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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: philosophy

philosophy stories: 12 news summaries

 Woman Gets PhD in Texting 

Philosophy thesis is first on text message communication

Aug 6, 09 7:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - A British graduate student has earned a PhD in texting—an academic first, Discover magazine reports. Caroline Tagg’s doctorate, more specifically, is in the philosophy of texting communication. Tagg studied 11,000 texts from 235 people over four years. Among the findings: The average text is 17.5 words,... More »

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cell phones • philosophy • communication • PhD • text message • texting • mobile phones

OPINION

 'Giant Leap' Was a 
 'Knee in NASA's Groin'

Ever since 1969, hope for a 'bridge to the stars' has faded

Jul 19, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - The US took a “giant leap” landing on the moon in 1969, but NASA's greatest moment of triumph was also "a real knee in the groin" for the space agency, writes Tom Wolfe in the New York Times. At the time, we thought we’d build “a... More »

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NASA • Mars • Soviet Union • space • philosophy • space flight • moon landings • Tom Wolfe • John Glenn

ALS Patient Chronicled Her Struggle, Chose Her Death

'I choose not only how I will live, but if I will live'

Apr 13, 09 12:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - When writer Catherine Royce became an ALS patient, she shared with NPR her passionate belief that she should be able to meet her decline and eventual death on her own terms. "Every day, I choose not only how I will live, but if I will live," she said... More »

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philosophy • death • illness • Lou Gehrig's disease • writer • ALS

ANALYSIS

 How Bush 
 Fueled the 
 Mortgage 
 Mess 

His philosophy at center of housing crisis

Dec 21, 08 6:52 AM CST
(Newser) - A range of factors led to the housing crisis that dragged the economy into the toilet—but President Bush’s philosophy likely played a key role in the collapse, reports the New York Times. Dozens of interviews point to both Bush’s drive to expand homeownership and his steadfast belief... More »

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Bush administration • philosophy • mortgage • market • homeownership • housing crisis • mortgage delinquency • George W. Bush

Crisis-Stricken Germans
Turn to Marx

As the economy founders, sales of
Das Kapital soar

Oct 15, 08 1:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - The financial crisis has made interventionists out of the most laissez-faire politicians, but in Germany the affection for state control seems to have attained new heights. The Guardian reports that sales of the works of Karl Marx have skyrocketed, with purchases of Das Kapital reportedly up 300%. As Europe's largest... More »

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Germany • economics • Marxism • philosophy • Karl Marx

OPINION

O'Rourke Looks on the Sunny Side of Death

Satirist's curable
cancer prompts musings on life's end

Sep 30, 08 9:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A cancer diagnosis with a 95% chance of survival, while it might not let one “stare death in the face,” at least gives PJ O’Rourke a chance to muse on the end of the road. At first, he “cursed God, as we all do when we... More »

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cancer • religion • philosophy • death • P.J. O'Rourke

OPINION

 The Perils of Positive Thinking 

Not just greed, but optimism and can-do led to Wall Street's downfall

Sep 24, 08 11:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - “Positive thinking,” the philosophy of self-help books and corporate retreats, has had some negative effects on Wall Street, Barbara Ehrenreich writes in the New York Times. It's popular to blame greed of executives and traders for the current meltdown in the financial markets, but the unbridled optimism... More »

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Wall Street • executive compensation • philosophy • blindness • credit crisis • bonuses • optimism • positive thinking

OPINION

 Where 
 Conservatives 
 Have it Wrong 

Individualism can't solve everything for a social species

Sep 12, 08 6:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barry Goldwater wrote that the key to conservatism is “maximizing freedom,” and since his time, individual liberty has been the party’s central tenet. But people are a “deeply interconnected,” social species, as study after study has found —and today’s conservatives need to recognize... More »

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Republican • GOP • philosophy • Republican Party • political factions • conservatism • conservatives

 Profs to Buffy: 
 You Slay Me  

Slayer fans meet to share scholarly insights

Jun 6, 08 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer started out lowbrow, but don’t tell that to the academics converging on Henderson State University today for a 3-day conference on the campy TV classic. The cheerleader-turned-monster fighter has inspired the kind of study usually reserved for major philosophers, the AP reports. The Arkansas university... More »

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philosophy • academia • Buffy the Vampire Slayer • Joss Whedon

OPINION

Noonan to McCain:
Tell Us What You Believe In

Journal pundit criticizes candidate for lack of guiding philosophy

Mar 14, 08 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Peggy Noonan takes the measure of John McCain in today's Wall Street Journal and wonders "what does he stand for, really?" A friend of the senator's speculates on his "complacency" now that he's secured the nomination, and Noonan goes off: "You have to want the presidency or... More »

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Iraq • Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • John McCain • Bill Clinton • philosophy • George HW Bush • maverick • Peggy Noonan • George W. Bush

At 100, Beauvoir Stirs Anew

Female equality remains hot topic in native France on centenary of icon's birth

Jan 9, 08 2:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Simone de Beauvoir was born 100 years ago today, and the Independent observes the centenary by asking whether women are still the second sex in the feminist's native France. Her writings influenced multiple generations of women by dismantling assumptions about feminine identity, and new biographies have humanized the once imperious-seeming... More »

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feminism • France • philosophy • Simone de Beauvoir

Philosopher Richard Rorty Dies at 75

Influential thinker blasted the existence of truth, espoused patriotism

Jun 11, 07 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Richard Rorty, a celebrated intellectual whose ponderous body of work spanned the gamuts of philosophy, politics, and literary theory, died of pancreatic cancer Friday, at 75. Rorty was known both as a resplendent thinker and as on old lion of the left. “At 12, I knew that the point... More »

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cancer • Stanford University • Richard Rorty • philosophy • John Dewey • pragmatism • American pragmatism • obituary • William James • pancreatic cancer

12 Stories


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