising synergies between the two!

The Invisible Man is actually, in many ways, like Well's later short story The Country of the Blind (which may be compared to Plato's Cave, if read as an illustration of how the ignorant masses will be sceptical of and persecute those of greater insight). Both illustrate that one man's difference can be a blessing as well as a curse, although Griffin certainly seems to mostly profit from his invisibility.

Obviously, the relevant Platonic image here is the 'ring of Gyges', which gives the wearer power to turn invisible and so commit injustice with impunity. One with such a ring is obviously more fortunate than Griffin, in that he can switch between visibility and invisibility at will, and thus doesn't face many of the problems such as eating or going about in public. Nonetheless, Wells' novel illustrates certain problems faced when invisible, such as being identified by footprints (and being cold, though going naked may have been less problematic in Greece).

Certainly Griffin does seem to be driven mad by power, proposing a reign of terror, and thereby nicely illustrates the tyrannical soul that Socrates describes. Given the choice between being such a man, able to do injustice but lacking internal order, or the moderate and just philosopher whose soul is harmonised, the latter looks more appealing to me.

Also it's worth noting that the novel contains numerous uses of 'incontinence', in either the archaic sense of immediately or perhaps more generally as lacking self-control (although without emphasis on bodily functions) - to illustrate that the term used for Aristotle's akrasia was not always as absurd as it sounds today.

Man Utd 3-0 Liverpool

Benitez has yet to pick up so much as a point against Manchester United (though, contrary to some reports, he has beaten them). Sadly, I didn't have too much hope of that changing today, as United edged the first half and went in a goal to the good, following a mistake by Reina (who, despite making several very good saves, was unfortunately at fault also for the second).

The real talking point, of course, was the sending off of Mascherano (who Hansen had picked out as a key player before the match). While I won't claim that it dictated the result, I think it certainly explained why the game wasn't closer.

Maybe he was a bit of an idiot given that he was already on a yellow card, but the fact is his dismissal apparently came simply for asking a question - and, while certain questions can, depending on tone, sound like dissent, it seems strange to interpret it as such given that Liverpool had just received a free kick. Whatever was said, I think it wouldn't have happened had it not been for the recent fuss over Ashley Cole and Chelsea, which itself raises issues of justice. It's the first dismissal Liverpool have suffered this season and I have to say I don't think our players are generally as guilty of harrassing referees as those of Man Utd or Chelsea (John Terry's recent remarks striking me as particularly hypocritical).

Without our midfield enforcer, and already a goal down, it was no surprise that late efforts from Ronaldo and Nani were able to put a gloss on the result. Unfortunately, we now have an international break before a crunch clash with Everton (for which Mascherano will be suspended). We're still two points clear of our blue neighbours, so if we win that then 4th place should be in our hands.

White Easter

Last night I went out for a few drinks with a couple of old school friends, neither of whom I'd seen in about a year. There wasn't too much gossip to catch up on really, but it was nice to see them again and find out where they were living, who they were seeing, what they were doing (both just got jobs), etc.

It was pretty cold, but I wasn't expecting to wake up today to snow. There are plenty of pictures of the white Easter on the BBC website. It's too bad I'm not in Oxford, which I always think looks quite picturesque in snow, although it's better that I don't have much to do and can enjoy the warmth indoors.

Sadly, it seems that after a few years of buying us CDs (presumably because we'd out-grown eggs), my mum's gone back to buying my brother and I Easter eggs. I did pass a advert for Now 69 today that was marketing it as something like the 'perfect gift for Easter', so maybe we're now unusual in that respect...

Stag It

As I said when I got home, I didn't stay in Essex long - I've recently come back from Nick's stag weekend. Since far more of my peers have PhD than spouses, this was my first stag night/weekend, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it turned out very enjoyable, even though the only other person I really knew was Steve, with most others going back to school with Nick (and, presumably, therefore his fiancee too).

Getting into London Friday was no trouble, although I'm glad I allowed plenty of time as the Circle line at Liverpool St was closed both due to a suspicious package/bomb scare. We lunched in the Iron Duke pub at Victoria station - although I only actually had a couple of pints as I'd brought sandwiches (which were certainly cheaper). At this point there were only four of us, but we caught the train down to Bearsted (Kent), with others due to meet us later.

On arriving in the village the first thing we wanted to do was locate some sort of shop - which turned out to be a Tesco Express on the other side of the village (and up a hill, as almost everything was). Perhaps we should've got some food, but we loaded up on alcohol, before heading off - back past the station and up yet another (bigger) hill - to find Coldblow Farm, where we were staying.

It turned out it was quite a way to the farm. From the Black Horse pub, the directions told us to go along Pilgrim's Way, take next left and they were first farm on the right. It turned out that was still about a mile and a half (maybe more) and almost all up, sometimes steep, hill. Nonetheless, with a bottle of cider to keep us going, we pressed on with all our bags - I'm not sure the woman who greeted us at reception really believed that we'd walked from the station (not to mention via Tesco).

The barn itself was more modern than expected. Although it had rough stone walls and an old wood-burning stove, it also had radiators and a modern (if compact) kitchen, that actually compares favourably to mine in Oxford. We were told we were welcome to use the pile of manky old mattresses, which we did - firstly, as crash mats for a high jump competition, then later as bedding. While we were getting unpacked, Tim and Steve (who'd taken a later train) joined us.

