Blain Neufeld

@neufeld.bsky.social

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Political philosopher. Fantasy enthusiast. Torontonian.
My book: Public Reason and Political Autonomy (Routledge, 2022).
My work: https://uwm.edu/philosophy/people/neufeld-blain/
My hobby: https://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com

Posts Replies Media

231 years ago today, in its 2nd legislative session, Upper Canada (now Ontario) passed the Act Against Slavery. This law made Upper Canada the first place within the British Empire to pass a law freeing slaves (40 years before the Slavery Abolition Act was passed by the British Parliament).

Act Against Slavery - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Very happy for my UK-based friends! 🇬🇧 (Finally, some good news somewhere…)

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦

Canadians thankful they can’t name single Canadian Supreme Court Justicewww.thebeaverton.com OTTAWA – As Canadian families from coast-to-coast gathered together for thanksgiving, the vast majority took time to be grateful for the fact they never have, nor likely would, ever know the name of e...

Special issue of the Journal of Social Philosophy: "Rawls at 100; Theory at 50." Contributors: David Reidy, Derrick Darby, Catherine Audard, Hannes Kuch, J. Donald Moon, Samuel Freeman, Blain Neufeld, Erin I. Kelly, Rex Martin. Edited by David Reidy, Rex Martin. #PolTheory #philosophy #philsky

Special Issue: Rawls at 100; Theory at 50: Journal of Social Philosophy: Vol 55, No 2onlinelibrary.wiley.com The Journal of Social Philosophy explores the philosophy and ethics surrounding social policies, laws, culture, and all aspects of contemporary social life.

My thanks to Dr Gabriele Badano for this insightful review of my book, Public Reason and Political Autonomy! (The review appears in _Philosophy_, Volume 99 , Issue 2 , April 2024.)

Public Reason and Political Autonomy: Realizing the Ideal of a Civic People by Blain Neufeld (Routledge, 2022). | Philosophy | Cambridge Corewww.cambridge.org Public Reason and Political Autonomy: Realizing the Ideal of a Civic People by Blain Neufeld (Routledge, 2022). - Volume 99 Issue 2

When I learned last year that Warner Bros would be coming out with some new movies set in Middle-earth, I was pretty sceptical. But I am now cautiously optimistic, as the first new film, “The Hunt for Gollum,” will star and be directed by Andy Serkis and be produced by Peter Jackson. 🧙‍♂️

The Hunt for Gollumakraticwizardry.blogspot.com When I learned last year that Warner Bros would be coming out with some new movies set in Middle-earth, I was pretty sceptical . But I am no...

THEORIES OF PUBLIC REASON Call for Abstracts – MANCEPT Workshop (4-6 Sept) Convenors: Gabriele Badano (University of York) & Blain Neufeld (U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee). Abstracts to be sent to [email protected] & [email protected] by 31 May 2024. #philsky #philosophy #PolTheory #polphil

MANCEPT Workshop on Theories of Public Reasonphilevents.org 2024 MANCEPT WORKSHOPS - 4-6 SEPTEMBER THEORIES OF PUBLIC REASON  Convenors: Gabriele Badano (University of York) and Blain Neufeld (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)  This panel seeks to b...

The eclipse at Tannery Park in Oakville Ontario (3:19 pm). Alas, clouds prevented a clear picture. It got so dark that the park lights were activated (one is at the bottom left of the picture).

Tomorrow! "Democratic Equality in the New Gilded Age." Speakers: David McPherson (U Florida), Joshua Preiss (Minnesota SU, Manakato), Pascal Brixel (Northwestern), Jaime Edwards (St. Norbert College). At UW-Milwaukee. 6 April 2024, 9:30 am - 5:00 pm. #philsky #philosophy #PolTheory #polphil

Very sad to learn that Joe Flaherty has passed away. SCTV fundamentally shaped my sense of humour growing up, and Flaherty played many of my favourite characters: Count Floyd, Guy Caballero, and Sammy Maudlin, to name a few. He also was great in “Freaks and Geeks,” another old favourite. RIP

It’s Tolkien Reading Day! I recently started rereading The Silmarillion. I’m really enjoying it this time. This is the first book by him that I’ve read or re-read since The Children of Hurin. After I finish The Silmarillion, I think I’ll keep going: at least The Fall of Númenor and Unfinished Tales.

Democratic Equality in the New Gilded Age. Speakers: David McPherson (U of Florida), Joshua Preiss (Minnesota State U, Manakato), Pascal Brixel (Northwestern U), Jaime Edwards (St. Norbert College). At U Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 6 April 2024, 9:30 am - 5:00 pm. #philsky #philosophy #poltheory #polphil

The UWM AAUP statement on the announced closures of UWM at Waukesha and Washington County. To be clear: the "state leaders" in question = the WI GOP. The Republicans have worked hard to ruin the UW system for thirteen years now.

Statement on the Announced Closures of UWM at Waukesha and Washington Countyuwmaaup.wordpress.com In the span of a few months, UWM's administration has announced plans to close both of the two-year satellite campuses that joined UWM upon the breakup of the UW Colleges in 2018. These proposed closu...

