Salad Dodging

The traditional playground taunt directed at fat people is 'salad dodger', but it seems that avoiding salads could be a good idea - apparently many pre-packaged salads have more fat/calories than a BigMac and fries!

Music as Cure

One aspect of art and society that Plato wanted to regulate was the musical modes, suggesting that the ideal city should only allow those that breed good characters. It's now been shown, not particularly surprisingly, that music can affect blood flow and breathing. This suggests that it may have medical uses. I wonder why such studies are always done with classical/operatic music though?

Religious Attitudes to Organ Donation

One thing I've recently been thinking about is organ procurement, and in particular possible objections to an opt-out (or 'presumed consent') system. It's often suggested that this may violate the conscience of certain religious groups, e.g. because they think their bodies must be buried whole if they are to have an afterlife. It's pleasing to see that a variety of UK religious leaders consider organ donation a moral duty.

Light Switches and Religion

One of the things I'm teaching today is multiculturalism, which raises the issue of exemptions from laws for certain groups. A classic example is the fact that Sikhs don't need to wear motorcycle helmets. It's not obvious that this exemption is justified. If the law is purely paternalistic then we might say 'on their head be it', but then it's not clear that the law's justified at all. If there are good other-directed reasons for the law, then we could simply conclude that a religious code requiring one to wear a turban effectively forbids one to ride a motorbike.

I was struck by this recently reported example, however. Apparently an orthodox Jewish couple object to light sensors outside their home because their religion forbids them switching lights on on religious holidays.

Firstly, it seems to me that a religious code that "bans lights and other electrical equipment being switched on" can't be that old, and thus I wonder at its provenance. I don't recall anything about electrical goods in the Old Testament (though lights or lamps could of course be there). Secondly, it's not really clear to me what the objection is. It seems that they don't object to lights being on - apparently what they want is the lights to be on the whole time - only to them being switched on.

Presumably, what matters is whether they switch the lights on. I assume their religious code isn't forbidding anyone to switch lights on or they'd have to go around interfering with others. In this case, it's not clear why motion sensors count as them doing it. After all, they could easily cause others to switch lights on - e.g. if I was to see them enter a dark room and turn the light on for them, I don't see why this should be against their religion. Motion sensors should therefore be interpreted as the action of someone else.

It's quite common for people to circumvent religious requirements in this way. I understand that in Israel Jewish doctors feel it's wrong to turn off life support. Apparently what happens is that machines are built that will turn off unless reset - then the doctor simply fails to reset and life support is withdrawn by omission rather than act. Whether this is morally significant is highly doubtful, but since when was religion about morality anyway?

One for stats fans...

Rafael Nadal says "I will give 200% to be at 100% for [Wimbledon]."

Silly Job Interview

This morning I took part in a mock job interview conducted by John Hawthorne and a panel of 6 doctoral students, in the Philosophy Faculty's Doctoral Thesis Seminar. I guess that more practice is always a good thing. Thankfully it didn't go like this Monty Python sketch.

Oxford University PLC?

Continued assessment exercises, such as QAA, RAE and REF have led many academics to worry that universities are increasingly being treated like businesses. Now the government has abolished the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, merging its functions into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills these fears are only likely to grow...

Exams May Cause Family Deaths

The higher rate of grandmother deaths in the run-up to exams can only mean that family members literally worry themselves to death over the performance of their beloved students.

That or the problem with most surveys is 'garbage in, garbage out'...

Refusing Organs

Apparently most people would be less likely to want organs from bad people. Scrap plans to harvest murderers for spare parts then...

BoJo

Boris Johnson puts his foot (and more) in it...

Journal Moratorium

Nous and PPR have declared moratoriums on new papers, until 1st October 2009 (Weatherson, via Leiter).

Speedy publication is important for those early in their career. I'm happy to report that I received off-prints of my ETMP piece yesterday - and was suitable impressed with the quick turnaround (first submitted Nov 2008; R&R Dec 2008; revisions submitted Jan 09 and accepted in just over two weeks; online publication Feb 2009; in print this month).

Jellyfish Crop Circle

A quite impressive Oxfordshire crop circle.

Ageing Academics

The spin on this story suggests that UK academics are ageing, which is probably a good thing for younger aspiring academics like myself. Then again, it says one in five (20%) are 55 or over, while only 25.2% are 35 or under. That still suggests more in the latter category than the former, though hopefully there's some attrition over the intervening 20 years...

The Watermarks

A useful advert on facebook directed me to this Texan band, The Watermarks. You can download free songs here. Eelctro-pop-rock I'm quite liking it...

Job Advert

It seems that many people are getting increasingly desperate on the job market, but today I found that some universities are almost equally desperate - the following job advert came via Philos-L:

Philosophers needed University of Ghana, Legon

All levels of experience are welcome.  PhD required.
Predominantly undergraduate teaching.  African philosophy,
 logic, mind, epistemology, metaphysics, theoretical/
applied ethics, philosophy of science, social and political,
hermeneutics. Address all further queries to: Head of
Department Prof. Lauer.
Initially your application should include a CV. Then if
the department establishment is interested consensually
I will send you application forms.  At that stage we will
ask for two letters of reference, which can be emailed.
On request an overview of the department will be attached
by email.  Without access to email please send your
inquiry and CV by airmail express if not courier to
Prof. Helen Lauer, Head of Department Philosophy, PO Box
LG 211, University of Ghana, Legon GHANA (West Africa).
Starting dates August 1, 2009 or more likely now January 1, 2010.

Orangutans

Yesterday I learned, from Chris, that Rousseau wrote remarkable descriptions of orangutan 'society' (for want of a better word) given that he'd never actually seen one. Unfortunately, I don't know what exactly he had to say, although apparently Wokler wrote on this. Anyway, I doubt that even he would have predicted that orangutans cannibalize their young!

Chichele Negotiations Ongoing

It seems, according to Leiter, that negotiations between Oxford University and Jeremy Waldron are still ongoing. I haven't heard any official (or even unofficial) word around here...

