Brian Leiter
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Brian Leiter
@brianleiter.bsky.social
1.9K followers 62 following 610 posts
I teach and write about general jurisprudence, legal and political realism, metaethics, free speech, religious toleration, academic freedom, Nietzsche, Marx and other topics at the University of Chicago. Homepage: https://brianleiter.net/
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Brian Leiter @brianleiter.bsky.social · Sep 22
"Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog" has moved! Please bookmark and share the new address:
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Leiter Reports
News and views about philosophy, the academic profession, academic freedom, intellectual culture, and other topics. The world's most popular philosophy blog, since 2003.
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Alas, I did.
david.noll.org David Noll @david.noll.org · 9d
Brian Leiter had him pegged from the start.
leiterreports.com/2016/11/12/h...
Second, Trump has the classic "Mafia mentality" that I've remarked on before, and will be familiar to any New Yorker who has paid attention. In the Mafia mindset, the only question is who is with you and who is against you. Those who are with you, who are loyal and pay respect, benefit from largesse and generosity and protection. Those who are against you, who are disloyal and disrespectful, are to be destroyed, with no constraints on how. Of course, you can't destroy all your enemies all the time, so when necessary you do business with them, until the opportunity presents itself to exact revenge. Because those who are part of the "in group" are beneficiaries of the boss's largesse, they invariably idolize him. Some readers who are old enough will recall the mafia boss John Gotti, who thrived on media attention and showy displays, and who survived numerous prosecutions (it turns out mainly through witness and juror intimidation and bribes), before finally dying in jail. I will never forget in the late 1980s, at the height of Gotti's power, a reporter was interviewing a young Mom with her baby in the stroller in Gotti's Bensonhurst neighborhood in Brooklyn. She was a big fan of Gotti; as she put it, "Thanks to him our neighborhood is safe." Undoubtedly this was true: it would be an imprudent criminal who plied his trade where the consequence for infraction was death and dismemberment. The moral myopia of the in-group permitted the new Mom to ignore the fact that crime and misery elsewhere was due to the same man: what mattered was she and her baby were safe. There is no doubt Trump has the Mafia mentality (if one doubts it, see the choice quote here: "I love to remember my enemies and I love to get my enemies whenever I can, absolutely. … So many people that were enemies of mine were wiped out, and I do not really care about that." ). Again, this mentality is dangerous in a mobster with guns, but dangerous at a world-historical level with access to U.S. military might.
November 27, 2025 at 11:55 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/26/m...
Most cited living moral & political philosophers (with Google Scholar pages) [CORRECTED AGAIN–moving to fron from November 17]
Fortunately, most of the most prominent living moral & political philosophers have such pages, although some who would surely be on the list do not (e.g., Allan Gibbard, Thomas Nagel, Martha Nu…
leiterreports.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:49 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/25/f...
Free philosophy audiobooks
Here (this links to Nietzsche books, but you can search any philosophical or other author you want).
leiterreports.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/20/o...
Open access philosophy books: a thread, part III
MOVING TO FRONT FROM OCTOBER 7 The last thread had 22 submissions, so I thought it’s time for a third thread.  Instructions as before: In light of the growing number of these volumes, I am go…
leiterreports.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/19/s...
Sexual harassment at Oxford (a continuing saga, alas)
Hard-hitting article, which mentions one philosopher, John Tasioulas, who recently stepped down from the “Ethics in AI” project at Oxford to return to his native Australia. (When I ran …
leiterreports.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:47 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/20/o...
Open access philosophy books: a thread, part III
MOVING TO FRONT FROM OCTOBER 7 The last thread had 22 submissions, so I thought it’s time for a third thread.  Instructions as before: In light of the growing number of these volumes, I am go…
leiterreports.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:34 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/19/s...
Sexual harassment at Oxford (a continuing saga, alas)
Hard-hitting article, which mentions one philosopher, John Tasioulas, who recently stepped down from the “Ethics in AI” project at Oxford to return to his native Australia. (When I ran …
leiterreports.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/19/m...
Most cited living philosophers with Google Scholar pages working on free will & moral responsibility
Some philosophers who would have made the top ten in all likelihood do not have Google Scholar pages (e.g., Carl Ginet, Gary Watson, Susan Wolf). Once again, only those with a clear majority of the…
leiterreports.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/19/r...
