I'm feeling rather ambivalent about my life these days (see here) — which is not unusual for me the last ten years or so, but still. I have, however, come to some realizations of late that may suggest a corner is about to be turned. We'll get to that in... Continue reading

This will be a short update because I haven't done much since my last one, given the hectic start to the fall semester. (I know, likely excuse.) I do, however, have a lot to accomplish in the coming months, so I'm posting this as a way to clear the deck,... Continue reading

I visited campus yesterday for a New Faculty Luncheon, which gave me a chance to catch up with my fellow chairs and various administrators and staff, and whenever someone asked me how my summer was, I answered, "uneven." (More accurate than my standard "ehh, OK," and leads to just as... Continue reading

I just returned from my first San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). I attended the New York version in 2011, but I had never ventured out west for the "big" one until my good friend E. Paul Zehr (author of Creating Captain America, Becoming Batman, and others) invited me to join him... Continue reading

The news is out! As announced in the "Batman's Brain" panel at San Diego Comic-Con and in an interview with CGTN America, the superhero-and-philosophy book I've been teasing for the last few months is titled Batman and Ethics and will be published by Wiley Blackwell next spring! Following the same... Continue reading

This update is coming a bit later than I would have liked, but I wanted to get some things done first, and there's something I couldn't talk about publicly until recently. (There's actually something else coming soon that I can't quite talk about yet, but I didn't want to wait... Continue reading

Marvel Comics nicely timed the release of the latest Captain America #1—by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Sunny Gho, and Joe Caramagna—for July 4th, and this is appropriate for so many reasons. The most obvious is that this is a new start for the Sentinel of Liberty, but... Continue reading

The final issue of Captain America by the now-classic team of Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Caramagna was, appropriately enough, the bonus-sized issue #700, and true to its anniversary status, it serves as a reaffirmation of who Steve Rogers is. In wrapping up their near-future storyline, the... Continue reading

It's been a strange three months, both in the world outside my window as well as the one within it. But work continues, as it always does and must, and here I'll fill you in on what kept me busy since I last checked in. My main project this semester... Continue reading

I've been putting off writing this post for a while — not because I'm disappointed with what I did this year, but because I don't yet know what I will do next year (aside from finishing one major project begun this year), and that has me feeling very uneasy. But... Continue reading

113,248 words. (Imagine that sung by the cast of Rent.) Whew. Yesterday evening I emailed the manuscript for my latest superhero-and-philosophy book to my editor, who will then send it to instructor-reviewers to assess its potential for course adoption. As with my Captain America and Civil War books, this book... Continue reading

Some random thoughts on the jawdropping news — at least for readers of superhero comics — that superstar Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis has signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics... Wow. I mean WOW. This is huge. I count myself as a huge Bendis fan. Daredevil was the... Continue reading

A year and a half ago, Steve Rogers spoke those two words that changed the Marvel Universe and launched a secret empire... but more on that later. Suffice it to say our hero was not the same, until he was. Today, with the release of Captain America #695—renumbered a la... Continue reading

( Updates in red.) Tomorrow is my first day back a... Continue reading

Is it the end of July already? As I did at the end... Continue reading

It being the last day of June and all, I thought this might be a good time for a brief update... I'm working on three projects currently, trying to do a bit of work on each one every day, especially the first and main one. 1) The superhero-and-philosophy book I'm... Continue reading

A short update before I burrow in my home office (or dining table, or couch) for the summer... May was not only the end of the academic year, with all the attendant end-of-year activities, but also a time to wrap up other sundry responsibilities before starting my next book. These... Continue reading

Like a butterfly from its cocoon? No... Like a phoenix from the ashes? No... Like a tired old man rising from his dining room table? Nailed it. At 2:32 PM yesterday (four days after my April 30 deadline), I emailed the manuscript for my latest book, The Decline of the... Continue reading

The couple months since my last update have been uneventful personally (although, of course, not for the world in general). In fact, the last two months have been fairly routine for me, definitely in the negative sense of the word (but unfortunately without the benefits of routine in the positive... Continue reading

In the midst of the state of the country (and the world) at the moment, it seems a bit indulgent to blog about my activities over the month. But the work must continue. Since returning from the ASSA conference early this month (an experience recounted in my last post), I've... Continue reading

My ASSA experience this year in Chicago was less hectic but no less enjoyable than conferences past, this one more focused on reconnecting with distant friends and colleagues and re-establishing ties than hearing or presenting research. I did not present a paper this year, and I went to fewer sessions... Continue reading

Mark D. White On behalf of Geoff Sayre-McCord, UNC Chapel Hill is currently searching for an associate or full professor in work in its PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) program: The Department of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking to appoint a tenured Associate or Professor to begin July 1, 2017 (although start date is negotiable). This person would be a core faculty member in our thriving Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, and would be expected to contribute substantially to that program. AOS: Moral and Political Philosophy,... Continue reading

“PRIZES AND VIRTUES: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKSHOP” LUMSA University, Rome – April 10-11, 2017 To an economist, a prize, such as a golden medal, is merely a special type of incentive. Any other kind of social scientist would be perplexed by thinking of the Nobel Prize, or of the Medal of Honour, in these terms. In contemporary neoclassical economics, the concept of incentive is a primitive, similar to that of “utility”, “price”, “production” or “consumption”, that all economists use but none feels the need to define: it is a foundation, or a corner stone, of the science of economics. However, if... Continue reading

As I've done the last couple years, I'm summarizing the year's activities and looking ahead to the next year, along with some general impressions and reflections. If you've read my occasional personal updates this year, you know it's been a strange year, with a very productive and exciting first half,... Continue reading

Mark D. White Upon generous invitation, earlier this month I helped launch a conversation at Cato Unbound regarding whether or to what extent Immanuel Kant can or should be regarded as a classical liberal. The entire discussion can be found here, starting with my lead article in defense of Kant as a classical liberal, followed by critical responses from Gregory Salmieri, Stephen R. C. Hicks, and Roderick T. Long, followed by my response to all three comments and further discussion (still continuing through the end of the month. Continue reading