In the evening, we set off back to the Black Horse pub that we passed earlier for dinner, where we were also due to meet the seventh member of our party. Walking down the hill, in the dark, was quite an adventure and made me wish I'd brought my bike lights to use as a torch. It was a good job we'd made reservations on our way up too, as the place was packed (I suppose it was 9:15 on a Friday night). I didn't have a starter, just the pasta in pesto with olives and tomatoes, but it was ncie and some of the other options looked very fancy (three of us had duck!).

After another long walk up the hill back to the barn, we spent the rest of the evening talking, drinking and playing poker (I only watched), before finally turning in around 3:30am. Unsurprisingly, we weren't really early risers the next day (at least we slept well in our sleeping bags!) so, after some discussion of what to do - not helped much by leaflets featuring attractions as far away as Southend (closer to home for me) - we ended up walking back into Bearsted for breakfast/lunch in a pub.

We had discussed going to see Leeds Castle but, finding it was a coach ride away, that possibly wasn't running, and charged £15 admission (for a yearly pass!), we decided against that. We'd seen, on a map by the Black Horse, that there was a Thurnham Castle much closer, though someone we asked in Bearsted denied its existence. After topping up with drink and food, we decided to set off again towards it, stopping again at the Black Horse to meet Mike (the worst player of the game I've ever met) and refresh ourselves with a quick drink.

The walk to Thunham Castle was quite eventful itself - we started off along a footpath that I think was part of the North Downs Way, before turning off to climb straight up a bramble-covered hill that we thought might be part of it. It turns out it wasn't, but this gave us a good view of the surrounding fields and another hill, this time with steps. Up that and we were almost there - we'd climbed the remains of the old earthwork defences and we now saw the remains of an old wall. To be honest, there was very little to see there, but we had the satisfaction of having discovered the castle, from the opposite side to the official entrance, and took the chance to engage in some climbing and frisbee (throwing the frisbee to people sat on the wall adding an element of risk to the game - perhaps moreso after the frisbee broke).

The walk back from the castel was almost as interesting as that to it. We detoured through a newly planted wood, to an iron age enclosure (not sure what that was) and then over a field in what we thought was roughly the direction of home. The paths weren't well marked, so it was mainly down to Chris and Michael's sense of direction that we were able to cut a more direct route back to our barn, though it did (as ever) involve some hills. (The Downs are definitely better described as ups).

When we got home, the carnivores set up a barbecue to cook sausages and bacon (which I'm told were very good), while I had some salad rolls I'd bought from Tesco earlier. It rained quite heavily that night, but thankfully there was a carport-like roof we could use as shelter, and we had by this pointed started to use the barn's fire exit as a shortcut to the toilets. Later the evening again turned to drinking and poker (I joined in this time, and came 3rd I think - helped perhaps by not always knowing whether I was bluffing), before finally ending with drinking games (circle of fire). It probably says something about our demographic that when I suggested 'current Premiership goalkeepers' as a category for people to name, it was deemed on a par with Chris' 'moons of Saturn'!

The second morning we managed a slightly earlier start, to check out by 10am, although sadly we failed to make it to the station in time to catch the hourly replacement bus, so had to stop off at another pub. It seems half of Kent's trains don't run on Sundays, so we needed one bus to Maidstone and another from there to Sevenoaks (about an hour) before being able to get a train to Victoria - the total journey almost two and a half hours, although at least well co-ordinated. I took leave of the others in London and made my own way home - unfortunately there were some engineering works there too, but I was able to get as far as Marks Tey and have my mum pick me up there.

The weekend may have cost about as much as I'd spend (excluding rent and college meals) in three weeks in Oxford, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable time - much like Scout camp, with alcohol - and a fitting way to mark the end of Nick's single freedom.

Liverpool 2-1 Reading

I didn't get to follow this game, or even find out the score until the next day. It was disappointing to hear we'd conceded a fairly sloppy opening goal, but reassuring how we were able to come from behind - Mascherano's job isn't really to score goals, but nice for him to get his first for the club, while Torres' job very much is goal-getting - 9 in his last 6 games now, making him the first Liverpool player to score 20 league goals in a season since Robbie Fowler (in the 1995-6 season). I hope we can keep our good run of form going through the next five games: Man Utd, Everton and Arsenal x3.

Home

I arrived home today, leaving Oxford slightly earlier than I'd originally planned, having submitted my thesis. Won't be here long - I'm going away for a stag weekend tomorrow morning - but then I'll be based in Colchester until 11th April.

Fabre Review in Print

The long-running wait for my Fabre review is finally over (see previous posts here, here and here). In fact, it seems the JVI had been running slightly behind schedule, and published a bumper issue (vol.41, nos 2-4) in December, without me realizing (perhaps I wasn't in Oxford). Anyway, that included my Fabre review.

For those without online access, the reference is: The Journal of Value Inquiry (2007) 41 pp.375-9. Time to update that CV...

UPDATE: I don't think I'm culpable for missing this - I received the new issue contents alert email 14/03/08.

Inter Milan 0-1 Liverpool

With our two goal lead from the first leg, I wasn't overly worried about this fixture. I knew Inter would have to attack, leaving space for the likes of Torres and Babel, and that a single away goal - leaving them needing four - would pretty much win it.