Ideal and More Ideal Theory

Michael Rosen puts his finger on the key difference between political philosophers these days:
[P]olitical philosophers (political theorists within philosophy departments?) at present seem to be divided between Kantians who think that it is illuminating to explore the normative issues of politics in terms of something they call "ideal theory" and those (Platonists?) who think that even the Kantians are too empirical.

Web Searches

One good point about my academic website is the ability to see the keywords people use to stumble across it via search engines. Often they're relatively uninteresting, e.g. 'Ben Saunders Oxford' and sometimes they're clearly searching for someone else (e.g. one of my contacts). Last week though there were, interestingly, several hits for 'Ben Saunders Law Ethics' (presumably related to a job application) and this morning I was found by someone searching 'i need help to write my philosophy paper on derek parfit innumerate ethics'!

Healthcare Visitors

Another postcode lottery claim...

Copycat Killing

The murder of a Norfolk teenager was based on the movie Severance. One for my lecture on art and society...

Kidney Swap

A mother from Oxfordshire donated her kidney to a stranger so that her son could receive one from another compatible donor. Once we allow bartering, I'm not sure we're so far from open buying and selling.

Cooling Sun

Apparently, scientists are baffled by decreasing solar activity. If this continues, it may partially offset any man-made warming - although the fact that the Earth appears to have been warming since 1985, despite reducing solar activity over the same time frame, is worrying.

Philosophers in Schools

The BBC reports that Wellington College in Crowthorne, Berkshire has apparently employed philosopher-in-residence Julian Baggini ('blog', wikipedia) to teach children how to think. Their own website puts it amusingly: "Wellington College to teach its students how to think in a major new departure"!

Col Ewe

The BBC football blog actually discusses Colchester United!

Deja Vu

I've been reading through a lot of Dilbert cartoon strips lately. They're good, but I can't help noticing that sometimes certain ideas get repeated (and I'm not the first to do so).

Here's one I just spotted: 30/03/08 Dilbert congratulates PHB on being the first human to fail the Turing test. 16/03/09 (just under a year later) he's obviously so frustrated that he's now shouting what should be everyone's new slogan...

Public Speaking

Not sure about the programme, but this BBC mini-site features lots of tips on public speaking. May be worth looking at before I start my lectures this coming term...

Who Needs Males?

All-female ants reproduce asexually.

When Films Become Reality...

Snakes on a plane.

Conscription?

In her book, Whose Body Is It Anyway?, Cecile Fabre suggests compulsory 'citizen service' - like the military service still practiced in numerous countries, only with youngsters being forced to perform socially useful work, such as caring. Well, it seems that it's a step closer to reality, with Gordon Brown having recently suggested compulsory community work for under 19s.

Elect the Dead

Arrow suggests that, if voters provide a rank ordering of candidates on the ballot paper, then the death of one candidate should be handled by simply ignoring them and counting up the rest of the votes as if they'd never existed. For the presence of a dead candidate to affect the choice between two live ones would violate what he calls the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives.

Since many electoral systems only ask people to declare their first preference, so this isn't always feasible. More importantly, I don't think Arrow ever tells us what to do when the dead guy wins...

(Similar stories here)

Commandments of Lecturing

As I've mentioned, I'm currently trying to write my first set of lectures - which is harder work than I realised (even though I only have four to write!). This list of 'Ten Commandments' is therefore timely (via).

I. Thou shalt connect new lectures to previous ones.
II. Thou shalt move beyond chalk and talk.
III. Thou shalt not lecture like a caffeinated hummingbird or a tree sloth.
IV. Thou shalt not assume too much.
V. Thou shalt link known to unknown.
VI. Thou shalt be enthusiastic.
VII. Thou shalt not be a pompous ass.
VIII. Thou shalt not tolerate disruptive or disrespectful students.
IX. Thou shalt not lecture outdoors.
X. Thou shalt seize learning moments.

Culture and Reality

I've just finished writing a lecture on Plato's views on poetry. One thing that really needs to be understood is that, for the Greeks, poetry was their mass entertainment, something like East Enders today, as well as being regarded as providing education in moral values (not for nothing do poets feature prominently in the first two books of the Republic).

It's gratifying to once more see similar concerns raised in contemporary society - this time teachers complaining about the effects of reality TV on children.

The Obligation to Review Papers

Interesting thread on Leiter, here. I weigh in myself, here. One of my questions has also been picked up elsewhere.

Specifying Ranges

This reminds me of my old geography teacher, Mr Wright, who made sure people gave ranges like 10k-40k, rather than 10-40k by marking our mock exams harshly. As he put it, 'how would you have written a range that really was between 10 and 40,000?'

Calculating Publication Metrics

This useful article shows the difficulty with trying to measure the worthiness of a publication by the journal's 'impact factor'. (And, especially, further difficulties, like dividing that impact by co-authors).

At the end of the day, what matters is quality, not quantity. In today's management-driven universities, there's a real danger a number of great figures from the past would have 'perished' because they simply didn't publish enough...

Map of Plato's Republic

I'm currently trying to write a lecture on Plato's Republic. Since the (later) division of the work into ten books isn't particularly helpful, I came up with this map - thought I'd post it here for reference, in case anyone else finds it useful.

I	327a-54c	Argument with Cephalus, Polemarchus & Thrasymachus
II	357a-68b	Challenge to Socrates
II	368c-76d	Initial founding of good city; division of labour
II-III	376d-402c	Early education of Guardians; censorship of poetry
III-IV	402c-27c	Upbringing of the Guardians, inc. physical regimen
IV	427d-34c	Account of virtues, inc. justice
IV	434d-44e	Division of individual soul (psyche)
V	449a-72e	Prescriptions for the Guardians, inc. family life and war
V-VI	473a-504d	Rule of philosophers; true philosophers distinguished from lovers of sights and sophists
VI	504e-11e	The Form of the Good: the Sun and Divided Line
VII	514a-21c	The Cave
VII	521c-41b	Education of the Guardians
VIII-IX	543a-76b	Deviant constitutions (timarchy, oligarchy, democracy, tyranny) and corresponding men
IX	576b-92b	Comparing the happiness of just and unjust men
X	595a-608a	Exile of imitative poetry
X	608b-21d	Immortality of the soul and afterlife rewards

Forthcoming ETMP Article

I have a paper on weighted lotteries, entitled 'A Defence of Weighted Lotteries in Life Saving Cases' (DOI 10.1007/s10677-009-9157-7), forthcoming in Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, which is now online here (subscribers only).

