A Texas law that aims to eliminate almost all abortions in the state is part of a long-standing nationwide movement to restrict the right to abortion. The Texas law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, and severely limits the right to have an abortion in that state. But the anti-abortion movement is aiming more […]
Department of Philosophy
A Look at Our Latest Books
2021 Spring and Summer titles from our college community.
Lab–grown embryos and human–monkey hybrids: Medical marvels or ethical missteps?
In Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel “Brave New World,” people aren’t born from a mother’s womb. Instead, embryos are grown in artificial wombs until they are brought into the world, a process called ectogenesis. In the novel, technicians in charge of the hatcheries manipulate the nutrients they give the fetuses to make the newborns fit the […]
Shake Up Your Winter Reading
Winter 2020-21 books from our college community.
Living in a Material World: Philosopher Galen Strawson tackles a few of life’s nagging questions
Writer and actor Stephen Fry says Galen Strawson “opens windows and finds light-switches like no other philosopher writing today,” and novelist Ian McEwan simply dubs Strawson “one of the cleverest men alive.” High praise for this UT professor of philosophy, who discusses his latest book, Things That Bother Me: Death, Freedom, The Self, Etc. with Life […]
First Class: Rethinking Health Care Through the Liberal Arts
The doors of the Dell Medical School have opened for its first class of future doctors, and they are on a mission to get the training they need to make a difference in the lives of future patients, their communities and even medicine itself. Of the 50 members in the school’s inaugural class, three graduated […]
What’s So Funny About the Liberal Arts?
We’ve all heard the jokes about liberal arts majors, inspired by stereotypes that students in the humanities, social sciences and languages are destined to lives of underemployment: The science major asks, “Why does it work?” The engineering major asks, “How does it work?” The business major asks, “How much will it cost?” The liberal arts […]
Grand Victory
Liberal Arts alumnus Wes Anderson (Philosophy ’90) won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in January and also received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014). The whimsical and complex comedy earned a total of nine Academy Award nominations and took home four […]
Defending Artistic Expression
Should artistic expression receive the same degree of legal protection as other types of speech, such as political, religious, commercial, or educational speech? Should it enjoy less freedom, or more? Michael Adams, a Plan II Honors junior majoring in Asian Cultures and Languages and Biology, penned this first-prize winning response during the Spring 2014 Freedom of Speech Essay Contest. In […]
Plan II, Philosophy Alumnus nominated for Academy Award
Zachary Heinzerling, Plan II and Philosophy ’06, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for his film Cutie and the Boxer. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, where he earned the Best Director Award (U.S. Documentary). The film follows the complicated relationship of husband and wife artists Ushio and Noriko Shinohara. Heinzerling […]
Books: Fall 2012
Fall 2012 titles from our college community.
In Memoriam: Fall 2012
James “Jim” R. Soukup, former professor of government, died May 26 at age 83. Soukup began his teaching career at the university in 1956, where he was a threetime Fulbright scholar to Japan for the study of labor politics and later served on the Fulbright National Selection Committee. He was instrumental in the development of […]
Cost of Free Speech
The Cost of Political Speech With a record $2.4 bill ion spent by candidates in the last U.S. presidential election, the “Free Speech Dialogue” held Feb. 10 delved into the controversial topics of how money complicates political speech and who is entitled to First Amendment rights. “I would like students to walk away with a […]
Retired Faculty: Spring 2011
More than 30 College of Liberal Arts professors from more than a dozen departments have retired over the past year, after spending decades serving their students and the university community. Retirees include Linguistics Professor Robert King, who was the founding dean of the College of Liberal Arts and served in that post from 1979–1989 and […]
Research Briefs: Spring 2011
Being Poor Can Suppress Children’s Genetic Potentials Growing up poor can suppress a child’s genetic potential to excel cognitively even before the age of 2. A study of 750 sets of twins by Assistant Professor Elliot Tucker-Drob does not suggest that children from wealthier families are genetically superior or smarter. They simply have more opportuni- […]