“Philosophy at your fingertips” plus 2 more |
- Philosophy at your fingertips
- Carlyle Said to Seek $1 Billion From Philosophy Sale
- Kenneth Pahel, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
| Posted: 23 Jul 2010 09:10 AM PDT Philosophy at your fingertips
There to answer her question was St. Olaf College Professor of Philosophy Charles Taliaferro. First, he pointed out that Socrates advised his people to care for their souls instead of only pursuing material wealth and power. Then he offered his own advice, urging her to consider the difference between a vocation and a job, and recommending a book that she could read for further guidance. Finally, Taliaferro wrote, "I suggest the question 'What should I do?' is dependent upon a prior question: 'Who am I?' To go back to Socrates, he admonished us to care for the soul, but he also put out there some vital advice: Know Thyself. I think if you take on that task, the rest will follow." This was just one of the nearly 100 responses Taliaferro has written to questions posed at AskPhilosophers, a Web site where scholars from around the country do their best to answer eternal questions posed by members of the general public. St. Olaf Professor of Philosophy and Kierkegaard Library Curator Gordon Marino also contributes to the site, often offering his expertise on questions regarding ethics, happiness, and existence. Taliaferro responds frequently to questions concerning religious philosophy and ethics. Before the creation of AskPhilosophers and other Web sites like it, those who contemplated lofty questions regarding the existence of God or the nature of love rarely had access to philosophers and scholars who could provide thought-provoking responses. Accordingly, the purpose of AskPhilosophers is to "put the talents and knowledge of philosophers at the service of the general public." Whether at work on a computer, or on the subway headed home, an individual need only to go to the Web site and click on the "ask a question" link in the upper left-hand corner of the home page to begin their philosophical journey. Once their question is released into cyberspace, all that's left to do is wait until one of the 33 panelists — from institutions such as Vassar College, the University of Cambridge, and Brown University, among others — responds. Taliaferro was approached to contribute to AskPhilosophers by the site's founder, Amherst College Professor of Philosophy Alexander George. Since accepting the position, Taliaferro has responded prolifically. As someone who enjoys puzzles and succinct paradoxes that engage others, Taliaferro says the Web site is perfect for his temperament. "The work I do for the site is intellectually stimulating," he says. "It can be amusing and entertaining, but can also have a very serious side." AskPhilosophers gets nearly 13,000 hits each day, and in one recent week alone, curious minds posted 54 questions at the site. Taliaferro volunteers a minimum of two to three hours per week to respond to questions, and could certainly spend more time if he desired. Responses typically appear on the site within a few days, and past questions are archived according to topic and the philosopher who responded. The site is unique in that it breaks down the barriers that typically stand between the masses and philosophical inquiry. Taliaferro notes that having access to so many philosophers at once is a unique aspect of technological innovation. "The field has never been better for an honest inquirer to have easy access to the best arguments that are around, and then make up his or her own mind," he says. Not only does AskPhilosophers break down barriers between the general public and philosophers, but it also negates barriers of age, gender, and culture. For example, an 11-year-old boy wondered, "If everybody in the world thought blue was the best color, would it be a fact that blue is the best color?" and received a complex and thoughtful reply from an established philosopher. Fast-Paced Philosophy AskPhilosophers has grown significantly in the past five years, in part because of the attention it has received from different media sources. In May and June of this year alone, the Web site was the focus of an article in the New Yorker and a New York Times blog post. Taliaferro noted that similar to most areas of academia, it is the more radical or creative philosophical views that receive attention and publicity. Perhaps that's why this revolutionary, egalitarian approach to philosophy has become popular — or perhaps it is simply the expression of natural human curiosity. We'll have to ask the experts.
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| Carlyle Said to Seek $1 Billion From Philosophy Sale Posted: 23 Jul 2010 10:09 AM PDT
July 23, 2010, 12:51 PM EDT
(Updates with Ebitda growth in 10th paragraph.) July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group is seeking about $1 billion in a sale of skin-care company Philosophy Inc., three years after acquiring the maker of "Hope in a Jar" moisturizer for half that amount, said three people with knowledge of the plan. The Washington-based firm hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore options and may consider an initial public offering if no buyer emerges, said two of the people, who declined to be identified because the sale is private. Carlyle bought Philosophy in March 2007 in a $475 million deal. Private-equity firms are selling holdings to return profits to investors and convince them to commit money to new deals. Carlyle, which is also exploring the sale of defense and aviation company Arinc Inc. and pipeline company Kinder Morgan Inc., is the most acquisitive buyout firm this year with about $7 billion in announced transactions, three of them in the last two weeks. The sale process for Philosophy is at an early stage, with calls placed recently to other private-equity firms and cosmetics rivals, the people said. Christopher Ullman, a spokesman for Carlyle, declined to comment. Takeovers of cosmetics companies have picked up after last year's stock market rebound, with 45 deals worth $3.21 billion announced this year, up from 33 deals and $1.01 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bare Escentuals Estee Lauder Cos., the maker of Clinique and Bobbi Brown cosmetics, in May agreed to buy Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics Inc. to target women aged 18 to 35. That followed Shiseido Co.'s acquisition of Bare Escentuals Inc. for about $1.8 billion to expand outside a shrinking domestic market. U.S. prestige beauty sales, which include makeup, skin care and fragrance products sold at department stores, dropped 6 percent to $8.19 billion in 2009 according to the NPD Group Inc., a market research firm based in Port Washington, New York. Shiseido's offer valued Bare Escentuals at 10.36 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Philosophy had Ebitda of $60 million