Journals for Moral/Political Philosophy

As an early career researcher, I'm still scoping the market for potential research outlets. I've posted before on the issue of journal rankings. Now, thanks to polls conducted by Brian Leiter and Thom Brooks, I have some more information to go on.

Leiter results:

1. Ethics (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices)

2. Philosophy & Public Affairs loses to Ethics by 150–52

3. Philosophical Review loses to Ethics by 174–25, loses to Philosophy & Public Affairs by 141–54

4. Journal of Philosophy loses to Ethics by 196–16, loses to Philosophical Review by 78–67

5. Journal of Political Philosophy loses to Ethics by 184–12, loses to Journal of Philosophy by 92–69

6. Nous loses to Ethics by 186–18, loses to Journal of Political Philosophy by 84–69

7. Philosophy & Phenomenological Research loses to Ethics by 191–10, loses to Nous by 86–55

8. Utilitas loses to Ethics by 198–15, loses to Philosophy & Phenomenological Research by 76–68

9. Mind loses to Ethics by 189–19, loses to Utilitas by 80–68

10. Philosophical Studies loses to Ethics by 190–16, loses to Mind by 85–58

14. Journal of Moral Philosophy
16. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
17. Political Theory

Brooks results:

1. Philosophy and Public Affairs (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices)

2. Ethics loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 12–11

3. Journal of Political Philosophy loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 27–1, loses to Ethics by 26–1

4. Journal of Philosophy loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 29–1, loses to Journal of Political Philosophy by 14–8

5. Politics, Philosophy, and Economics loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 27–0, loses to Journal of Philosophy by 14–8

6. Journal of Moral Philosophy loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 27–3, loses to Politics, Philosophy, and Economics by 15–10

7. Utilitas loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 27–2, loses to Journal of Moral Philosophy by 14–10

8. Law and Philosophy loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 26–1, loses to Utilitas by 10–5

9. Political Theory loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 26–1, loses to Law and Philosophy by 9–8

10. Philosophical Review loses to Philosophy and Public Affairs by 25–2, loses to Political Theory by 8–7

17. Political Studies
=27. Philosophy
29. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
32. CRISPP
34. Res Publica
35. Contemporary Political Theory

No surprises to many that the top two in both polls are Ethics and P&PA, albeit that their order is reversed. There are some interesting differences between the two, however. What's particularly interesting is to see the high placement of general philosophy journals, such as J. Phil or Phil. Rev., which I'd be less inclined to look at than the likes of JPP or PPE. Brooks' blog also includes some general politics journals, such as Political Studies (though not, it seems, APSR). The choice which field to appeal to is also something that I've commented on before.

Lotteries to Decide Football Matches

It was on this day in 1965 that Liverpool beat FC Cologne on the (second) toss of a coin, after a 2-2 draw over two legs and extra time.

Homeless

I handed over the keys to my office today. I'm now temporarily without anywhere of my own to work (other than my bedroom, of course - I'm not literally homeless). In the past, I've compared PhD Comics to 'Dilbert for grad students', but in fact Dilbert once again better captures the wonder of having and losing an office - with even an implicit comment on levelling down.

Pricing Incentives

In markets, prices typically act as incentives, encouraging production of what's in demand (and encouraging people to switch their consumption to other goods). Prices can also be artificially altered to influence consumer behaviour. For example, GPs have recently rejected proposals to tax chocolate, while MPs are currently calling for minimum prices on alcohol.

Both these proposals involve sticks rather than carrots. If they want to encourage healthy eating, then I'd like to see the money raised used to subsidize fruit and vegetables, lowering the price on things we presumably want people to consumer more of. It could be argued that such moves are paternalistic but, like the taxes on unhealthy products (and, for that matter, compulsory motor helmets) they could be justified as reducing the burden we place on the NHS (and thus others).

UPDATE: Anyone interested in this issue, and looking for a PhD scholarship, may want to look at this.

Man Utd 1-4 Liverpool

Now that has to be our best performance and result since at least, oooh, our last match. We've felt hard down by in several recent matches against Utd over the last few seasons, and not had a good record under Benitez, but this completes a memorable league double (after our win at Anfield).

United took the lead mid-way through the first-half, with a Ronaldo penalty after Reina needlessly up-ended Park (no complaints there - perhaps Reina felt pressured into it given Hyypia's lack of pace, but Park wasn't going anywhere dangerous at the time). Parity was restored eight minutes later, when Skrtel hit a long ball for Torres to chase - Vidic let it bounce and Torres was past him to beat Van Der Saar.

Some Utd fans had made a lot of the fact that Torres didn't do too much to trouble their defence last season, but he certainly gave Vidic a torrid time today. I think he did have one penalty shout of his own, when Vidic blocked him off with two out-stretched arms in the penalty area - maybe it would have been given had we not been at Old Trafford. We did get one of our own, however, when Gerrard surged into the area only to have his feet clipped from under him by Evra (who, surprisingly, wasn't carded). Gerrard stood up to despatch the penalty and complete a fantastic half of football. 2-1 at the break, but a long way to go.

The second half was surprisingly open and, when Ferguson introduced Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov (a more threatening trio than Babel, El Zhar and Ngog I have to admit) I feared the worst. I did comment to my friend, Tom, though that it was risky if they were to pick up any injuries. What I didn't expect was for Vidic to earn a straight red card - this time, unable to cope with another Gerrard run and hauling him to the ground, rugby-style. To make matters even better, Aurelio curled a fantastic free-kick round the wall and into the corner of the net, to give us a two goal cushion as well as the man advantage.

Despite this, the game never looked entirely safe, as we unsurprisingly were forced to spend a lot of time defending. I'd been surprised when Riera had been replaced by Dossena (rather than Babel, whose pace I thought would pose danger on the break), but did say again to Tom that it would be funny if he followed up his first goal against Real with another here - and he did, running on to a long clearance from Reina and lifting it expertly over Van Der Saar with his first touch. Maybe we've been too harsh on him this season - perhaps the problem is that he's not a left-back but an attacker!

