Comments on: Amartya Sen’s 75th Birthday Party

By: a different philosopher

a different philosopher — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:13:04 +0000

Is Leiter’s stiff assurance banked by some kind of philosophical accomplishment?

No.

By: Sock Puppet of the Great Satan

Sock Puppet of the Great Satan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:10:46 +0000

“CFP oddly announces – in the body of the call – that this conference is in “owner” of professor Amartya Sen – strange slip…”

ALL YOUR NOBELISTS ARE BELONG TO US

By: roger

roger — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:40:14 +0000

Actually, I think we should abolish birthdays altogether and just have festschrifts! Of course, it might be difficult for the five year old crowd to listen to 20 minute papers being read out in their honor. You know how the little tykes are when you critique their fundamental presuppositions. But there’s always the carrot and stick approach ( you can have cake afterwards, but if you keep crying during your uncle Joe’s reading of Teddy Smith Jr., Satisficing, and the Quandary of Swing Set queuing, you’ll have to go to your room ).

Festschrift cards, festschrift party favors. It is the wave of the future!

By: Ingrid Robeyns

Ingrid Robeyns — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:21:48 +0000

philosopher: why not have a Festschrift, even if it’s unusual? Sen is still very active despite his age, his work has been influential in all sorts of areas inside and outside academia, he is by many regarded to be the moral face of economics, most of his students (perhaps all, but that I cannot verify) are very fond of him as a human being, … what more reasons do we need? There was an earlier Festschrift for Sen href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Choice-Welfare-Development-Fetschrift-Amartya/dp/0198287895” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.amazon.co.uk/Choice-Welfare-Development-Fetschrift-Amartya/dp/0198287895, which was written for his 60th Birthday. So that’s 15 years ago – I think it’s fine to have another party this year.

By: philosopher

philosopher — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:39:50 +0000

A festschrift at 75 is pretty unusual. Has anyone heard of one for a philosopher at that age? Maybe with increased life expectancies, the timing of these things are changing.

By: vivian

vivian — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:23:05 +0000

Philosphers and over-the-hill econ/social scientists will just have to have our own party honoring Dr. Sen.

By: mitterko

mitterko — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:45:54 +0000

Conrad, it’s awfully clear that the capabilities approach as a candidate for the currency of distributive justice has been largely influential in contemporary political philosophy, whether you agree with it or not.

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:57:01 +0000

6 responds to 5. 4 is off-topic, as indicated by the || |>

By: Conrad Barwa

Conrad Barwa — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:45:43 +0000

Not too sure that Sen’s contributions to political or moral philosophy can be classed as ‘important’ per se. Interesting and relevant to his work on development and welfare economics but it is pretty much behind what a lot of other social scientists have covered, imo. His work on economics though really is original and has covered new ground.

By: harry b

harry b — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:43:12 +0000

john, #4 and #6 are both opaque to me. Do they have something to do with Ingrid’s post?

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:14:32 +0000

Is Leiter’s stiff assurance banked by some kind of philosophical accomplishment? His book on Nietzsche couldn’t have been it.

Positivism predates logical positivism, and survived it. Leiter is always claiming that there’s no such thing as analytic philosophy, and I only wish that that was true. The philosophy that dares not speak its name, I guess.

By: antirealist

antirealist — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:55:22 +0000

A Festschrift for a 75 year-old? Surely not.

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:22:02 +0000

Folks, we’re having a gossip harmonic convergence and Unfogged is down.

1. Ted Kennedy had brain surgery a couple of days ago.
2. Eleanor Mondale returned to work today after brain surgery.
3. Bill Clinton was just rumored to have been involved with Mondale.
4. Obama’s making his victory speech in Minnesota tonight. Presumably Eleanor will be there, probably covering it.

This is just a perfect storm.

By: Tom Donahue

Tom Donahue — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:51:08 +0000

Not to mention his many contributions to moral philosophy, which date back to articles in PHILOSOPHY and THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY in 1966 and 1967 and forward to a 2006 article in JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY.

By: Mikhail Emelianov

Mikhail Emelianov — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:06:30 +0000

CFP oddly announces – in the body of the call – that this conference is in “owner” of professor Amartya Sen – strange slip…