It has to be said the first half was nervier than I'd hoped, with Inter almost constantly probing, but the fact is that they created few really clear chances and we had a few of our own too. Early in the second half, they again had a defender sent off for two stupid bookings and, if that didn't finish things, Torres' away goal did. Inter may have been unlucky to play for 100 of 180 minutes with ten men, but that's the price defenders pay for cynical fouls and, it has to be said, they rarely looked too threatening up front. I've not seen that much of Ibrahimovic, but what I have suggests he's one of the most over-rated players around.

No Point Voting

One thing I've been thinking about lately is the apparent failure of rational choice to explain voting (I wrote a series of posts on this before). To put it simply, the chance of your vote making a difference, in a reasonably large constituency, is near zero - though there have in fact been cases of ties (and another) - so it doesn't seem worth the cost (time, effort) to vote.

I've just seen there's going to be an uncontested election in Oxfordshire this week (BBC news). Interestingly:
The council said it would never discourage people from voting, despite their [sic] being just one candidate.

Which surely just means that they won't discourage people wasting their time... This could be a really interesting case for rat choice discussion, since the expected benefit is presumably zero - although, of course, one wonders whether those who believe in something like a civic duty to vote still think it applies even when they know the vote makes no difference. (Although I'd contend that, in practice, they can know this in most safe seats, not only uncontested ones).

Submission

Today I submitted my thesis. Err, there's not much to say other than that really... It did feel good, obviously, but also slightly anti-climactic. I'm not too sure what to do with myself for the rest of the day, but I'll be watching the football and then going to Intrusion at the Cellar later.

I'd never realized how expensive this process could be. It cost me £30 to get two copies softbound, from Maltby's on St Michael's St. I don't know how that compares to other places, but I'd had them recommended and they did do a nice job and were ready in 24 hours (even if, weirdly, the shop door was locked when I tried to pick them up at 10am this morning). I'd bought some large envelopes, but then it cost me another couple of quid in the Exam Schools, because apaprently they have to be padded envelopes. And then the lady at the desk said I'd written the name in the wrong corner. Oh well, at least it's done; just the wait now...

UPDATE: You can read the thesis on my academic website.

On Deaf Ears

I'm not sure how many cases there have been of deaf couples wanting to select deaf children, but they're a fairly common staple of applied ethics debates. (The most famous case involving, I believe, a couple of lesbians in the US. Academic discussion can be found in the BJME 2002). The BBC now has a feature on the issue, which happens to quote Julian Savulescu.

International Fame

I linked to this before, but now I see it's doing the rounds on the blogosphere. Or, at least, it's here. For the record, I'd consider giving up the academic dream if offered a suitable recording contract...

Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle

It has to be said that, on current form, this match should have been a home banker. Nonetheless, Liverpool have had a habit in the past of gifting struggling teams a return to winning ways, so I was slightly more apprehensive than I probably needed to be. After 40 minutes, that apprehension was growing, before Jose Enrique gifted us a goal - clearing the ball into Pennant, only to see it loop back over his own 'keeper, registering only Pennant's second Liverpool goal.

Within minutes, Torres had fired in another and the points looked pretty safe. There was still time for him to set up Gerrard for a third, before the two of them were taken off for a well-earned rest. I wouldn't say we're over-reliant on these two as any team relies on top players (Ronaldo and Rooney, Lampard and Drogba, Fabregas and Adebayor), but I do worry how we'd fare without either or both of them.

The Poverty of PPE

Chris Brooke is currently serializing a 1968 pamphlet on what's wrong with the PPE degree, over on the Virtual Stoa - introduction to the series here. It'll be interesting to see what's changed in the last 40 years and what might still be fixed.

Liverpool 4-0 West Ham

I didn't watch/follow this, due to being in the pub with the GPTW crowd, but I was actually slightly apprehensive about keeping up with Everton in the race for 4th - we needed to win this game in hand. Thankfully, West Ham haven't been too solid recently, having just been beaten 4-0 by Chelsea, and it turns out they were ready to succumb again.

After I said Torres looked tired in his last game, he goes and bangs in a second successive home hat-trick (following 'Boro). Interestingly, almost all his league goals have come at Anfield, which is a bit odd, because I'd have thought he'd have been well-suited to playing on the counter attack. Still, it's our home form that's been poor this season and, if Torres keeps scoring, that should soon be sorted. A fourth from Gerrard underlines just how important these two are to us.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Just had to report this amusing lunchtime conversation, between me, another finishing PhD student (LT) and a Masters student (BH):

Me: The thing is, I'm not sure I want to spend the next 3-4 years working on one big project again. I'd rather be able to move around several areas.
LT: Yeah, I know what you mean.
BH: I'm sure it isn't, but 3-4 years on one thing just seems such a waste.
[LT mimes as if to hit BH]

GPTW

I just received this message from Dan: For reasons entirely out the control of the speaker, this week's scheduled talk at the GPTW has been cancelled. Instead - as as it seems a shame to cancel the 8th Week meeting - I will be leading a discussion on the nature of property rights and personal responsibility in non-ideal contexts. The discussion is entitled, "If you're an egalitarian, how much should you pay for a Radiohead album?"

