Phil Oliver

Uprooted & without power 7 days now.

Day 4 without power. Our temporary lodging afforded a view of the new Titans’ stadium, until problems with the room uprooted us. Taking the dogs out is still a challenge, but at least we’ve thawed out. Could be worse. Sadly, for many, it is.

Snowy sleety icky day in middle Tennessee. Good time to pick up the little book about the Parnassus pooches I was gifted for Christmas. Hauled the elliptical in from the barn too, no dogwalk for us today.

Spring 2026 Newsletter
President’s Message from Dr. Phil Oliver

‘Tis the season of William James’s birth, in 1842.

By an odd twist of coincidence, January 11 happens also to be my wife’s birthday. So it’s a date I cannot and dare not ever forget… wjsociety.org/news/

A day of infamy Jan 6 now signifies surgery, for Nell ( and Mom too), as well as insurrection. But this Jan 6 had a better outcome than in '21, even if N...

jposopher.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-da...

YouTube video by Agile Minds #26 Tim Minchin - 9 Life Lessons

I’ve heard some unimpressive commencement speeches over the years at my school, and anticipate another this afternoon. To compensate:

Tim Minchin - 9 LifeLessons

youtu.be/FJ__a4qVE_g?...

What a lovely end-of-semester gift from a student in Philosophy of Happiness. Volume II includes the transcendent 1910 letter to Henry Adams I sent them off with: “ I am so happy I can stand it no longer!”

My exam-day welcome. I used to have that nightmare.

Percy Warner Park, Nashville 11.16.25

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”…

Phil Oliver (@philoliver) How quickly three decades can fly.

Where does the time go? substack.com/@philoliver/...

Phil Oliver (@philoliver) I’ve now worn a Halloween mask to class twice in my teaching career, the first time many years ago. It was time for a new photo to recycle annually.

Boo! substack.com/@philoliver/...

The Southern Festival of Books The show went on, for the 37th time... DOGE be damned.

Elon couldn’t kill it. open.substack.com/pub/philoliv...

The author agreed that Jimmy would like my hat.

There was something sweet about having the No Kings protesters parade by as I waited to get my Jimmy Carter book signed.

And also happening, next-door at the state capital: No Kings! I’ll be getting my steps in this morning.

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!

Happening today, thanks to Parnassus Books, Vandy, and a legion of devotedly-“efficient” bibliophiles. www.sofestofbooks.org

The Atlantic (@theatlantic) on Threads The writer Peter Matthiessen traveled the world looking for elusive snow leopards and rare cranes. But a new biography shows that the genuine self he was really seeking would be much harder to find, w...

www.threads.com/@theatlantic...

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/

The dawn of the post-literate society And the end of civilisation

Those who most need to grasp this message will find it too long. They won’t read it. open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...

Pilgrimages Journeys home can be happy. The further we roam, the more we're at home. Where are we headed?

Moving on. substack.com/@philoliver/...

The importance of maintaining face-to-face relationships in a mediated age, and just simply being present for the people we love.

Edie got that backwards, some of us would say.

YouTube video by Phil Oliver Dr. Megan Craig, Stony Brook University, at MTSU’s Applied Philosophy Lyceum Sep 26 2025

youtube.com/watch?v=ZhTS...

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...

Got my first at 65. A sunrise, with the inscription “Morning Star“ (a nod to Walden). Another at every subsequent birthday. Maybe I need a dolphin next?

MTSU Constitution Day Keynote Speaker featuring David Brooks YouTube video by Tucker Theatre

youtube.com/live/fQnMDJ7... (starts at about 25”… great to see former students Sneh and Victoria on the panel!)