I still think the league is beyond us and, to be honest, I'd be even more worried about facing Utd in Europe after this (which will no doubt fire them up) - so perhaps that's a draw to put money on, if you're a betting man. Nonetheless, it's great to savour the moment.

Random Awards

Distributing awards at random is not something that I'd be in favour of. The point of a lottery is that it is blind to 'merit'.

Interestingly, Brian Barry - who passed away earlier this week - suggested that elections provide one way of deciding who should rule when we assume all are equal. Lotteries would be an alternative: we could select our representatives by lot.

Crossing the Road

This BBC feature compares pedestrian crossings in different countries. Note this comment from Oxford:

It all depends on where you are. In Oxford, no one drives through the centre of town if they can help it. The historic streets are very narrow, and lots of them don't really go anywhere much, and added to that a few key streets in the centre of town have been pedestrianised. This means that pedestrians tend to treat all the central streets as their own, and drivers know to drive slowly because people WILL just walk out.

Oddly, I can think of one street in particular where this used to happen all the time. A few years ago the council installed a pedestrian crossing. Suddenly the previously patient drivers started to behave as though the street was theirs and to get angry if pedestrians didn't wait at the crossing.
Jess, Oxford, UK

Planning Chimp

Today, I was teaching tutorials on abortion. One of my favourite articles on the topic is Tooley's 'Abortion and Infanticide'. In it he argues that one only has a right to life if one is able to conceive of oneself as a continuing being over time. The result is that neither a foetus nor a young infant has a right to life. The argument also has interest to other areas of practical ethics, such as animal rights. It could be used to argue, for example, that most animals have a greater interest in avoiding pain than in continuing to live - something I find plausible.

This recent news story, of a zoo chimp that collected stones to throw at people later, came up in the tutorials though. It suggests that some animals are able to imagine and even plan for the future. Maybe this chimp has more right to life than a human baby!

Liverpool 4-0 Real Madrid

This was a great result - our joint-biggest win of the season I believe (with the 5-1 win over Newcastle) and particularly satisfying given that some connected to Real had predicted that they would win home and away. Gerrard and Torres were on top form and even the much-maligned Dossena scored!

Polluting the Polls

In this article, forthcoming in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Jason Brennan argues that we have not a duty to vote well (which is too demanding), but a duty not to vote badly. While some have previously argued against a general duty to vote, this goes further, in arguing that some people may have a duty not to vote.

Once again, Dilbert is ahead of the political philosophy here.

Wadham Job

It's been a tough year on the job market, so I was surprised that this 6 hour stipendiary lectureship in politics wasn't better advertised. (I don't recall seeing it on jobs.ac.uk and it isn't on the departmental website.) Not a great catch for anyone with a completed PhD admittedly, but better than nothing - and it may also suit those writing up.

I note that at least they allow their lecturer to 'weight' hours (I don't get this privilege).

Tipping

This BBC article examines the US tipping culture. It raises some good points - like why should one add 10% or 20% to a bill, rather than a flat rate, when it is no harder to pour a $10 bottle of wine than a $100 one? Presumably this is a form of progressive redistribution - those who can afford the $100 wine can also afford to pay more to the lowly-paid bar staff.

It also suggests that tipping provides an incentive for good service. I'm unsure of this claim. It seems that the practice could in theory have that result, but if 10% (or whatever) becomes a standard - expected even for mediocre service - then it's no longer any incentive for extra effort beyond the call of duty, but merely what is expected. To have force as an incentive, it seems to me that the gratuity must be genuinely discretionary.

Random Decision Making

In his Democratic Authority, David Estlund claims that "Democratic legitimacy requires that the procedure can be held, in terms acceptable to all qualified points of view, to be epistemically the best (or close to it) among those that are better than random" (p. 98). I've always been somewhat unsure what the 'better than random' bit is doing; if the best procedure is random, why isn't that enough? This Dilbert strip seems to make the point.

Nice Work If You Can Get It...

City law firms are apparently paying graduates (modest sums of £5k-£10k) to defer their start dates (and full salaries) by a year...

How Many Friends?

As if freshers' week wasn't enough, the anxieties of many students are no doubt added to by the who-has-the-most-'friends' competition that is Facebook. This BBC article discusses how many friends one should have - or, perhaps more accurately, one is normally likely to have (further discussion on CT).

I guess from my experience it's reasonably true, although I would note that the internet is changing the nature of friendship. In sixth form I was part of a very close group of about eight and we saw each other almost every day. Since coming to university, I've found it seems more normal to have different friends from different circles (college, department, extra-curricular interests, etc). One advantage of social networking sites is that they enable you to stay in touch with people, even separated by distance. I'm no longer so close to old friends from school, but still talk to several that way and it's good to always have the avenue of communication open and be able to follow news in their lives.

Personally, I'm happy to use facebook fairly indiscriminately - for example, adding people I've only met once at a conference, or perhaps not at all in real life (provided I know them 'virtually'). Obviously this means that many aren't really 'friends' in any but the most extended sense, but networking is important in life (and academia particularly), and I can certainly vouch for the benefits of keeping in touch with people I've met at conferences.

Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland

I only tuned in at half time (having been dining in college) and my first reaction - other than being possibly more relieved than disappointed to find the score of 0-0 - was surprise at seeing Mascherano deployed at right back. Obviously, playing Skrtel there against Boro didn't work. I was hoping to see Stephen Darby given his chance - but, apparently, after being told that he would play he picked up an injury in training. With all three of our right backs injured and Real Madrid in our next match, that could be a real selection dilemma for Benitez: personally, I'd be happiest seeing Jamie Carragher shunted over again (though there are some stories circulating that he's refused to play there, I think that's unlucky - more plausible is the story that he's feeling the effects of tiredness or illness).

Anyway, in so far as the matter in hand goes, this was a fairly routine win. Again, it seems that we struggled to convert chances - having about two dozen shots (half on target) - but it was particularly pleasing to see Ngog notch another. We'll need more from him, Kuyt and Babel if Torres continues to be dogged by injury troubles. It looks too late to catch United - they're still four points ahead with two games in hand - but we must aim to stay ahead of Arsenal and Villa and compete with Chelsea for second spot.