Richard Stillman on the problem of theoretical disagreements
This will only interest my legal philosophy readers, but I do want to commend to their attention this paper by Richard Stillman, who trained as a philosopher of language with Stephen Neale before c…
leiterreports.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:26 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/19/m...
Most cited living philosophers with Google Scholar pages working on free will & moral responsibility
Some philosophers who would have made the top ten in all likelihood do not have Google Scholar pages (e.g., Carl Ginet, Gary Watson, Susan Wolf). Once again, only those with a clear majority of the…
leiterreports.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/18/a...
An amusing takedown of the NY Times (related to Mamdani’s campaign in NYC)
Nicely written, and it made me laugh at various points. An excerpt: Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say thi…
leiterreports.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/18/s...
Should international PhD students even consider U.S. Ph.D. programs at this point?
New international student enrollment at American universities fell 17% this fall, which is hardly surprising given what has been going on. But how should prospective international students think ab…
leiterreports.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:34 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/18/a...
Arbitrator orders terminated Portland State faculty reinstated
A major victory for the affected faculty there (earlier coverage): “the grievants are to be restored to the positions they held prior to layoff and made whole for any losses sustained.” As philosop…
leiterreports.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/18/s...
Should international PhD students even consider U.S. Ph.D. programs at this point?
New international student enrollment at American universities fell 17% this fall, which is hardly surprising given what has been going on. But how should prospective international students think ab…
leiterreports.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:34 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/18/a...
An amusing takedown of the NY Times (related to Mamdani’s campaign in NYC)
Nicely written, and it made me laugh at various points. An excerpt: Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say thi…
leiterreports.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/17/m...
Most cited living philosophers of science (including physics and biology) with Google Scholar pages
As before, some important living philosophers of science who would surely be on the list (like John Earman and Philip Kitcher) do not have Google Scholar pages. Only those with a clear majority of …
leiterreports.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/17/t...
Texas A&M systematizes massive violation of core academic freedom rights of faculty
This new policy won’t affect faculty in the natural sciences and engineering, where A&M is strongest, but it will affect faculty across the humanities and social sciences, as well as law.…
leiterreports.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/17/t...
Texas A&M systematizes massive violation of core academic freedom rights of faculty
This new policy won’t affect faculty in the natural sciences and engineering, where A&M is strongest, but it will affect faculty across the humanities and social sciences, as well as law.…
leiterreports.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM
leiterreports.com/2025/11/17/m...
Most cited living philosophers of science (including physics and biology) with Google Scholar pages
As before, some important living philosophers of science who would surely be on the list (like John Earman and Philip Kitcher) do not have Google Scholar pages. Only those with a clear majority of …
leiterreports.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/10/24/p...
Philippe Van Parijs interviewed about global justice…
…at Jacobin.
leiterreports.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/13/why-i-fear-things-will-end-badly-for-the-united-states/
Why I fear things will end badly for the United States
The short answer is this: for 45 years one of the two viable political parties in the U.S. has gotten crazier and crazier. That has led us to the craziest of them all, Donald Trump, a man with noth…
leiterreports.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/11/m...
Most cited living philosophers working in metaphysics & epistemology with Google Scholar pages (CORRECTED)
Once again, some philosophers like to make the list (like Peter van Inwagen and Crispin Wright) did not have Google Scholar pages, but most did. Some philosophers (like Stalnaker, Stanley, Boghossi…
leiterreports.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/10/a...
A framework for preserving authorship and trust in the AI era
Philosopher Eli Alshanetsky has been writing about “how we might verify human authorship and accountability in AI-mediated work without shifting the burden onto already overstretched faculty.…
leiterreports.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/10/i...
In Memoriam: Barry Allen (1957-2025)
Professor Allen, who was one of Richard Rorty’s best-known students, was Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at McMaster University, where he spent most of his career. He wrote w…
leiterreports.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Brian Leiter
leiterreports.com/2025/11/15/g...
Great moments in obscure “classic” rock ‘n’ roll albums: Humble Pie, “Rock On,” 1971
Steve Marriott, the dynamite vocalist and lead guitarist from The Small Faces teamed up with Peter Frampton in 1969 to form Humble Pie, a heavy blues rock band with a sound rather different than Ma…
leiterreports.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:42 PM