New Arrivals

One of my cousins gave birth the other week (21st Feb) and one of my old school friends is expecting a baby any time now. I just saw this news story about a 21 year old boy who's fathered seven children, all by different women. He'll have to go some to beat this girl I heard about the other week, who at 16 has given birth to two sets of triplets, and also has seven in total. It's probably not PC, but I do wonder about sterilisation sometimes...

Bolton 1-3 Liverpool

We don't have a particularly great record against Bolton, though last year's defeat (due to a dodgy free kick) still hurts. This season Bolton have been struggling and now, without Anelka, I was feeling a bit more optimistic ahead of the match.

We were lucky to be gifted a lead when Jussi Jaaskelainen managed to spill Gerrard's off-target effort into his own net (pic). Second half goals from the lively Babel and Aurelio pretty much wrapped up the game, even if Cohen got a late consolation.

It was good to see Skrtel get another game, though I'm not sure about Carragher at right back and don't know why Arbeloa didn't play (given Finnan was injured). Hopefully a few games in the side, and finally a goal, will help Aurelio's confidence and Babel too will probably profit from a relatively rare 90 minutes even if he did fade (I do find that a bit worrying, from a 21 year old athlete). Too bad Torres couldn't have a rest, as he looked tired and not at all as dangerous as against 'Boro.

Party Like It's 1989

Last night we had a joint MCR 1980s party with St Hugh's. While much of what passed for fashion was questionable (at best), I think the 1980s have an undeserved reputation for bad music. Sadly many people think only of the cheesy pop. While some of that stuff (Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Madonna) is ok in the context, the songs I particularly remember from the night were Enjoy The Silence, Sweet Child O' Mine, Love Cats and Fight For Your Right (To Party). Too bad there was no Sisters of Mercy or Faith No More...

PFO

Over on the Philosophy Job Market Blog, PSG seems to delight in mocking the passive voice employed in PFO letters. The most obnoxious offenders are those that go beyond the passive, never even mentioning rejection.

Personally, I prefer to receive any kind of acknowledgement, rather than simply not being told at all (which is common for many jobs). Today I received an unusual letter from Reading:

Dear Mr Saunders.

Thank you for your application for the above post. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances the University will not be taking forward the recruitment of this position.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment caused by this decision.

Well, I suppose as they go this isn't such a bad one - though I do usually like to console myself by thinking that each time someone else gets a job the competition is reduced slightly...

On the Covers

I haven't yet seen it myself, but a friend texted me today to say an excerpt from my Fabre review (with my name on, of course) is quoted on the back cover of the paperback edition of her book (sadly, this isn't something you can see on Amazon, as they only show the hardback). I wonder if this counts as a separate publication?

You Don't Have to be Stupid to Work Here...

A while ago I posted a link to this story, about a worker fired for putting up a Dilbert comic strip comparing his bosses to drunken lemurs. A more recent Dilbert strip has a nice response. (Strips from 20/2-24/2 are relevant, and possibly more to come)

Liverpool 3-2 Middlesbrough

Liverpool seem to have been conceding uncharacteristically many goals of late, with Boro just the latest in a line of sides to score twice at Anfield this year (H&W and Barnsley being others). I think it's definitely true to say that we've missed long-term injury victim Agger but, while Hyypia has won plaudits for the way he's played at 34, even Carragher has come in for criticism from some sections of the fans. Well, today with Carragher suspended and Skrtel - on the road back from injury - only fit enough for the bench, we were forced to partner Hyypia with Arbeloa and it showed when the defence went missing, allowing Tuncay to score an early opener.

Thankfully, if our defence has been more porous than usual, the addition of Torres has given us the kind of attacking threat we haven't had up front since the days of Michael Owen. First he capitalised on a poor backwards header by Arca to slot in an equalizer then, just a minute later, scored a fine second from 25 yards. Another gift, due to confusion between Wheater and Schwarzer, allowed Torres to wrap up his first PL hat-trick (following a league cup one against Reading) and seemingly make the points safe. In fact, some more shaky defending allowed Downing to make the last ten minutes or so potentially nervous, but the sending off of Aliadiere minutes later ensured that even we couldn't throw away our 3-2 lead. Here's hoping we have Agger and Skrtel back as soon as possible though.

Brave New World 2008

I'm aiming to be done by late June, so it's no longer of relevance to me (and I probably wouldn't have gone without funding anyway), but this year's Brave New World is now being advertised on a new blog. I met two of the organizers in Warwick and I'm sure it'll be as good as my previous visit (in 2006).

Tutorial Banter

Context: questioning whether Mill's higher/lower pleasure distinction could be reduced to mental/bodily.

Me: Which is better, sex or learning French? I mean, what's the point in learning French?
Student #2: To have sex with French people?

Corrective Justice

Congratulations to my friend Seth, whose paper on Corrective Justice is forthcoming in Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. For those with institutional access via Springerlink: abstract, paper.

Liverpool 2-0 Inter Milan

From the ridiculous to the sublime? It seems hard to predict which Liverpool team is going to show up on any given occasion these days, although it must be said we do seem to turn on the style in the Champions League rather more often than when battling lower division domestic opponents.

The visit of Italian league leaders Inter was always going to be a test, but I was pleased at our dominance. Even for the first 30 minutes, we had the majority of the play, and then the game was totally turned on its head by the sending off of Materazzi, for two bookable offences on Torres. I have to admit, both bookings seemed a little harsh but, on the other hand, he was stupid - both times he seemed to needlessly go for Torres rather than the ball, even when on the first occasion Torres didn't seem to be going anywhere and in the second case there was plenty of cover.

