Arbitrary Marks

So, yes, it’s been intolerably quiet here at Arbitrary Marks. Or “on” Arbitrary Marks, depending upon how you understand the semantics of blogs. Since I am working on reading and haven’t been (yet) formulating my thoughts into coherent arguments, below are a couple of topics that I’m considering. They’re set out in very sketchy terms, [...]

I’ve been a bad philosophy blogger. But just in time for tonight’s presidential debates, I give you:
Informal Fallacy Bingo!
You and your friends can download this free PDF and play bingo during tonight’s debates. Just put an “X” over the spot where the speaker commits one of these errors. For advanced players, confident in their ability [...]

Anyone out there in academia use mind maps for structuring their dissertation ideas? Or even smaller article topics? I’m using paper right now, but wondering whether it’s worth investigating software or web programs to do this.

Relatedly, does anyone know of online philosophy mind maps which display, visually, the connection between authors and their claims on a given topic? I recognize there are some limitations to this approach, but for visual thinkers like me, it’s a useful way to organize topics and questions and see connections.

Links I’ve collected from the past week include some further discussion of language abuse in campaigns, both right and left (Language Log » Misinterpretation on the campaign trail), as well as a couple of articles about the prospects of completing one’s PhD as a minority (Ph.D. Completion Gaps :: Inside Higher Ed) or getting paid [...]

We’re waiting for Hurricane Ike here, in inland Texas, and hoping it will spare Houston its full wrath.

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§31 When one shows someone the king in chess and says: “This is the king”, this does not tell him the use of this piece–unless he already knows the rules of the game up to this last point: the shape of the king. You could imagine his having learnt the rules of the game without [...]

Okay, I’m past due on my blogging schedule already. I may have to amend it and aim for something a bit different this semester. However, since I’m focusing on philosophy of language this semester (in my intro seminar and Wittgenstein course), I had to comment on this news item.
Apparently Obama is in trouble for being [...]

Here’s a selection of links I’ve accumulated over the past week:
LGBT
A news pundit who happens to be an out lesbian is being threatened with…a makeover! They’re talking about “putting her in a skirt” because, apparently, otherwise viewers might think she’s gay? Erm, not sure what’s going on here.
Philosophy
A controversial article in Inside Higher Ed claims [...]

Tasty watermelon,
originally uploaded by Arbitrary.Marks.

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I am working on a paper having to do with (in part) Haslanger’s social constructionist analysis of gender, but I am also reading Wittgenstein for class. It was a toss-up between the two authors for today’s post, although I think there are clear affinities between their projects. Here’s a chunk from Haslanger’s paper, “What Good [...]