Is Shame Learned?

This discussion on the BBC website suggests that shame of nudity is not natural but socially conditioned, perhaps to serve social interests in fidelity. It could have implications for our moral codes more generally.

Corpus Disqualified On University Challenge

As readers will know, there's been a lot of attention given to Corpus Christi's win on University Challenge this year. Sadly, the team has now been disqualified, since one of the contestants was (due to failure to get PhD funding) was no longer a student by the time of the final.

This is obviously very sad news for all involved, particularly the other three members of the team (though, of course, they're no less clever for this). I find it strange that the BBC had not at any point checked this eligibility beforehand, but if they weren't told maybe that's fair enough. If there was a rule breach then stripping Corpus of the title is presumably justified, but what I do find strange is awarding it to Manchester. Just because Manchester reached the final, there's no way of knowing whether or not they would have beaten whoever would have taken Corpus' place - I think it's a serious injustice there.

School Lottery Review

A second lottery story in the same day (after this)!

Ed Balls on the School Admissions Code, here: "The code allows a role for random allocation, but I would be very concerned if it was happening other than as a last resort when other ways of allocating places have been exhausted."

UPDATE: Discussed on CT here.

Another Penalty Lottery

I kept half an eye on this afternoon's Carling Cup final and decided to switch the Five Live commentary on when it went to penalties. I was just in time to hear Mark Lawrenson say something along the lines of 'yes, it's a lottery now'. After the event he changed his tune - he said that the Man Utd players took better penalties and deserved to win. So, is it a lottery or a test of skill?

Middlesbrough 2-0 Liverpool

People were saying last week that the title race was over and this just about seals it. Obviously, it's not official until it's mathematically beyond us, but I really don't see United slipping up at this stage - while we've slipped to 3rd, behind Chelsea again (if only on goal difference for present).

The annoying thing is that - despite giving a first Premiership start to El Zhar and playing Skrtel in an unaccustomed right-back role - we looked the better team for most of the game. Obviously, this doesn't give you any divine right to win: we've won a few we haven't really deserved to this season (including Boro's visit to Anfield). Football games aren't necessarily won by the better team, they're won by the team that scores the most. With that in mind, another injury to Torres has left us decidedly light up front - with Kuyt, Babel and Ngog to choose from - and raises questions once more about the wisdom of parting with Keane's services (or, at least, not buying a replacement)...

Intelligent Women

My friend (well, acquaintance really, to be honest) Gail has become quite a celebrity since winning that quiz thing. The trouble is, she's just a particularly prominent example of an intelligent, well-educated woman and, apparently, we don't know what to do with them. If only we had more air-brained WAGs and bimbos eh?

Point of information: The Times report mentions that Gail "is studying for a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford". In fact, it's a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD or, here, D.Phil) in Classics.

Singer Review

I've mentioned Amazon Vine a couple of times (like here). I was pleasantly surprised to be offered the chance to review Peter Singer's new book, The Life You Can Save (currently at a 45% discount on Amazon!), this month - and you can read my effort here.

Real Madrid 0-1 Liverpool

For a long time we looked second-best in this match, but since Ramos' appointment Real Madrid have become a force to be reckoned with much more and a trip to the Bernabeu with them in form is no easy matter.

In some respects, this was a classic European away performance: weather the storm and then hit them with a sucker punch. Though Madrid had plenty of possession in their own half, we were content to let them pass it around and snuff out the danger when it came - actually restricting them to few real chances of note.

Admittedly, we didn't offer much attacking threat of our own - with Gerrard only fit enough for a token run out in the last few minutes and Torres being subbed just after the hour, obviously feeling the effects of an early knock. Nonetheless, we did have a few moments of note: Alonso came close to scoring from our own half just before half-time, but it was Benayoun's 82nd minute header that gave us a possible priceless goal. (Although, as few pundits seem to have noticed, the fact that it's an away goal is irrelevant: that will only come into play if Madrid score at least one at Anfield).

A very satisfactory result, although I hope the injury to Torres doesn't prove serious...

Sex and Art

A while ago I commented on findings that men are less able to recognize cute babies than women, saying "I am... curious as to how this finding was reached, as opposed - for example - to the idea that the babies aren't actually cute or that the standards/criteria of cuteness employed by men and women differ".

Maybe I was on to something, because now it seems that men and women judge whether art is beautiful in different ways as well!

In unrelated news about sex and art, teenagers who listen to sexually explicit/degrading music seem more likely to be having sex. I guess this could be another excuse to wheel out the Plato and censorship debate, although we'd really need to establish causation rather than mere correlation.

University Challenge Final

Corpus Christi face Manchester in the final of University Challenge tonight. This Guardian article focuses on my friend and Corpus captain, Gail Trimble.

Bribing the Electorate

Thom Brooks suggested, almost a year ago, that promising tax cuts was tantamount to bribery. I'm unaware of any academic literature that makes claims like this (suggestions welcome), but it's certainly the sort of claim that features in popular rhetoric, as this recent example, concerning economic policy rather than taxation, shows.

Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City

Another home draw that, I guess, has to go down as disappointing - not so much because of the opposition (City may be under-achieving and struggling away from home but, especially after their January spree, they are a good team) but the performance. Without both Gerrard and Alonso, our midfield looked somewhat bereft of creativity, and it was a surprise to see Mascherano, rather than Lucas, substituted.

We had enough to dominate chances for most of the game, only to fall victim to a strike from ex-Red Craig Bellamy (which took a wicked deflection off Arbeloa). Thankfully we've shown a lot of 'bounce-back-ability' this season, and an equaliser came when Kuyt pounced on a Torres mis-kick (at least Kuyt's willing to get into the box, hence him scoring so many of these important goals), but sadly there wasn't to be a late winner, like in Manchester.

The commentators seemed to think that this wrapped up the title for Manchester United. While I agree that they're obviously overwhelming favourites, and they have been for a while, it's a bit too early to chuck in the towel altogether. In any case, I think we can take some comfort from the thought that we've put in the most sustained challenge - that's something I'd have settled for at the start of the season (and it would have been beyond my wildest expectations, if I'd have known about the problems faced by Torres and Keane).

