Issues in the Philosophy Profession

To Philosophers of Easy Virtue (guest post)

“My experiences have led me to believe that one of the best things that men in a professional field can do for feminism is to learn to take sexual and romantic rejection well.” (more…)

New: “Being Trans in Philosophy”

A new zine, Being Trans in Philosophy, launched today, featuring testimonials from many trans philosophers and philosophers with trans family members. (more…)

Philosophy Department Chair Sues Previous Chair over Sexual Harassment

The current chair of the Department of Philosophy of Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa is suing the former department chair, who she says “stalked and harassed” her. She is also suing the College, its provost, and a dean, whom she says mishandled her complaints and allowed the former chair to retaliate against her. (more…)

Philosophy News in 2024

What were the big philosophy news stories of 2024? (more…)

The “Academic Great Gatsby Curve” in Philosophy

The “Great Gatsby Curve” describes the positive correlation between “income inequality” and “intergenerational income persistence” (lack of income mobility). An academic Great Gatsby curve refers to a positive correlation between academic inequality and intergenerational persistence.

(more…)

The Rise of English as the Global Lingua Franca of Academic Philosophy (guest post)

“We think it is more or less inevitable at this point that English will be the global lingua franca of academic philosophy for the foreseeable future. We also think it is for the most part a good thing. But it has also produced some problems…” (more…)

Theoria Publishes Recap & Assessment of CNRS Plagiarism Scandals

The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) hosted two related plagiarism scandals in recent years. One concerned the serial plagiarism of one of its medieval philosophy researchers. The other concerned the attempted whitewashing of this plagiarism by a CNRS-appointed commission tasked with investigating the plagiarism charges. A recent editorial in th..

Do Something! Reflections on MeToo and Philosophy (guest post) (updated)

When several years ago I posted the screenshot of a defamatory tweet by a serial harasser on my Facebook page (for “friends” only), I did not expect how people would react to this. Tenured philosophers, including many with left-wing or liberal politics cautioned me to take down the post. They private messaged me urging I should take it down, and even publicly chided..

Citation Rates by Academic Field: Philosophy Is Near the Bottom (guest post)

Academia’s emphasis on citation rates is “mixed news” for philosophy: it can bring attention to high-quality work, but tends to make philosophy and other humanities fields look bad in comparison with other areas, says Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside), in the following guest post. (more…)

Have Any Philosophy Departments Stopped Considering Letters of Recommendation?

A philosophy professor writes that his department is entertaining the possibility of not requiring letters of recommendation from those applying to its graduate program, and asks whether other departments have stopped requiring them, too, either of MA or PhD program applicants, or of job candidates. (more…)

“Geo-Academic Inequalities” in Philosophy

Ingrid Robeyns, professor of philosophy at Utrecht University, recently came across something that captured extraordinarily well a problem she had long been aware of, and was prompted to write about it: (more…)

Ignored Editor Departs PGR, Raising Questions About Its Leadership & How to Best Guide Prospective Philosophy Grad Students (updated)

As mentioned in an update to last week’s post about the new edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR), a ranking of the reputations of some PhD programs in philosophy, one of its editors, Berit (“Brit”) Brogaard (Miami), has announced that she is no longer associated with it. A statement made this evening by her and Carolyn Dicey Jennings (UC Merced) provide..

Levelling the Linguistic Playing Field within Academic Philosophy (guest post)

Stylistic norms for writing affect philosophers’ professional prospects in unfair ways, and what one thinks should be done about this may be tied to one’s conception of what philosophy is supposed to do. (more…)

The “Practical Inertia” of Racism in Philosophy

“Through practical inertia, we end up duplicating what we’ve been handed down by our chauvinistic and often racist intellectual forebears, even if we have no intention to be racist.” (more…)

Analytic Philosophy, Inclusiveness, and the English Language

Philosophers are endorsing a set of principles “to address the structural inequality between native and non-native speakers , and to provide as many scholars as possible globally a fair chance to contribute to the development of contemporary philosophy.”

(more…)

Impostor Syndrome, Brilliance, and Philosophy

A new study concludes that the more a discipline is thought to value innate “brilliance” or raw intellectual talent, the more that women in it—and especially women from groups traditionally underrepresented in that discipline—experience impostor syndrome. (more…)

Blowing the Whistle on John Searle

“I’m writing to you in the hope that you can shine a public light on the behavior of John Searle, a renowned academic in Berkeley’s philosophy department.” (more…)

How What It Is Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy has Changed over the Past Decade

How have things changed for women in philosophy over the past decade? (more…)

Call for Signatures on Statement Regarding Sexual Harassment in Philosophy

Jan Dowell and David Sobel (Syracuse) are calling for philosophers to add their signatures to a statement on sexual harassment in philosophy. (more…)

To Identify as a Philosopher and ‘Insane’

To identify as a philosopher and “insane” isn’t quite oxymoronic, but it is certainly something that I didn’t want to risk until very recently. (more…)

MAP Issues Statement on Anti-Black Racism and Philosophy

Minorities and Philosophy (MAP), a global graduate student-led network of organizations that aim to “remove barriers to participation in philosophy for members of marginalized groups,” has issued a statement in light of the recent wave of anti-racism protests. (more…)

Daily Nous