“Change presupposes a certain position which I take up and from which I see things in procession before me: there are no events without someone to whom they happen and whose finite perspective is the basis of their individuality. Time presupposes a view of time. It is, therefore, not like a river, not a flowing substance.” Maurice Merleau-Ponty at Powells.com
Robert Asprin, author of dozens and dozens of humorous books with puns on the word “myth” in the title, as well as the Thieve’s World series, has passed away.
I was a fan, but I never knew much about the man. Sad that this is the way I learned more about him.
“But I’m still here. Rick. Yes, RICK! Widower of Anne, father of Charlie. Poor little Charlie, where is he? I should be with him, instead of trapped inside the mind (if that’s the word) of this spineless, dumb, near-doppelganger of myself who’s making love to the equally near-doppelganger of my dead wife. He’s inside her and I’m inside him. Boy, wouldn’t that just freak the both of them if they knew!” David Ambrose at Powells.com
Fantastic conference announcement in my inbox the other day. I wish I had gotten a call for papers for this, but either there wasn’t one or I didn’t manage to stumble upon it. There’s a really interesting mix of speakers, including Eva Kittay, Anita Silvers, Michael Bérubé, and Peter Singer. Read more here.
“Cognitive Disability: A Challenge to Moral Philosophy” will explore philosophical questions about three specific populations — people with autism, Alzheimer’s disease, and those labeled “mentally retarded.” We will raise ethical and foundational questions regarding both theoretical and practical matters. The areas to be explored include:
* Personhood: Should individuals with cognitive disabilities be excluded from the protections and responsibilities we assign to “persons”? Do the implications of such exclusion force a reconsideration of the concept of personhood?
* Justice: Should individuals with cognitive disabilities be excluded from the claims and protections granted to members of a political community? If not, how might their interests be represented and given a political voice?
* Care: How should we define, and how can we recognize, relationships and obligations to people lacking the ability to fully care for themselves? How should we understand the obligations of and to their caregivers? What significant aspects of the nature of all human interaction are revealed in these relationships?
* History and Conceptual Bases of Classifications: How have various categories of cognitive disability emerged? What historical, social and political contingencies have played a part in our classifications?
* Metaphilosophical Concerns: How has the “benign neglect” philosophers have exercised with respect to this subject shaped the substance of wider philosophical theory and practice?
Some of these speakers are brilliant and actively involved in the “disability studies” literature – I would expect nothing short of an amazing discussion.
“Whoever dressed them had been reading too many comics, I thought… or had watched Mad Max too many times. There were punks and nuns and vampires and monsters and strippers and the living dead…” Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, and Todd Klein at Powells.com
The “Invisible Woman Syndrome” also looks like this: Women without children make 90 cents to a man’s dollar, mothers make 73 cents to the dollar, and single mothers make only about 60 cents to a man’s dollar. Further, mothers are 79% less likely to be hired than non-mothers with equal resumes and job experiences… Kristin Rowe Finkbeiner at the Huffington Post.
Breaking blog silence (briefly) to include a link that Greg sent to me – a link that, on a normal day, I would probably write a 30 page treatise on. Instead, I have to give it to you with very little commentary because I’m still very busy, but there are so many ways to look at this issue I hardly know where to start. You folks who push for morphological freedom (as I do) have to ask yourselves if a small child is capable of this sort of decision. You have to ask yourselves if the parents ought to be allowing these decisions to go forth medically. You have to ask yourselves if the permission of the parents is, in fact, the *only* hope these children have to feel right their entire lives. There are so many ethical and ontological questions raised by this article that I just hope you’ll all read it and give it as much thought as I am. (And it is, of course, begging to be compared to Ashley X, if for no other reason than to see how incredibly different the 2 cases are.)
Link to article on NPR: Parents consider treatment to delay son’s puberty. There is also a link to a 20 minute audio of the story, which I haven’t listened to. Usually the audio is very close to the article. If not, someone please tell me!
“Bruce Sexton, president of the California Association of Blind Students, found that he was finding it difficult to shop at Target.com’s website because alt text was missing (meaning that even with a screen reader, he had no way of understanding what product images were supposed to represent), because headings that could be used for easier navigation were missing, and because it is was not possible to complete purchases without using the mouse (obviously difficult for someone who is blind and can’t see where the pointer is, who would be able to use the keyboard instead).” Fantastic blog post on accessibility issues.
I’ll continue to be absent around here for another couple of weeks – I haven’t abandoned this space at all, and when I get a break from my work I try to keep this place updated and get my fix of other blogs that I’m still reading. I was already under a time crunch for my dissertation, and my chair told me he’s leaving for Egypt on May 12, cutting 3 weeks off of the time I thought I had to finish. You’ll notice May 12 is VERY SOON. So the May masthead will be late (though I’d rather look at that violin longer anyway!) and I won’t be here much for posting or commenting (or anywhere else, for that matter).
Just wanted to make the announcement since blogs are abandoned so often these days, and I didn’t want it to appear that was happening here. I’m just inundated with writing at the moment! I’ll be back, I assure you! You all know where to find me if you need me (email in the sidebar, I check messages on facebook fairly often, and I try to keep abreast of some twitter streams).
PS – Iron Man? Yes.