If we're going to go on about the referee's decisions, whether or not the red card was lucky, Vieira was very fortunate not to concede a penalty for handling in the area (after Inter had already survived two ball to hand shouts that could have been given). Obviously 11 v 10 changed the game, with Inter then happy to adopt a 4-4-1 formation and play for a draw. I'm not actually sure this suited us. We've seen before this season how Liverpool still struggle to break down massed lines of defence, so an open game might have been better.

Nonetheless, the numerical advantage allowed us to attack almost all-out, with the full backs providing plenty of width, and stretch the Inter defence. Eventually the ten men succumbed to two late goals - first a deflected effort from Kuyt (about time he got some luck - now two in two, he can't stop scoring) and Gerrard. A 2-0 lead sets us up nicely - I'm not going to count chickens; something similar (like a red card) could go wrong for us, so it's no time to get complacent. Let's not forget that in our only previous meeting Inter over-turned a 3-1 deficit with a 3-0 win in Milan (albeit helped by dodgy officiating). Nonetheless, with Inter needing to score in the San Siro, we should be able to nick an away goal which would leave them needing four. We're definitely in a good position to progress, provided we continue to play like this.

Unconventional Defence

Now this surprised - and in some strange way amused - me. A man accused of killing then having sex with a model claims in his defence that he only had sex with her body after she was dead, (presumably) believing her merely unconscious. Now c'mon, who hasn't been there before...?

UK-Fusion

It's been a while since I've written a review on UK-Fusion - partly because I've been writing for the Amazon Vine programme (see here) - but at last a new review, of Rivers Cuomo's home demos.

Warwick Conference

Yesterday was the Tenth Warwick Graduate Conference in Political Theory, and the third I've attended (read about last year's here).

I gave my paper on defining the demos, which I gave at the Graduate Political Theory Workshop earlier this term. Maybe we're lucky to have so many fora for discussion and feedback in Oxford, but I'm not sure I really got much useful feedback - the Warwick format was 20 mins presentation and 20 for questions, as opposed to the GPTW's (roughly) 40 and 50. I did, however, get questions from Matthew Clayton and Mark Philp.

I suppose the main reason for conferences isn't paper feedback, which is more likely to come from friends reading your paper, but to meet other people and exchange ideas. With that in mind, the conference was a success. I saw a couple of old friends who I'd met before and met a couple of new faces I hadn't. (Total: three new facebook friends, if that's any measure). In particular, I was happy to find someone else working on democracy, since my old regular co-panellist Dean has gone MIA.

It was also interesting to meet at least four or five people who said they'd read this blog, despite the fact I hadn't met most of them before! To be honest, I've never done much to advertise it, as I write more for me rather than readers - which isn't to say they aren't very welcome. In fact, I'd always been somewhat surprised by reader figures. It seems a lot of people somehow find this IQ test solution, which is certainly my most commented on post. Apparently political theorists are also attracted by the Estlund reading group (on Public Reason) and Fabre review.

Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley (FA Cup)

I wasn't able to follow this game, due to being at a conference in Warwick (which I'll blog about later). Thankfully someone was able to tell me the result before I left - although I did see a number of Liverpool fans in Coventry train station (I resisted asking about the match).

At the time, I hoped we'd played a younger side, giving chances to some of our reserves, but in fact it was more or less a full strength side, barring Reina and Gerrard on the bench, given injuries to Torres and Agger. This makes the result particularly disappointing, but it's undoubtedly true that we dominated the game, only to be frustrated by some inspired goal-keeping.

Oh well. Truth be told, when we won the 2006 FA Cup, I felt we deserved it having knocked out Man Utd and Chelsea to reach the final. This year, we've struggled to get past Luton (reply needed) and Havant and Waterlooville, so I guess it was about time we were knocked out. I only hope we can pick ourselves up in time for Inter Milan...

Shameless Meme-Wagon-Jumping

Via Rob,
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the third* sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
*Note this originally said fifth. I must've taken three from either the number or line below; but I decided it was easier to change the meme than edit everything else!
(I chose to interpret this as the next three sentences after the third, i.e. sentences 4-6 of the page, but counted the incomplete sentence at the start of the page).

I got "Thus it seems reasonable to say that other things equal one conception of justice is to be preferred to another when it is founded upon markedly simpler general facts, and its choice does not depend upon elaborate calculations in the light of a vast array of theoretically defined possibilities. It is desirable that the grounds for a public conception of justice should be evident to everyone when circumstances permit. This consideration favors, I believe, the two principles of justice over the criterion of utility".

No prizes for anyone guessing where that's from!

As Rob, I can't be bothered tagging people but anyone is welcome to join in.

Valentines

What better way to spend Valentines' evening than at the Jurisprudence Discussion Group listening to Bruce Chapman discussing social choice?

Actually, it was a good talk, and then I went to join my friend Kristin for celebratory post-viva drinks. At least the day wasn't as bad as some.

Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool

Games between these two sides are rarely entertaining for the neutral, but generally very close, and this was no exception. With Stamford Bridge not a happy hunting ground for Liverpool in recent history, I'd have been very happy to take a draw beforehand, but in fact we looked the more likely winners - the nearest Chelsea came to scoring was arguably Riise's header towards his own net, but into the arms of Reina.

