SOPHIA is honored to have been chosen for the 2017 prize from the American Philosophical Association and the Philosophy Documentation Center for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs! News about the prize and some comments from the chair of the selection committee were posted on the APA’s blog. We are most grateful to the APA and to the PDC!
The award will be conferred at the 2018 meeting of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, to be held between January 3rd & 6th in Savannah, Georgia.
This thirty-third episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast features an interview with Dr. John Corvino of Wayne State University, talking with co-hosts Eric Weber and Anthony Cashio about religious liberty and discrimination, the topics of his most recent book, as well as the HERO award he received for 25 years of advocacy on LGBTQ+ issues.
John was celebrated in 2017, receiving the “Community Hero Award” from the Board of Directors at Affirmations, Metro Detroit’s LGBTQ+ Community Center. The award recognizes “inspirational leadership, advancing acceptance, equality, and inclusion.” It was presented to recognize John’s 25 years of advocacy since the debut of his “What’s Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?” lecture in April of 1992.John’s most recent book is titled Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. Before that, he authored of Debating Same-Sex Marriage, released in 2012, and What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? published in 2013. In addition to his public lectures that have been recorded and posted as videos online, John has produced a series of enormously fun videos analyzing arguments and dispelling myths about topics concerning marriage, religion, sex, homosexuality, the Bible, and the source of morality.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
For our future “You Tell Me!” segments, Dr. Corvino proposed the following question in this episode, for which we invite your feedback: “How would you resolve the conflicts in the following three cases?
Masterpiece Cake Shop: A baker refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. This shop was judged guilty of sexual orientation discrimination.
A person wanted a cake made with a Bible verse on it that quoted Leviticus 18:22, which says that “homosexuality is a detestable sin.” The baker said “I’ll make the Bible-shaped cake, but I’m not going to write the words on it.” The customer charged that baker with religious discrimination. The local Civil Rights Commission said that it wasn’t discrimination.
A t-shirt shop refused to make a gay pride shirt.
How would you resolve these three cases in a way that is consistent, especially making your judgment consistent between the first two cases?”
This thirty-second episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast features a follow-up interview with Dr. Tommy J Curry of Texas A&M University (who featured in Ep9 before this one), on the controversy and death threats that he endured when a piece was published mischaracterizing his work in The American Conservative.
Photo of Dr. Tommy J. Curry, courtesy of Benjamin Rasmussen for the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Dr. Curry is the author of The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of BlackManhood, which was published in July of 2017 with Temple University Press. Dr. Curry’s work and the attacks he received were examined closely in a piece published on Snopes.com, which shows the dangerous error that the AC piece made. An excellent bit of reporting and writing came out in The Chronicle of Higher Education on Tommy’s story too, though it is situated behind a “pay wall.” Get the story straight from Tommy in this episode for free!
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
For our future “You Tell Me!” segments, Dr. Curry proposed the following question in this episode, for which we invite your feedback: “Should the ‘Alt-Right’ or white supremacist publics constrain the mission and the discourse of universities?”
As SOPHIA’s mission is to build communities of philosophical conversation, one thing we’ve begun to do with many new members is to create “introduction videos,” asking people to introduce themselves, in video, to our group. We generally ask: 1) Tell us about yourself, 2) Why are you interested in philosophy in general and in SOPHIA in particular? and 3) What’s something unusual or unique about you?
Our newest member is Dr. William (Bill) Irwin of King’s College in Pennsylvania. Bill’s case is a little different, because you can be introduced to Bill in a special way — Check out his interview on CNN! This is a fun introduction to Bill and to some of his work in and on popular culture. Check it out!
By the way, Dr. Irwin is a member of SOPHIA’s Editorial Board for Civil American and has agreed to come on Philosophy Bakes Bread sometime this fall!
Check out Bill’s profile page, where you can learn more about him, and find his Facebook and Twitter info.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
For our future “You Tell Me!” segments, Dr. Tarver proposed the following question in this episode, for which we invite your feedback: “Should colleges and universities even be in the business of organizing ‘minor league’ sports teams?”
Dr. Curry is the author of 
