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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦

@neohempelian.bsky.social

1.9K followers 1.3K following 1.7K posts

Asst professor of philosophy Love science, especially sciences that tell the story of the past. Was a chemist, then a teacher. Now a philosopher of science. What's next? Awkward mix of personal & professional Occasional DIYer

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · Mar 26

I can't believe what I'm about to share...

I've just accepted a tenure track position at MacEwan University in Edmonton where I'll join the Department of Humanities and work to build bridges between the humanities and the sciences.

Really excited about this opportunity.

#philsci

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 1d

I had a stressful day. Asked my colleague who is a university teaching award winner come observe me. There are levels to this game. She observed me for 90 minutes and then we talked for 3 hours about course design and practice. Amazing. Made me feel like I have as much to improve as I have to give.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 1d

Your work on Newton’s metaphysics is super relavent.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 1d

It’s my first time teaching a 4th year seminar. on the one hand, I underestimated how reading I can/should assign. On the other hand, I did a good job presenting just enough Newton that my students have started digging in and needed some help find the papers related to what they are interested in.

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 1d

Update:
I posted prematurely. The final tally is:
1. Jenann Ismael
2. Katherine Brading
3. Carlo Rovelli
4. Robert DiSalle and Howard Stein
5. Nick Huggett (generally super technical but my students love his work on Zeno)
6. Eric Schliesser

Honorable mention bc of technicality John Earman

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 2d

Based on my comments on my Space & Time seminar students’ first paper outlines, apparently I have a short list of favourite philosophers:
1. Jenann Ismael
2. Carlo Rovelli
3. Robert DiSalle
4. Nick Huggett
If my students were more mathematically oriented, Earman would be there
#philsci

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 1d

I used to teach high school AP Biology and it easily involved teaching two orders of magnitude more new vocabulary than the AP Spanish and French instructors had to teach. It’s shocking how brutal the specialist vocabulary is!

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 2d

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 5d

most textbooks have students just do the truth tables for premises and conclusion and then look for any rows where premises are all true but conclusion is false.

I prefer my variation bc it makes clearer the connection between validity and consistency.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 5d

We’re doing semantics (truth tables) in my logic class and are now using truth tables to assess consistency of sets of sentences. I teach them to assess validity by asking whether the set of premises and the negation of the conclusion is consistent. If not, argument is valid.

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 6d

Monday I will lecture for an hour and a half on this one weird trick that separates consistency from validity. Smoke will pour from ears, students will leave satisfied, enlightened even. Logic is awesome. #philsci

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 7d

Happy start of mop your windows every morning season to all who celebrate.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 9d

My writing career summed up in one image:

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 10d

I just submitted my first faculty annual report. I’m feeling proud but the system is archaic and I have no idea what I’m doing so I almost surely fucked it up really bad.
Ask me anything.
#philsci

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 14d

I’m taking my seminar class on philosophy of space and time through Geroch’s “General Relativity from A to B” book. The thing is a masterpiece. I know he’d bristle at this, but Geroch is such a good philosopher.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 18d

Gimme a D gimme an r gimme o gimme an s gimme an o… our cheer takes a while
Drosophila melanogaster, go team

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 18d

Wife just accused offspring and I of being on Team Fruitfly.

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 18d

I’m feel this so much. Fuck.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 18d

Wait, I might talk instead about unless, in which case I might not get to if, and will have to leave it at only if.

It’s too much fun, honestly

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 18d

Tomorrow I will talk for an hour and a half about the words if, then, or and not. Smoke will pour from ears and students will leave smiling. 😍

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

If only

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

A room full of talented students are going to look at me as if I’m smart, and write everything I say.

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

Ooh, I’ve heard of this one, but never actually read it!

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

Tomorrow I’m going to talk for an hour and a half about the the words and, or and not.

What are you going to do?

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

Forgive the typos. I really can use a preposition properly

Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

when my heart is even colder, when i can’t feel even a single thought, the world is dark and uninspirin, then I break out for me the really big gun… Sylvan Bromberger in Why. These absolute gems of philosophy of language scratch so many itches.

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Craig Fox 🌖🇨🇦 @neohempelian.bsky.social · 23d

Do you ever sometimes just pull up an old Stalnaker paper to read, so so you’ll feel something again?

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