It's a shame Torres was injured on international duty for with him we really may have won. Of course, Chelsea were missing players too, notably Terry and Drogba, but we don't have the luxury of spending £15m on replacements. Those we brought in generally acquitted themselves well, however, with Skrtel looking much better than his debut and Kuyt having a decent game on the right of midfield, though without ever looking like a scoring threat (and mis-controlling the one opportunity he did have to get into the box).

Estlund's Reply

As previously noted, I contributed this week's commentary to Public Reason's Estlund Reading Group. David Estlund has now written a response here.

The Philosophy Job Market

So far I seem to have seen a lot more vacancies in philosophy rather than politics, but maybe their job market is slightly ahead. Leiter has opened up a post to keep track of appointments.

Someone else is also blogging about their experience of the job market. Good to know we're all in much the same boat.

My Contribution to Estlund Reading Group

This week it's been my turn to contribute a summary and critical discussion of the latest chapter from Estlund's book over at Public Reason. My post is here. Some will no doubt be predictable...

Liverpool 3-0 Sunderland

Worringly before today we hadn't recorded a league win since 26th December, when we squeaked a 2-1 victory over Derby. A home match against Sunderland - who've only picked up two points on the road all season - had to be regarded as a home banker.

Benitez's team selection had some baffled. The sight of Torres and Crouch up front was welcome, and even playing Carra at right back was understandable to give Skrrtel a chance while still having some cover, but even I must admit that deploying Lucas Leiva on the left of midfield - leaving out Kewell, Benayoun and Babel - was somewhat baffling. Perhaps the plan was for him to tuck in and Aurelio to prive the width, bringing us closer to a 3-2-3-2 wingback formation (although with Pennant presumably playing further forward on the right). Whatever, that didn't seem particularly successful and it was no surprise to see Aurelio and Leiva replaced, even if it meant Finnan playing left back (something he has done before).

By all accounts the first half was dire, with few chances, but I have to give Mascherano and our defence some credit for effectively stiffling Sunderland's attack. In the second half, however, we saw a Crouch header, then his knock-on for Torres, illustrate the potential of this partnership. I definitely hope the two get more playing time together, although I was surprised substitute Kuyt wasn't given a chance to break his scoring duck from the 89th minute penalty (that Gerrard instead converted to put a gloss on the scoreline).

To be fair, things might have been closer. At 2-0, Sunderland probably should have had a penalty for a Carragher handball. His tendency to wave his arms around is perhaps his defensive weakpoint - maybe that was part of the reason to play him at right back, after he conceded a penalty the other day! The commentators suggested the let-off from ref Whiley makes up for the dodgy one he awarded Chelsea earlier in the season, but I must say I'd prefer to concede a penalty when 2-0 up to Sunderland rather than 1-0 up to Chelsea.

Anyway, at the end of the day what we needed to do was win, no matter how. While the commentators claimed we were playing poorly, they're normally the first to praise Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea for winning while doing so. If we can play poorly and win 3-0, I'll always take that...

Old Boy Racers

Those mobility scooters are seriously dangerous. I think old people these days have no respect.

(Pedantic bit: it doesn't actually say the driver was elderly; I'm assuming it)

Lotteries Make School Admissions Fairer...

...so say academics from Sheffield Hallam here. Thanks again to Nick.

White on Inheritance Tax

My college advisor, Stuart White, is quoted in this BBC Magazine article.

UPDATE: Seems Nick beat me to it.

West Ham 1-0 Liverpool

Well, at least our run of league draws is over... Didn't see the game but it sounds as if we were pretty poor. Again it was a defensive mistake that cost us - after recent own goals from Aurelio and Skrtel, this time Carragher conceding a penalty. Not even the Liverpool website disputed that, but did claim we'd been denied one of our own for a blatant handball 15 minutes earlier. Sadly, wasn't to be.

Liverpool 5-2 Havant & Waterlooville

Despite talk of the romance of the cup, no one seriously expected a 'cupset' here so it was a massive surprise when H&W took the lead not once but twice in the first half. A Liverpool team stripped of its spine (Reina, Carragher, Gerrard and Torres) looked short of fluency, but its hard to say whether it was complacency or the weight of expectation. In any case, Skrtel had a debut to forget - needlessly conceding a corner that led to the first goal before a wicked deflection that may see the second credited as his own goal.

Nonetheless, once Benayoun pulled us level - again - before half-time, I never had any serious doubts. I didn't buy the idea that H&W wouldn't be fit - they're used to playing 90 mins and one of them's a binman - but quality told in the end. Benayoun completed his second hat-trick of the season (the first against Besiktas) while a brief run-out for Carragher and Gerrard (principally I assume for the benefit of the H&W players) was time enough for the latter to set up Crouch to complete the scoreline. Maybe that fifth makes Liverpool look more dominant than they were, at least in the first half, but H&W should be rpoud of themselves.

Estlund ch.2

The second installment of the Public Reason reading group is available here. Again, I got first comment (I think this must be because most contributors are in the US - or more inclined to take their time to think...). Discussion of the first chapter proved most informative and David Estlund even wrote an interesting reply. I'm looking forward to chapter 4, though Jonathan has set a high bar...