Music as Torture

It seems that music, from AC/DC and Nine Inch Nails to Britney Spears and the BeeGees is being used as a means of torture. Says one interrogator: "These people haven't heard heavy metal. They can't take it. If you play it for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide, your train of thought slows down and your will is broken." (via Eloise)

Also, performances of Wagner are still unofficially banned in Israel, raising questions about the place of moral judgements in art.

Irish Jokes

The other day I came across this old one again:
Irelands worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery. Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 1826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb as digging goes on into the night.

Today I hear real life reports of something almost as amusing.

You don't even need the Englishman and Scotsman...

Sex and Sin

Apparently, men and women differ in which of the seven sins they are most susceptible to. No surprise seeing men more prone to lust; although I am surprised that anger features higher in the list for women (3rd) than men (4th) - though that doesn't, of course, suggest women are more prone to anger if they are less sinful overall.

In related news, the OUP popular philosophy books on the seven sins are in their current sale.

UPDATE: Rob accuses me of peddling Catholic propaganda, on which point I notice a Vatican football tournament will use a blue card to 'sin bin' players.

Philosophers make the BBC

My friends/colleagues Rebecca Roache and Barbro Bjorkman are mentioned in this BBC article, about the ethics of keeping a child with an adopted family after the parents have been charged then acquitted of misdemeanours. It's good to see the BBC covering the work of philosophers as well as scientists, although this doesn't seem to be reporting about a published paper.

Advising on Graduate Study

A couple of my 3rd years are keen to do graduate degrees (only Masters level, at first...) - perhaps I should have them read these warnings, discussed over at Pea Soup.

Is Having Too Many Children Selfish?

Good to see the question raised; although I despair at the level of public debate if the best response is "I have three children. I feel it is my duty to attempt to repopulate the World with intelligent individuals in an attempt to offset Mr Porritt's stupidity. Idiocy-offsetting, kind of like carbon offsetting, just a little more immediate."

Another Graduate Conference

I've not been aware of political philosophy graduate conferences in York before, but it seems that they're joining Manchester, Warwick and Essex - conference 29-30 May, advert/cfa here.

They Talk About Me on the Interwebz

Thanks to an anonymous tip-off here for pointing me to this discussion on Philosophy, Etc. Basically, someone there proposes lottery voting, although with the slight twist that they suggest you could draw more than one vote. A couple of people in the discussion point to my work (here and here) and now I've weighed in with my own comment.

There's no Telling what Exeter will do...

Riots in Turl Street or a giant naked statue... [UPDATE: photo of the statue here]

I'm not sure who Corpus are supposed to share a rivalry with. Oriel and Christ Church I believe already hate each other, does that leave us Merton or are they embroiled in feuds with Magdalen?

What's A Rejection?

I don't have as much experience of being rejected by journals as being rejected by potential employers (who often never have the decency to tell you), but even in my limited experience it can be hard to tell exactly how to take some editors' responses. Most recently, I had a rejection with a suggestion that they journal would reconsider with major revisions, and had very little idea how this should be interpreted.

Different journals have different decision options, but here's how I rank them:
1) Accept 'as is'
2) Conditional acceptance
3) Revise and resubmit
4) Willing to reconsider with revisions
5) Reject

Matters are complicated, however, because the revisions involved in 2-4 may very greatly in extent. Sometimes a revise and resubmit may turn out to be less problematic than a conditional acceptance. Moreover, what some journals call 'revise and resubmit' may in practice be a 2 or 4. (Indeed, I was once given what was officially a R&R that was in fact an acceptance - the editor told me he'd accept the piece whatever, but wanted to give me the opportunity to respond to the reviewers.)

Here's a helpful guide to interpreting editorial decisions, via Pea Soup.

Valentine's Links

Apparently St Valentine is the patron saint of those who have found love; those still looking should direct their attention to St Raphael (here).

There are questions as to whether the recession will increase or decrease romance (here). But even anarchists are getting in on Valentines (here) and this photographer makes his own cards for his wife (here).

Ants and Democracy

This term I've been attending a seminar on Aristotle's Politics and Contemporary Political Theory, which has reminded me of his claim that humans are political in a way different from merely gregarious animals such as bees (the difference seems to lie in our capacity for speech/reason and so justice).

Nonetheless, it seems that perhaps we can learn from animals after all. A good article in The Economist here, drawing on the work of Christian List - although I think it gets Condorcet slightly wrong (the jury theorem does not depend on each supplying different perspectives, although that idea does go back to at least Aristotle, and in fact it depends on voters being independent, rather than exchanging information).

Bribes Work

In a piece forthcoming in the journal Politics, I suggest that if we want to increase voter turnout then, rather than making it compulsory, we should consider paying people an incentive to vote. Employing the carrot rather than the stick may be less effective (i.e. predictably the increase in turnout will be less), but I think it is less objectionable on grounds of coercion.

It's interesting to see that in the US they've trialled paying people to stop voting and it works. Since offers are generally perceived as less objectionable than threats, this suggests the potential for paying people to act as we desire in many other cases.

Risk is in the Genes

It seems that some of those who gamble on the stock market can blame their genes for their propensity to take risks. This may threaten the luck egalitarian distinction between brute and option luck...

Portsmouth 2-3 Liverpool

Benitez chose a rather surprising formation - indeed, I'm still not really sure how the players actually lined up (it seems Aurelio was deployed in place of Alonso in central midfield, while Benayoun and Babel were each to play in support of lone striker Ngog) - and took a gamble by leaving a number of 'big guns' on the bench (Torres, Alonso, Kuyt, Riera).

You could say it was a massive gamble and nearly backfired. On the other hand, after our extra time exhertions against Everton, and with a few players carrying knocks, it may well have been the best that he could do. Even our rotated squad were capable of dominating the first half and Babel should have opened the scoring when he failed to make contact with an inviting cross three yards in front of an open goal (maybe he really can replace Keane...).

As it happens, we twice fell behind due to defensive lapses, but we were able to equalize each time - first through Aurelio (who, contrary to some reports, didn't take the free kick - it was indirect, so touched to him by Alonso) and then Kuyt, with just five minutes left. It looked like more dropped points, before Benayoun danced his way through the Portsmouth defence and cut a cross back for Torres to head home in injury time.

