Durham Uni Philosophers' struggle with reality

[Charliethefeminist]

Has anyone seen what's going down there? They've sacked the PhilSoc ed for knowing women don't have dicks, and replaced him (?) with someone who thinks they do.

Yeah, it's the Asst Ed to correct my own OP. Here are some twitter screenshots.

As someone who studied within the Philosophy dept. at Durham years ago, this makes me sad - I'd be interested to find out more about this.

Phiosophers are professional day dreamers, i view everything they write through that lens.

ridiculous

twitter.com/FeministRoar/status/1034869460631474176?s=19 hope this link works - you need to follow through to the brilliant Louis from Feminist Roar.

Are they mad? All Philosophers from now on should do an extended logic module and nothing else for the first whole term. Nothing else will tackle this inept, uncritical, nonsensical, illiterate faith among young Philosophers that this has any traction at all.

So in order to remain employed in the philosophy department you need to have failed biology?

It's the same chap who had to resign from the Humanists, right?

Universities need to start suspending students who threaten the practice of free speech and of academic research that these institutions are legally required to uphold. These people don’t belong in universities. They can stick to their safe space in mummy and daddy’s four-bed detached in Guildford (let’s face it, most of the kids spouting this gender nonsense are egocentric, middle-class brats).

There does seem to be a major problem with young academics in Philosophy at the moment. Dogma seems to have replaced critical thinking.

For retweeting "women don't have penises."

Absolutely absurd.

How long until this madness spreads to science departments? At a meeting we had at work about changes to our employment rights, a Professor who works on a drug which only works on women expressed concern at TRAs and how they could be successful in trying to get her sacked if we didn’t have the level of protection we currently do.

How ironic that the journal is called 'Critique'!

That Sebastian bloke has tweeted that transphobes are trying to get him sacked but he's being brave and standing strong. The irony that he sacked someone for wrongthink doesn't seem to have occurred to him

so in order to remain employed in the philosophy department you need to have failed biology?

Yes, and logic and semantics

He thinks he's brave? Lol

Any of us could take him in a one on one debate. Any of us.

Did anyone see the Guardian (but of course) review yesterday? I’m just catching up with it. Kwame Anthony Appiah on ‘Rethinking Identity’ and holding up Caitlyn Jenner and Alex Drummond as trailblazers.

FFS.

No mention of biology. No mention of the erasure of women. It’s all a fascinating intellectual exercise. Meanwhile, in the real world....

Nooo
Just goes to show really - that might have had its own thread once
#guardian #irrelevance

A spokesman for Essex University claimed Prof Plummer’s work “did not express support for paedophilia” and cited the university’s charter which gave academic staff “freedom within the law to put forward controversial and unpopular opinions without placing themselves in jeopardy”.

I noticed this in the article referenced in a different thread. So some universities are happy to support academic freedom regarding some unpopular opinions. But not others.

regardless of what you do or dont believe surely philosophy is about debate? How are they going to progress if they just get rid of people with a different view?
I know its regarded as 'hate speech' to say women dont have a penis.... but it isnt really is it! And I say that as someone who thinks women CAN have a penis.
Its so much more complicated than some activists are making out... it certainly badly NEEDS discussion.

Did anyone see the Guardian (but of course) review yesterday? I’m just catching up with it. Kwame Anthony Appiah on ‘Rethinking Identity’ and holding up Caitlyn Jenner and Alex Drummond as trailblazers.

I've given up on The Guardian, but the ironic thing is that men could be trailblazers if they were expanding the boundaries of being male rather than claiming to be female.

It's a Students Union society though presumably, I'm not sure how they relate to university charters and regulations about free speech.

Everard - a quote from that Guardian article:

‘Every day, men negotiate with one another about what masculinity means. And not just men. ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’ are part of a system of interacting identities’.

And earlier in the article, this gem: ‘when people responded to Jenner by saying she was just a man pretending to be a woman, they weren’t just being discourteous and unkind : they were taking the meaning of the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ as fixed and non-negotiable’.

Gosh, why on earth would they do a thing like that, I wonder? So very discourteous and unkind, eh?

The Minister for Universities has told universities that they cannot allow Students’ Unions to no-platform speakers, and that the government will intervene if they do allow it. I’m not sure whether this is a journal funded by the SU or by the university / department, though. In either case, the editor’s actions are in direct contravention of the university’s legal obligations towards academic freedom of speech.

Zeugma, for years I've been trying to get tickets to the Reith Lectures. The only year I succeeded the tickets were for Kwame Anthony Appiah. I had a bit of a read about what I could expect and thought "naw, even though I've got tickets I'll skip this year's".

For goodness sake, really?
A Philosophy publication named Critique has sacked an assistant editior because they are too angry and scared to debate?

How in holy hell do they imagine life operating outside of university?