alex byrne Abigail Favale And Abigail Favale respond!

'Is there any merit in trying to salvage the sex/gender distinction, given that its overall effect has been to deconstruct sex and reify 'gender,' in all its various iterations?'

fairerdisputations.org/sex-gender-dis…

Philosopher Rebecca Tuvel and I gave a talk at Cornell University a few weeks ago. The Philosophy Department Philosophy Sage tried to stop people attending by running a rival event at same time. Luckily, though, we have the internet, so everyone can watch it here! youtu.be/8N19BgRoSM8

Congratulations to Jessica Heine, who successfully defended her dissertation yesterday! (With alex byrne, photo by Justin Khoo.)

This week: alex byrne responds to Abigail Favale on the merits of the sex/gender distinction:

'The uninhibited use of “gender” has already ruined swathes of philosophy, not to mention the public discourse; we can each do our part to limit the damage.'

fairerdisputations.org/journey-of-gen…

“Intersex pretenders appear to account for a substantial…portion of online content about intersex. Uncritical acceptance of false claims may lead to inaccurate perceptions…that are ultimately detrimental to authentic intersexed persons’ well-being.” link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Trouble with Gender appears on the finest bookshelves, here snuggled between Lionel Shriver’s Mania, Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, Victoria Smith’s Hags, and Sharron Davies’s Unfair Play.

Tomás Bogardus and Alex Byrne subject Florence Ashley's theories on gender identity to critical analysis in the latest issue of the Journal of Controversial Ideas. They argue Ashley's theories are neither coherent nor psychologically plausible, and ask what claiming an identity

“Dr. Hoffman, the AAP’s president,…said that ‘Any suggestion the American Academy of Pediatrics is misleading families is false.’” Also AAP: “The available data reveal that pubertal suppression…generally leads to improved psychological functioning...”
nytimes.com/2024/05/13/hea…

Remarkable article about Butler by Umut Özkırımlı. More errors in Who’s Afraid of Gender?, but that’s the least of it.

.Leor Sapir on the discussion about the Cass Review at the recent Dartmouth “War on Gender” event. At the time I made the point that “moderate quality study” doesn’t mean “moderate evidence for the effectiveness of puberty blockers” (Leor’s quality of study/evidence distinction).

MIT bans diversity statements in faculty hiring. An influential decision. unherd.com/newsroom/mit-b…

Excellent signed letter defending Nathan Cofnas's academic freedom.

'We urge Emmanuel College to reverse its decision and the Faculty of Philosophy and the Leverhulme Trust to call off their investigations. There is nothing to investigate.'

Had a good chat this week with Scott Turner of the National Association of Scholars:
Gender-Critical Feminism and Academic Witch Hunts. A conversation with Kathleen Stock
youtube.com/watch?v=ZqfknU…

“Now is the time for rigorous and open scientific debate in the United States about this vital subject among the nation’s psychiatrists.” Benjamin Ryan on the Cass Review and the upcoming American Psychiatric Association meeting.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…

Astounding anti-intellectualism from some philosophers at Cornell. Sad to see.

I finally wrote up thoughts about the MIT Free Speech Alliance debate at MIT between alex byrne Alice Dreger, Ph.D. Aaron Kimberly and A/Prof Holly Lawford-Smith. Who won? Nuance and free speech won! Read on to find out my nickname for one of the speakers and what was in the two boxes!
broadview.news/p/talk-of-the-…

Well, one of these points is correct.

Florence Ashley bravely shadowboxing. Unblock us Florence!