Ok, it took Kuyt, Alonso and Torres to come off the bench to secure the points, but at least they had something of a rest and arguably they were more effective precisely because they were playing against a tiring Portsmouth. No doubt if we'd lost, Benitez would have been widely criticized but, since we won (albeit only just) I think we have to give him credit. The result puts us top of the table again - albeit only until Man Utd play - which shows that he is indeed delivering the challenge we wanted.

Twisted City London Tour

You can download a free album from singer-songwriter Chris Singleton here and take his guided tour of London with this guide. Please note terms and conditions:
1. You take the ‘Twisted City Tour’ entirely at your own risk. Chris Singleton will not be held responsible for any loss, theft, injury or loss of life which occurs to members of the public who go on the tour.
2. Any costs or expenses arising from your ‘Twisted City Tour’ are met by you (bus tickets, taxi fares, meals etc.)

25 Things Meme

This has been doing the rounds on Facebook. In fact, I've already posted it there, so when it imports this post (as it does all my blog posts) there will be some duplication. Oh well...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you can choose to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to the Notes tab on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app), and then click Publish.)

1. I self-identify as vegetarian but it’s really on aesthetic (taste) grounds. I wouldn’t actually eat meat, but I’m not so fussy about vegetarian cheese, etc.

2. I haven’t had my hair cut since June. It’s now probably the longest I’ve ever had it (just beating Sixth Form). I can put it in a ponytail, but haven’t tried it outdoors!

3. I was 18 when I had my first proper kiss (curse of an all-boys school).

4. I’ve never liked beer, so only drink cider, wine or spirits.

5. I've only really supported Liverpool FC since about 1995-6 – so never seen them win a league title.

6. I listen to a wide range of music and have written reviews in numerous places – including the Oxford Student (newspaper), UK-Fusion (now defunct website) and Amazon Vine – but I can’t play an instrument or even sing.

7. I haven’t bought any nail varnish since Sixth Form, but still do my nails for the occasional night out (Oxford’s monthly goth night in the Cellar).

8. Although I’d had a few temporary jobs during university, I didn’t start my first ‘proper’ job until last October – at the age of 26. It’s nice to have the money, but I’m glad I don’t have 9am starts.

9. I spend far too much time online, but I’m hopeless with new technology and already feel out-of-touch with new gadgets and sites (things like RSS feeds and del.ici.ous).

10. I guess I count as a published author, with my first academic article having come out last summer (in the journal Philosophy) and two or three more ‘in the pipeline’. Sadly, I don’t get paid for any of this (something my mum finds hard to understand…)

11. I used to keep a few plants when I was younger – now I have about two dozen cacti (all derived from the same parent), which survive at home even without being watered for months.

12. I once won £1000 in a competition, while an undergraduate – I didn’t do anything special with it, it simply went into my bank account and got spent on food, rent and cider.

13. I hardly drink tea or coffee – usually choosing just water (sometimes boiling water, if it’s cold or I have a cold). Other people find this strange.

14. Despite the lack of caffeine, I’m a terrible insomniac (or a very good one, depending how you look at it). It often takes me over an hour to fall asleep and I often wake up early – even if I’m not keen to actually get up in the morning.

15. If I am asleep, I’m quite a deep sleeper – I’ve been known to miss not only alarms but fire drills.

16. My birthday is 31st December. My mum apparently had a glass of sparkling wine to celebrate New Year after giving birth. I turned 18 on 31/12/1999, but haven’t really had a proper party/celebration since – it’s a very awkward date to do things (particularly during university). This may explain why I think NYE over-rated.

17. In a certain sense, I’m very materialistic. I don’t think money or worldly possessions bring happiness, but I’d generally rather spend my money on things I can hold and keep. Given my tendency to hoard junk, this is a recipe for disaster!

18. I’ve always been known for my coats. In primary school I had a duffel coat (like Kenny from South Park, only blue) that I’d wear even in summer. I’ve had my present winter jacket since at least Lower Sixth (i.e. at least ten years now).

19. I can (technically) drive, having received my licence just before coming up to Oxford, but haven’t been behind the wheel of a car since my test. I don’t like relying on public transport, but I’m not particularly bothered about driving myself.

20. The only nickname I’ve ever had that’s really stuck was ‘droid’ in Cubs/Scouts (apparently because I talked like an android). My mum refers to my brother and me as ‘big Ben and little John’ to help people remember who’s who.

21. I have never even tried smoking a cigarette. I find it unpleasant when other people do it, so never saw the attraction of paying so much money to kill myself.

22. I haven’t yet found anything I’m allergic to.

23. I haven’t been to the cinema in about five years. Not for any particular reason, but I’m not a great film fan, don’t feel the pressing need to see things as soon as they come out, and don’t like sitting through long films in one go (I tend to pause DVDs a couple of times).

24. When I was younger, I wanted to be at various times an astronaut, a millionaire and an artist. None of those look at all plausible now. It would never have occurred to me to have been an academic – indeed, I still feel I’ve drifted into lecturing as a result of lacking the imagination to try anything else.

25. I’ve never been arrested, but did once get a ride home in a police car after my first day of work experience in Colchester’s MOD barracks.

February Snow

Since I've been talking a bit about the snow recently, I thought I'd somewhat gratuitously link to Oxford band Fell City Girl's single February Snow:


I saw the singer's new band, Winchell Riots, back in April 08 where he performed this cover as an encore.

It's too bad I don't have a camera, given how picturesque Oxford is in the snow, but if you want some nice photos check out OxfordDailyPhoto, here, here and here. UPDATE: And, in Balliol, they have a snow dalek!

RAE Funding Allocation

The HEFCE has announced how research funding is to be allocated, following the recent RAE results - as reported by Times Higher. Thom Brooks has done the number crunching for Politics and Philosophy.

What I find worrying is the report that "the approach... will slightly increase the amount science receives at the expense of other disciplines". It seems that world-leading research in the humanities just isn't as valuable as world-leading research in sciences...