Liverpool 2-2 Aston Villa

This game reminds me of the Spurs match earlier in the season: we were fairly dominant but failed to build a lead, fell behind to two quick goals and were lucky to scrape a draw. I suppose in the context, I should praise our battling spirit, but the truth is it's two points dropped.

Guitar Hero

Last night I went on a pub crawl to celebrate Nick's birthday, which was actually earlier in the week. We ended up back at his place, playing Guitar Hero III. I didn't actually attempt this, having found Smashing Pumpkins and Metallica challenging enough (I had a go at 'One' but Steve predictably thrashed me), but the most impressive was Dragonforce's 'Through The Fire And Flames' (links: video, check out the guitar duel from c.3:20, lyrics, someone playing Guitar Hero, scarily well).

GPTW: Defining the Demos

This afternoon I'm presenting at the Graduate Political Theory Workshop on the appropriate boundaries of the demos. Abstract follows:

Democracy is an inclusive ideal but, until recently, little attention has been paid to who should be included. Democratic practice takes constituencies, such as the nation-state, for granted, while democratic theory has little to say on the topic. Among those who have explicitly addressed the issue (Arrhenius, Dahl, and Goodin) a popular answer has been the ‘all-affected principle’, which claims everyone affected by a decision should have a say in making it. This raises several well-known problems, such as defining who is relevantly affected.

This paper argues that the all-affected principle effectively gets things back to front. I argue that it is important to understand democracy as a system of collective agency, not simply equal respect for each person as a moral patient. Since not all patients are agents, this in itself suggests that not all with interests at stake should be enfranchised. I go on to discuss the importance of democracy in allowing us to impose costs and benefits on each other in order to achieve coordination in ways that are, in the long-run, presumptively beneficial to all. While any given agent may lose from any given decision, all have reason to comply to the system as a whole because, provided that it is fair, it not only ensures coordination but gives them a chance to have their way in future. The collective decision procedure therefore allows some members of the demos to impose costs on other members of the demos as if they were parts of a collective agent. This power is, however, limited to imposing burdens on other members of the demos, not outsiders.

Agents are normally responsible for the consequences of their actions and so, I suggest, it is for the demos conceived of as a collective agent – what a group do, the group is responsible for. The group are legitimately entitled to distribute internal costs according to their own mechanisms of justice and democracy, but they are not thereby entitled to impose costs on outsiders. Collective agency is therefore limited by something like Mill’s harm principle – the demos are not entitled to negatively affect outsiders through their agency, and if they do are presumably liable to pay compensation. Whereas Goodin conceives of such reparations as an inferior substitute for enfranchising those others, however, I argue it is the ideal. We do not think you are entitled to a say in whatever I do if it may affect you, merely that I am debarred from negatively affecting (harming) you in certain ways. Similarly, the demos is not required to give any affected outsiders influence in its decisions, simply not to inflict certain setbacks on those outsiders (or to compensate them), because they are not automatically compensated by being part of the democratic distribution of benefits and burdens. I conclude that being affected does not entitle one to influence in decisions and the boundaries of the demos must be settled prior to democratic decision.

Liverpool 5-0 Luton (FA Cup replay)

Back in 2006 our run to lifting the FA Cup began with a thrilling 5-3 win over Luton. Having already been frustrated by a 1-1 draw last week, however, it seemed Benitez was taking no chances, and fielded arguably our strongest team, aside from Itandje in goal, with even Gerrard and Torres starting.

A determined Luton rearguard, marshalled by Don Hutchinson of all people, impressively held out for almost all of a very one-sided first half, but the commentators were only ever talking of how long it would be. Fortunately for us, a lapse of cocentration in first half injury time allowed Babel (who's already hit the post) to fire in the first and that seemed to break the Luton resistance as Liverpool were 4-0 up by 64 minutes.

Gerrard's first and Hyypia's both came from headers, underlining Liverpool's dominance in the air, and Gerrard struck two long-range shots to complete a hat-trick shortly before making way for Lucs Leiva. Luton can hold their heads up high for even taking us to a replay, much less holding out as long as they did, but they'll be more grateful for the extra money; while I think we can be pleased enough with a professional 5-0 win. Hopefully we won't need our full team in the next round, which will probably be against Swansea (subject to replay tomorrow).

And yet another...

As if it weren't enough that most of my peers from college have finished, today saw my friend Julia's successful viva. Well done!

Estlund Reading Group Begins

The previously advertised reading group on David Estlund's new book has begun over at Public Reason. And I got to make the first comment!

Middlesbrough 1-1 Liverpool

Another frustrating draw. Although, let it not be forgotten that the Riverside hasn't been a happy hunting ground in recent year - we hadn't so much as scored here since 2002. Moreover, 'Boro tend to raise their game for the top sides, as shown by the fact that Arsenal lost here. (On the subject of which, Arsenal were also held at home by Birmingham, like us - simply underscoring the fact that blips happen, the trouble is ensuring they're not too regular).

I suppose I can take some comfort from the fact we came from behind to equalize, via a great Torres goal. Also Agger's presence on the bench was a welcome sight after four months out. UPDATE: Spoke too soon. I'm pretty worried about him now... This Skrtel had better be good!

0th Week Round-Up

It's good to be back in Oxford...

On Monday, I went for a quick congratulatory post-viva drink with Steve.