John Turner, Ed Broadbent, and Brian Mulroney. 🇨🇦 These 3 leaders dominated Canadian politics during the mid-late 1980s. That was the period during which I started following national politics closely. They shaped my conception of the main federal parties. Now they're all gone. *sigh* I feel so old.

Five topics I can talk about unprepared for 5 minutes: 1. Middle-earth. 2. Fantasy role-playing games. 3. Contemporary political philosophy (esp. Rawls-related). 4. History of political philosophy (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, etc.). 5. Canadian politics. Give me a 🍺 and I'll be good to go.

Some brief thoughts on the rumours about what will happen in Season 2 of the (not-especially-Tolkienesque) "Rings of Power" series. 🧙‍♂️🙁

The Rings of Power — Season 2 Rumoursakraticwizardry.blogspot.com Warning : spoilers about season one of The Rings of Power and rumours about season two below. The first season of The Rings of Power was v...

Could democracy *finally* be coming to Wisconsin? "Remedial maps must be adopted prior to the 2024 elections..." It's a Festivus Miracle!

Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns Republican-drawn legislative mapswww.wpr.org The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declared the state's Republican-drawn legislative maps unconstitutional, a bombshell ruling that could shift the balance of political power in the Legislature for the

If you're thinking of making a holiday donation this year, please consider giving to the Waheed Hussain Memorial Award. It will establish an endowed student scholarship in his honour. (At least $25,000 is needed by Dec 31st.) #philsky #philosophy #poltheory #polphil

Toronto Raising Funds for Waheed Hussain Memorial Awarddailynous.com The University of Toronto is raising funds to establish an award in memory of philosopher Waheed Hussain, who died from cancer in 2021 at the age of 48. Hussain, who joined the Toronto faculty in 2014...

Back in Toronto 🇨🇦 (for the most part) for the next 8 months. Grateful to be able to teach online again this spring. Lots of editing work to do… Need poutine for fuel.

Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. Such cowardice. I am embarrassed to be an employee of the UW system today.

UW regents reverse position, accept GOP deal on funding and limits towww.wpr.org The Universities of Wisconsin regents reversed a Saturday vote and accepted a deal with legislative Republicans that will unlock millions in funding but eliminate some DEI positions.

So no raise for any UW system employees (incl. me) in the near future (even though they were approved by the WI legislature already). But I'm glad that the Regents decided not to cave in to the GOP strong arm attempt to interfere in university decision-making. Never give in to bullies like Vos.

UW Board of Regents votes down compromise on DEI, pay raiseswww.wpr.org The Universities of Wisconsin's Board of Regents rejected a compromise with Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in a special meeting Saturday.

"GOP lawmakers...believe there are too many progressive professors... Under the deal...UW-Madison would seek donor gifts to fund a faculty position focused on conservative political thought, classical economic theory or classical liberalism." *sigh* And of course they assume 'focus' = 'support'.

UW and GOP reach deal to 'reimagine' DEI by restructuring jobs, freezing positionswww.jsonline.com In a deal months in the making, UW will receive $800 million in exchange for moving 43 DEI jobs to student success roles.

David Gauthier’s recent passing brought to mind his paper, ‘Why Contractarianism?’, which I assign in my Intro to Ethics course. It regularly is mentioned by students as their *favourite* reading in the course! And it is a wonderful paper to teach, even though it is profoundly wrong.

Tomorrow: Paul Weithman (Notre Dame U) on “Stability and Congruence in Rawls’s political philosophy” (at UWM)! Yes, I am very much looking forward to this. Yes, talks like this are integral elements of my conception of the good. Yes, I am an irredeemable ‘Rawls nerd’.

Fall 2023 Colloquia Series | Philosophyuwm.edu

And so, starting tomorrow, we face four months of soul-crushing darkness. Surely all enlightened souls can agree that DST should never end? (Standard time = Sauron time.)

Joe Heath makes a solid case for privatizing McGill. I'm generally in favour of public educational institutions at all levels, and greatly prefer the Canadian higher ed system over the US one. But when faced with a perpetually hostile government, privatization may be the "least bad" option.

Privatize McGilljosephheath.substack.com ...seriously

Tomorrow! ethics.utoronto.ca/events/livin...

Living with the Invisible Hand: A Conference in Memory of Waheed Hussainethics.utoronto.ca ► To stay informed about other upcoming events at the Centre for Ethics, opportunities, and more, please sign up for our newsletter. Living with the Invisible Hand: A Conference in Memory of Waheed...

I thought I would mention that the paperback version of my book – Public Reason and Political Autonomy (2022) – is now available at the Routledge website for the (non-insane) price of 39.99 USD. (Note that the *blue* cover is the correct one.) www.routledge.com/Public-Reaso...

Public Reason and Political Autonomy: Realizing the Ideal of a Civic Peoplewww.routledge.com This book advances a novel justification for the idea of

NDP win election in Manitoba! Wab Kinew to become the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province (as opposed to territory) in history. 🇨🇦

I found this quite moving (and ordered the first volume of "Imaro" after reading it). www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...