Library Closures

We just had an email go round the whole college (SCR, MCR and JCR) informing us that the St Cross Building (Law Library) and SSL will close early today. Someone sent this in reply:

Ridiculous. Daughters' school closed today. Next door neighbours, who are
all school teachers hadn't even woken up by 9.00. Missus manages to get all
the way up to Headington to work at the hospital.

Q. How many teachers does it take to change a lightbulb.
A. You can't change a lightbulb in the snow,

Brave New World (CfP)

Sadly, I only got to go to Manchester BNW conference once
during my studies (maybe this will be put right if I ever get
 invited as keynote speaker!), but I highly recommend it.

CALL FOR PAPERS -
Deadline for submission of abstract: March 31st 2009

Brave New World 2009, the Fourteenth Annual Postgraduate
Conference organised under the auspices of the Manchester
Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT), will take place on
 Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th June 2009 at the University
of Manchester.

We are pleased to announce that our guest speakers this year are: 
Professor Chandran Kukathas (London School of Economics) 
Dr Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (University of Copenhagen)

Papers focusing on any area of political theory or political
philosophy are welcome. If you would like to present a paper,
 please send a 300-word, anonymised abstract, including the
title of the paper, to Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk, no
later than 31st March 2009. Please also include in your email
your name and institutional affiliation.

Please note that the conference is self-financed and
participants are responsible for seeking their own funding.
For further details please contact David Birks at
Brave.New.World@manchester.ac.uk or see here.

Intelligent Life

This BBC article pretty much suggests that estimates of intelligent life are no better than guesswork. Particularly amusing is this bit: While researchers often come up with overall estimates of the likelihood of intelligent life in the universe, it is a process fraught with guesswork; recent guesses put the number anywhere between a million and less than one. Perhaps we should concentrate on examining Earth first...

Everton 1-0 Liverpool (AET) (FA Cup replay)

To be honest, if you'd asked me earlier I wouldn't particularly have minded going out of the FA Cup today, but I'm less happy with the way we did so. All the big guns are still in and entertaining Villa in the next round was hardly an easy draw. I wouldn't have minded playing a weaker team and seeing how they went. As it is, we now have injuries to Gerrard and Torres - typically, just after off-loading Keane.

Lucas can have few complaints about his second yellow, even if the first was harsh (he pulled out of a late challenge and the commentators said he was unlucky to be booked, both at the time and later). That sending off probably cost us but, even so, it wasn't until the 28th minute of extra time - just as penalties looked likely - that Everton were able to score. Sadly I missed the goal as ITV decided to cut to an advert in the middle of a frenetic stretch of play. They should never televise live football again quite frankly...

Amazon Reviews

I just noticed that some of my old reviews on Amazon - such as this one of Garbage and this one of VAST - have actually picked up quite a few (mostly helpful) votes. Maybe that explains why I was invited to their Amazon Vine program.

My latest review, of Tapscott's Grown Up Digital, is now up here. Despite my reservations, it's an interesting book. (I would say more, but most of it's in the review.)

Feminism and Basic Income

Over at CT, Ingrid directs attention to the latest issue of Basic Income Studies - co-edited by my housemate Karl.

Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea

I didn't see, or even follow, this game as I was on a train back from Nottingham, but it was a very satisfying result. It took until the 89th minute to breach the Blues' defence, and I'll concede that Lampard's sending-off was harsh/unlucky (it wasn't much worse than a foul committed minutes earlier by Gerrard, which was only a free kick), but Chelsea never looked like winning this match: apparently they mustered just one shot on target. It's also great to see Torres back among the goals - hopefully returning to match sharpness...

Universally Challenged

Corpus 350 - 15 Exeter

Wigan 1-1 Liverpool

Another disappointing draw! Benayoun's opener didn't look like being enough to make the points safe and Lucas' foul led to Mido equalizing from the spot. I was happy to see Benitez immediately make an attacking substitution - bringing Keane straight on - but taking Gerrard off was a strange move, when we could have sacrificed someone else (most likely Lucas or Babel). In any case, it was to no avail - two more points dropped and the title looks like being Man Utd's to lose. Our up-coming match with Chelsea will be very important in the race for places 1-4 though...

Liverpool 1-1 Everton (FA Cup)

This time, it was us coming from behind - Gerrard equalizing after slack marking on Cahill (again) had allowed him to set up Lescott for the opener. Looks like we'll have to do it all over again...

Babies and Beautiful Things

A number of my friends and relations seem to be having babies around now. To me, they all look pretty similar and aren't very interesting until they're older (like, 20 perhaps). Thankfully some justification for my indifference is provided by the finding that men are less able to recognize cute babies than women.

I am, however, curious as to how this finding was reached, as opposed - for example - to the idea that the babies aren't actually cute or that the standards/criteria of cuteness employed by men and women differ...

Queuing for Houses

Apparently students in Oxford are queuing outside estate agents in order to get highly sought after properties in Jericho. I can't work out why they're suddenly all queuing now, although I guess most hadn't given next year much thought before Christmas.

Getting Out of the Ivory Tower

It seems that one reason to value an education in philosophy or liberal arts is that, while not vocational, it teaches one how to think and learn. This, apparently, can make our graduates quite employable.

It's a further question whether those of us who've stuck around academia for longer, doing PhDs, further develop these skills or simply become over-qualified for other work. Nonetheless, it seems that a number of people are starting to entertain doubts about their academic futures. For some, this may be a question of whether they can or will 'make the grade', while others are concerned with whether academia is consistent with other things they want in their lives, including families.

Thankfully, it looks like the skills developed in academia can have uses in the wider world of work. It seems a number of people in these discussions have realized that it is possible to get out of the academic 'rat race' (massive job hunt, pressure to publish, tenure), find a better paid job in the corporate world, and still dabble in their philosophical interests as a hobby.

Food for thought if the job market doesn't improve...

Citizens' Democracy

There's a paper here summarizing a number of proposals for democracy involving random selection of ordinary citizens. (Not something I'd necessarily endorse; but related to my study of lottery voting).

Liverpool 1-1 Everton

A disappointing draw after we looked reasonably comfortable only to concede a bad goal in the 87th minute - Benayoun giving away a needless foul and then we failed to mark Cahill in the box.