Phil Oliver
@osopher.bsky.social
Philosophy prof in middle TN, Anglophile, bibliophile, pragmatic pluralist, peripatetic. “Solvitur ambulando” (w/dogs). William James Society (wjsociety.org) President. Deleted Twitter, quit IG & Threads. Here now.
Pinned
Phil Oliver
@osopher.bsky.social
· Nov 16
I keep saying I’m going to get off of social media, but Bluesky does seem different. Stars, wild nature, dogs, civility, decency … I’ll be here for it, in moderation. We must all find our delight where we can. (I wrote “William James’s ‘Springs of Delight’: the Return to Life”)
Percy Warner Park, Nashville 11.16.25
November 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Percy Warner Park, Nashville 11.16.25
A gift from the bride. Priceless.
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
A gift from the bride. Priceless.
Younger Daughter’s wedding was picture-perfect, with wonderful weather after a stormy day and before a cold one. My reception toast channeled “my philosophical muse” on the art of knowing what to overlook. Hope they’ll never overlook the glory of love for a “fellow bird”…
November 9, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Younger Daughter’s wedding was picture-perfect, with wonderful weather after a stormy day and before a cold one. My reception toast channeled “my philosophical muse” on the art of knowing what to overlook. Hope they’ll never overlook the glory of love for a “fellow bird”…
Where does the time go? substack.com/@philoliver/...
Phil Oliver (@philoliver)
How quickly three decades can fly.
substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Where does the time go? substack.com/@philoliver/...
Elon couldn’t kill it. open.substack.com/pub/philoliv...
The Southern Festival of Books
The show went on, for the 37th time... DOGE be damned.
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Elon couldn’t kill it. open.substack.com/pub/philoliv...
There was something sweet about having the No Kings protesters parade by as I waited to get my Jimmy Carter book signed.
October 18, 2025 at 5:11 PM
There was something sweet about having the No Kings protesters parade by as I waited to get my Jimmy Carter book signed.
Happening today, thanks to Parnassus Books, Vandy, and a legion of devotedly-“efficient” bibliophiles. www.sofestofbooks.org
Southern Festival of Books: Oct. 18 & 19, 2025
Vanderbilt University Presents: the Southern Festival of Books, a Program of Humanities Tennessee: Oct. 18 & 19, 2025 Join us this Fall!
www.sofestofbooks.org
October 18, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Happening today, thanks to Parnassus Books, Vandy, and a legion of devotedly-“efficient” bibliophiles. www.sofestofbooks.org
Autumnal season’s greetings, fellow friends of William James.
I first began to think of WJ in casually-friendly terms back in the Fall of my first year of grad school at Vanderbilt in the ’80s…
wjsociety.org/news/
I first began to think of WJ in casually-friendly terms back in the Fall of my first year of grad school at Vanderbilt in the ’80s…
wjsociety.org/news/
WJS Newsletter (NEW!) – William James Society
wjsociety.org
October 13, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Autumnal season’s greetings, fellow friends of William James.
I first began to think of WJ in casually-friendly terms back in the Fall of my first year of grad school at Vanderbilt in the ’80s…
wjsociety.org/news/
I first began to think of WJ in casually-friendly terms back in the Fall of my first year of grad school at Vanderbilt in the ’80s…
wjsociety.org/news/
Those who most need to grasp this message will find it too long. They won’t read it. open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...
The dawn of the post-literate society
And the end of civilisation
open.substack.com
October 11, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Those who most need to grasp this message will find it too long. They won’t read it. open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...
Moving on. substack.com/@philoliver/...
Pilgrimages
Journeys home can be happy. The further we roam, the more we're at home. Where are we headed?
substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Moving on. substack.com/@philoliver/...
Excellent Lyceum address from Megan Craig, on staying human(e) and present in the face of mortality. #mtsu #AppliedPhilosophyLyceum
September 27, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Excellent Lyceum address from Megan Craig, on staying human(e) and present in the face of mortality. #mtsu #AppliedPhilosophyLyceum
Megan Craig (Stony Brook University) is MTSU's Applied Philosophy Lyceum speaker Friday...
RELATION AND RUPTURE
AT THE END OF LIFE
Friday, September 26, 2025 • 5 p.m.
College of Education, Room 164
Middle Tennessee State University
philoshap2.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-co...
RELATION AND RUPTURE
AT THE END OF LIFE
Friday, September 26, 2025 • 5 p.m.
College of Education, Room 164
Middle Tennessee State University
philoshap2.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-co...
September 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Megan Craig (Stony Brook University) is MTSU's Applied Philosophy Lyceum speaker Friday...
RELATION AND RUPTURE
AT THE END OF LIFE
Friday, September 26, 2025 • 5 p.m.
College of Education, Room 164
Middle Tennessee State University
philoshap2.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-co...
RELATION AND RUPTURE
AT THE END OF LIFE
Friday, September 26, 2025 • 5 p.m.
College of Education, Room 164
Middle Tennessee State University
philoshap2.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-co...
youtube.com/live/fQnMDJ7... (starts at about 25”… great to see former students Sneh and Victoria on the panel!)
MTSU Constitution Day Keynote Speaker featuring David Brooks
YouTube video by Tucker Theatre
youtube.com
September 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
youtube.com/live/fQnMDJ7... (starts at about 25”… great to see former students Sneh and Victoria on the panel!)
A conversation with Megan Craig
substack.com/@philoliver/...
substack.com/@philoliver/...
A conversation with Megan Craig
We're eagerly anticipating her Applied Philosophy Lyceum lecture at Middle Tennessee State University (where most of us continue to value free speech).
substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
A conversation with Megan Craig
substack.com/@philoliver/...
substack.com/@philoliver/...
Our conscious ground time is brief, we must ask our questions now. open.substack.com/pub/philoliv...
"Consider the allegory of the centipede..."
Discovering oneself as a walker is not so different from discovering oneself as a conscious thinker.
open.substack.com
August 19, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Our conscious ground time is brief, we must ask our questions now. open.substack.com/pub/philoliv...
I consider it part of my teaching mission to lead students into the stacks philoliver.substack.com/p/recommende...
Recommended and Reserved
Many of us teachers make shorter and fewer reading assignments nowadays. But I recommend many more.
philoliver.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I consider it part of my teaching mission to lead students into the stacks philoliver.substack.com/p/recommende...
It’s been a lovely retreat here at the Doghouse. But all good things etc.
August 9, 2025 at 12:51 PM
It’s been a lovely retreat here at the Doghouse. But all good things etc.
In the doghouse, in a good way substack.com/@philoliver/...
Phil Oliver (@philoliver)
My wife is hosting a health-oriented retreat this weekend, so the dogs and I are decamping to a remote retreat of our own, a cabin to the east aptly dubbed The Doghouse. (I've been in the proverbial d...
substack.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
In the doghouse, in a good way substack.com/@philoliver/...
Grant's battlefield heroism was matched by the courage to complete his memoirs, pain and pressure be damned, as cancer closed in and the light dimmed. When he finished writing, he was done.
Equally impressive was his winning battle against alcohol. Twain understood…
Equally impressive was his winning battle against alcohol. Twain understood…
Grant
Quote shared via Kindle: "Mark Twain had struggled with similar cravings for alcohol and tobacco. When they discussed the subject, Grant mentioned that although doctors had urged him to sip whiskey or...
a.co
August 1, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Grant's battlefield heroism was matched by the courage to complete his memoirs, pain and pressure be damned, as cancer closed in and the light dimmed. When he finished writing, he was done.
Equally impressive was his winning battle against alcohol. Twain understood…
Equally impressive was his winning battle against alcohol. Twain understood…