On Tuesday I had lunch with interview candidates for the JRF in Politics at Jesus and then in the evening went to Intrusion (the monthly goth night) down the Cellar.

On Wednesday I spent most of the day at the Centre for Political Ideologies Workshop on 'the Real and the Imaginary' and then in the evening had my supervisor to the formal graduate dinner at Jesus (three free meals over two days there!) before going on to the post-BPhil Philosophy party in Holywell Manor. Just before dinner I got offered some more Mill teaching too, which pretty much completes my load for the term.

Thursday wasn't really a productive day but I did try to get some work done - been trying to get through some reading on Hegel for Jerry's class.

This morning I was invigilating undergraduate Collections (internal college exams), which meant I got paid while I was reading the paper for Monday's Nuffield seminar(!) In the afternoon, I received an invitation to interview for the Queens JRF in Politics, which meant I had to spend most of the afternoon finding and editing some writing samples (rather than writing my presentation for next week's graduate political theory workshop) but was very welcome news.

Lectures

Term's almost upon us and lecture lists are available here. Select highlights:

Monday
4:30 Moral philosophy seminar

Tuesday
5 Law faculty seminar on political philosophy (I'm waiting to see the contents - but suspect it'll be Rawls and Dworkin)

Wednesday
2 'Sexual ethics' with Prof R. M. Adams
5 Graduate Political Theory Workshop

Thursday
11 Philosophy of beauty with Roger Scruton
10-12 (even weeks) Julian Savulescu's Applied Ethics group
5 Jerry's Hegel & Marx class

Friday
Teaching day?

Reviewing Terrorism

The Review Journal of Political Philosophy is seeking submissions on terrorism (via here and here). I've informed Rob, but will also be trying to polish off a piece of my own.

ESF Journal Rankings

It's a slightly old post, but Thom Brooks links to ESF journal rankings in philosophy. Some of interest:

A
American Philosophical Quarterly
Analysis
Australasian Journal of Philosophy
Economics and Philosophy
Erkenntnis
Ethics
Journal of Philosophy
Law and Philosophy
Nous
Philosophical Quarterly
Philosophical Review
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
Philosophy and Public Affairs
Social Philosophy and Policy

B
Bioethics
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
Journal of Applied Philosophy
Journal of Ethics
Journal of Moral Philosophy
Journal of Political Philosophy
Journal of Value Inquiry
Legal Theory
Metaphilosophy
Political Theory
Politics, Philosophy and Economics
Ratio
Res Publica
Utilitas

C
Ethical Perspectives
Philosophy

Another One Done...

Congratulations to my friend Steve on passing his viva this afternoon.

Luton 1-1 Liverpool (FA Cup)

This is, I believe, the first time in Rafa's tenure that Liverpool have faced a team below the Championship, and I expected him to follow Wenger's strategy of employing (for the most part) a youthful reserve side - including at least some of Hobbs, Insua, El Zhar, Spearing, Leto and maybe even Simon. As it was, eight changes were made and while the likes of Itandje, Leiva and Babel got starts, it was still a strong side.

It's all the more frustrating then that they were unable to defeat a team in the League One relegation zone (albeit only because of a ten point penalty). It's true that Luton didn't create too many dangerous chances, and even their equalizer was an own goal by Riise, but the fact is that nor did we and they were good money for a draw. Speaking of which, no one can really begrudge them a much needed and lucrative return tie at Anfield. For them, it's probably the best result, and I'm not too bothered about fixture congestion either. This time I think we should play the reserves - they can't do much worse...

Political Thought Conference

I've just finished with the Oxford political thought conference (mention of which here), which has taken up most of my time since I got back. The two conveners chose an interesting mix of papers - half analytic philosophy (Cohen, Steiner, Mendus and McDermott) and half continental/post-modern/structural. No need to say which I preferred, but I attended seven of the sessions and benefited from at least five, finding the one on sex and genos in Republic particularly interesting...

As ever, it's not simply the papers that matter. Last year, I thought the social side of the conference was a bit of a let-down, in that I met very very people I didn't already know and think I spent most of the social time with fellow Oxford grad students. I think this is partly down to the slightly strange way the conference is run, so I wasn't an official participant or there for meals etc. Nonetheless, I think this year was much better.

Special credit to those willing to talk to graduate students, in the bar or over coffee. I got to meet Keith Sutherland, who has already published one book on sortition and whose Imprint Academic are hoping to publish more soon. I also got to pick up an issue of Polis (23:2) dedicated to Ernest Barker on Plato and Aristotle, which has an interesting looking paper about Greek democracy. On the subject of journals, I met Simon Tormey, reviews editor at Contemporary Political Theory, which may be useful (I'm still trying to get a copy of the Estlund book). Plus I got to have a chat with Hillel Steiner (who I may well see again at this year's Warwick grad conference) about his paper, over coffee, and meet and talk to several other interesting people and old friends. (Another plug: Clare's book, out very soon).

Back

I'm back in Oxford now. The journey/move went fairly well, apart from having misplaced the plug adaptor for my computer speakers, meaning I have no music :(

Since I'm spending most of the next two days at the Political Thought Conference that shouldn't be a huge loss though.

G A Cohen Bites

I'm returning to Oxford tomorrow, hoping to make it to the Political Thought Conference (programme), although I've heard Jerry Cohen's stuff before. On the subject though, I've just been directed to this podcast interview, via CT.