Descartes is famous among undergraduate philosophy students for his hyperbolic doubt. Early in the Meditations on First Philosophy, he provides his readers with various reasons for doubting information that is acquired from or through the senses. After pointing out that the “senses often deceive,” he suggests that it is “prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once”.
Professors of philosophy have motivated Descartes’ doubt by calling their students’ attention to ordinary perceptual errors: A stick may appear bent in a bucket of water. A large object, such as the sun, may appear quite small from a distance. And a lamp may resemble the human form in a dark and shadowy room. Now, the popularization of a fascinating berry may make philosophy class even more exciting for undergraduate students. The “miracle fruit,” Synsepalum dulcificum (which is native to West Africa), makes everything that crosses one’s taste buds taste sweet. According to the New York Times, the “cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids.” The result is that something sour, such a pickle, is experienced as sweet and fruity.
Foodies and wealthy urbanites experiment with the miracle fruit at “flavor tripping parties.” But we would like to see the fruit (which we prefer to call Descartes’ Magical Berry, or Descartes’ Berry, for short) make its way into undergraduate philosophy classrooms around the world. Just imagine the possibilities. Just imagine those teaching evaluations!
The Times states that the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of miraculin as a sugar substitute in the 1970s. Interestingly, though, some have suggested that the decision was prompted by pressure from the sugar and artificial sweetening industries. In his new book, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession, Adam Leith Gollner presents the intriguing and uncensored history of the ‘miracle fruit’.
Read the complete story in the New York Times. Watch an interview with Gollner on Democracy Now.
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Cal Poly Pomona 14th Annual Ethics Conference
April 14-15, 2009
“Ethics and the American Dream”
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: David Schmidtz, University of Arizona
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 1, 2008
Philosophers and other scholarly professionals are cordially invited to submit papers to be considered for the program of Cal Poly Pomona’s 14th Annual Ethics Conference. Papers should be submitted in a format suitable for blind review. Papers should be 5,000-7,000 words in length, suitable for presentation in approximately 45 minutes.
Please send papers as e-mail attachments to: mjcholbi * at * csupomona.edu
CONFERENCE THEME
American social and political thought has long been influenced by the ideal of the ‘American dream.’
This ideal holds that, through virtuous living, hard work, and the application of one’s talents, any individual,
regardless of class, race, gender, or background, can achieve economic prosperity and independence for themselves and for their descendants. The American dream continues to exert influence over American popular discourse, yet all is not well with this ideal: Surveys of public opinion suggest that faith in the achievability of the American dream is diminishing.
The 2009 Ethics Conference will investigate both the desirability and viability of the American dream as a personal and social ideal.
Among the specific questions we hope our conference will address:
- Do the components of the American dream represent a coherent set of personal or social goals?
- Does pursuing or realizing the American dream make people happier?
- Is the American dream an ethically defensible personal ideal?
- Do social and economic inequalities in the U.S. threaten the American dream?
- How might social policies be changed to put the American dream within the reach of more individuals and households?
- How does the American dream influence how we value work and leisure?
- Is the American dream compatible with other ethical responsibilities, such as those to family, community, or the environment?
The conference will be held on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, located just east of the city of Los Angeles.
The themes of past conferences include Marriage and Morals; Engineering Food, Engineering People; The Ethics of Art and the Art of Ethics; Ethics Gone Mad: Morality and Mental Illness; Ethics in War and Wartime; and Drugged America.
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It’s time to get excited about this year’s job market!
With this in mind, I would like to ask all of my readers about the job interview dress code at the APA. Now, philosophers come in many shapes and sizes, and have different standards and styles of dress, but in general seem to be relaxed about dress codes and fashion. Why, then, must (?) interviewees for jobs at the APA wear suits?
Some people claim that it is important to wear a suit to an interview because it shows that you take the job or interview seriously. But clearly there are other ways of showing that you take an interview seriously. The fact that a candidate has traveled across the country for an interview would seem to be a strong indication that she takes it seriously. What does a person’s clothing have to do with her character or commitment to what she is doing? Isn’t this entirely arbitrary?
I should also add that many philosophy graduate students and job applicants are poor and without a steady source of income.
Is it fair to expect applicants who are already poor to dish out money for a suit in addition to their already steep travel expenses?
I am interested in what both sides of the interview table have to say about this. Any thoughts?
Artwork by SOON-TO-BE JADED DISSERTATOR from the Philosophy Job Market Blog
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Hello guests,
Welcome to Sophistry and Illusion!
We are happy (and surprised) that you found us. Well, we are only one day old at this point. And so, we ask you to please be patient with us. We will be posting more content soon and refining the look of the site.
Be sure to visit us again in a few weeks!
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Addicted gamblers in Ontario have launched a $3.5B lawsuit against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation in Toronto.
The gamblers claim that they signed up for a ’self-exclusion’ program that was not adequately enforced.
This is an interesting (albeit unsuccessful) instance of self-control.
The gamblers in this case seem to have freely imposed limits upon their freedom.
Who is responsible here? Are the addicted gamblers entirely free from blame?
Read the complete story here.
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