last year, meaning it would be worth $622 million at the same multiple. Philosophy's adjusted Ebitda, which exclude management fees and some other costs, was $42 million in 2008. Bare Escentuals' Ebitda declined 5.5 percent to $176.9 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 3, 2010, from the prior period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Skin Peels Two of the people with knowledge of the sales process said the company may fetch around $800 million. Philosophy, which makes anti-aging moisturizers, one-minute skin peels, perfumes and lipsticks, was founded in 1996 by skin- care entrepreneur Cristina Carlino. She wanted to bridge the gap between skin-care products offered in doctor's offices and retail stores. Philosophy retail shops, Sephora, J.C. Penney Co., Nordstrom Inc., Macy's Inc. and QVC Inc. sell the skin-care brand. Carlyle used $202.6 million from its fourth U.S. buyout fund to acquire Philosophy. The firm marked that equity investment at 1.25 times cost in the first quarter, according to the investor letter. Carlyle Partners IV, which holds stakes in companies from Dunkin' Brands Inc. to The Nielsen Company, has used 97 percent of its $7.8 billion as of the end of the first quarter, according to the letter. Kinder Morgan Kinder Morgan, the fund's biggest investment, is going ahead with a plan to sell shares in an initial public offering, people with knowledge of the process said last week. The Houston-based company, which was taken private in a $22 billion leveraged buyout three years ago by Goldman and Carlyle, held interviews with banks seeking to underwrite the share sale, the people said. Earlier this month, Carlyle sold medical-care provider Multiplan Inc. to BC Partners Ltd. and Silver Lake Partners, in a transaction valuing the company at $3.1 billion. Carlyle Partners IV received $50.8 million in dividends from Philosophy during the first quarter of 2010. The company's debt and equity has dropped to $466.1 million from $475 million at the time of the takeover. --With assistance from Allison Abell Schwartz in New York. Editors: Christian Baumgaertel, Rob Williams. To contact the reporter on this story: Cristina Alesci in New York at Calesci2@bloomberg.net; Jeffrey McCracken in New York at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Kenneth Pahel, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Posted: 23 Jul 2010 02:28 PM PDT
Pahel is survived by his wife, Geraldine, son Timothy Pahel of Galesburg, daughter Melissa Jacks of Austin, Texas, and three grandchildren. An obituary and condolences are online at Hinchliff-Pearson-West. "Professor Pahel was known as a wonderful teacher who broadened his expertise to include eastern philosophy in response to student interest," said Knox College President Roger Taylor. "He also embraced other disciplines, such as medicine, business and law, and included them in his ethics courses." A graduate of Rollins College, Pahel earned his master's and doctorates in philosophy at the University of Illinois. Prior to coming to Knox he taught at Rollins and Southern Methodist University. Pahel taught at Knox from 1967 to 1999, including three terms as chair of the philosophy department. His teaching and research focused on ethics. His publications included the book "Readings in Contemporary Ethical Theory," co-edited with Mark Schiller, and numerous articles in scholarly journals. In 1975-1976 Pahel was a visiting professor at St. Clare's Hall, an International Baccalaureate school in Oxford, England. In the 1970s he designed and built his own solar water heating system for his home in Knoxville -- the College's news release about the project is excerpted below. From 1980 to 1985 Pahel held an adjunct appointment to teach medical ethics at Rush University in Chicago, and in the 1990s he team-taught a course in medical ethics at Knox with Dr. James King, a Knox graduate and Galesburg physician. In the spring of 1990, Pahel and King testified before an Illinois legislative committee on the treatment of terminally ill patients. "We believed that potential abuses could be avoided if the legislature passed a set of clear guidelines," they later wrote. "Hospital ethics committees could then verify compliance with the guidelines."
 KNOX PHILOSOPHER CREATES OWN SOLAR WATER HEATERMay 21, 1979 After a full summer of work and a fall of applying the finishing touches, Knox College Associate Professor of Philosophy Ken Pahel has built his own solar heating system. The system provides 100 percent of his hot water during six months out of the year and about 10 percent during the coldest months of January and February. Pahel estimates that he is saving about $25 a month when the system is supplying all of his hot water. His conventional water heater supplies the remaining hot water when necessary. Pahel first thought about building his own system two years ago. He did some preliminary experimentation and then traveled to Argonne National Laboratory last spring to confirm his experimental results. He solicited help from the Knox physics department in interpreting the equations that Argonne came up with. Work on the final system started at the end of the 1977-78 school year. The system consists primarily of three south-facing, 3-by-5-foot panels designed to concentrate the sun's energy on 1/2-inch copper pipes that contain a fluid called Suntemp... Once the fluid is heated in the collectors, it is pumped into an 30-gallon heat exchanger tank. The troughs [that focus the solar energy onto the pipes] were made with offset printing plates from Wagoner Printing [in Galesburg], Pahel explained. "An interesting sideline is that some of the plates were used for printing the Knox alumni magazine. So, pictures of President [Inman] Fox, Dean [Mary] Eysenbach and others will be forever on my solar collectors." "Each of the collectors is covered with glass, "which I got from Davis Hall at no cost," says Pahel. [Editor's note: the glass came from windows removed from George Davis Hall on the Knox campus during a renovation project in 1978-79.] Pahel is quite happy with the success of his system. He estimates the total cost at about $800, "but I got $200 back on the solar tax credit." Editor's Note: the author and photographer for the news release excerpted above was Bill Seith, one of Professor Pahel's students who also worked as a student assistant in public relations. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
Kenneth R. Pahel, professor emeritus of philosophy at Knox College, died July 18. He was 75. A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m., Thursday, July 29, in Ferris Lounge, followed by a reception in the Lincoln Room in Carithers Hall in Seymour Union on the Knox campus.| You are subscribed to email updates from Yahoo! News Search Results for Philosophy To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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