Video: Does Philosophy Still Matter? | The New School

This is a very interesting video on a panel of philosophers talking about the future of philosophy and the problems of academia. It's a long video but its pretty interesting.  Discussion really starts at 8:50. 

The professionalization of philosophy

This is via Wikipedia, so be sure to hold a bit of skepticism, but from what I have read much of it is accurate. This is an interesting non-over-analyzed history of philosophy as it underwent the process of academic professionalization in the 19th and 20th century. This blog is hopefully helping you to acclimate and understand the current expectations of professional philosophy today. 

Comments on accuracy are welcome.

List of Issues/Changes for Professional Philosophy

A list of things I would like to see change in the realm of professional philosophy. It will be numbered in reverse order so that I will be able to update it as I find other issues which I feel should be taken up.

I would love to hear your thoughts about these issues. Please feel free to comment but be sure to include the number of the issue you are addressing.

Also feel free to suggest issues either in the comments section or by emailing me.

The List:

Introduction to the Philosophical Career

This is the best concise outline of professional philosophy I have seen so far and I highly suggest reading it. It is clear, honest and a quick read. here is a link to the main article and all the sub-points

http://spot.colorado.edu/~huemer/grad.htm

   1.    Why are you writing this FAQ?

       2.    What can I do with a philosophy degree?

       3.    What do philosophy professors do?

       4.    I love learning about philosophy. Will I be a good philosopher?

       5.    Where will I get a job?

       6.    What will I be teaching?

       7.    But I’m really smart, so I’ll be one of the few at the elite schools, right?

       8.    Can I advance in the profession through talent and hard work?

       9.    Will I influence the field through my insightful articles?

       10.  Will I survive in my field?

       11.  How does one advance in philosophy?

       12.  Why the hell would I want to become a philosopher??

Philosophy and Aggression Against Women

 A post about the subtle sexism in philosophy departments, a somewhat interesting post for anyone following this discussion..

I will address the rather limited subject of women and aggression in philosophy.
If my memory serves, my first exposure to this matter was in my undergraduate days in a class on feminism. As a graduate student and in my professional career, this matter was (and is) brought to my attention fairly often, generally by female colleagues in the field.  This sort of aggression was, of course, cast as an evil of 

philosophy and a causal factor in pushing women away from philosophy. The general idea is as follows.

http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=2759

Synthese Boycott - Evolution and it's Rivals

From Inside Higher Ed

When Synthese, an academic journal that focuses on the philosophy of science, set out to tackle the combustible topics of evolution, creation and intelligent design in a special issue, some controversy was perhaps inevitable. Sure enough, the resulting edition of the journal -- “Evolution and Its Rivals” -- caused an uproar, including calls from some academics to boycott Synthese entirely.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/20/boycott_called_over_journal_disclaimer_on_evolution_and_intelligent_design_issue

More links on this story:

5 Phases of a Philosophical Career

This was a post outlining a basic time-line of the career path of the academic philosopher. Some of the facts here are a bit off which I have tried to correct in my notes on this post. Over all it seems dead on.

 Split into 5 phases as follows:

Phase One: The Undergrad Days

Phase Two: Applying to Graduate School

Phase Three: The Graduate Student Years

Phase Four: The Job Hunt

Phase Five: Attaining Tenure

Phase Six: Tenure

Phase Seven: Death

http://philosiology.blogspot.com/2011/04/myth-philosophers-especially-academic.html

Job Market: Evaluation of Search Committee Tactics

By Adam Kotsko

I have been on the job market for three years and have also served on a search committee as a student representative, and I have come to believe that some typical practices are not optimal. The parts that seem to me to be optimal are basically the beginning and the end — a concise cover letter with C.V. is a great way to kick off an application, and the process of an on-campus interview seems well-suited to generate the kind of meaningful information that search committees need at that late phase. Where things seem to me to fall apart is in the middle stages, namely the application materials required and the various kinds of short interviews.

Goodin and the Big Society

From PEA Soup

Posted by Jussi Suikkane

As anyone who reads Leiter Reports or follows the Philos-L mailing-list knows, there has been a big uproar recently in the UK about the AHRC’s (a government body which funds Arts and Humanities research) ‘connected communities’ funding scheme. One problem is that, in advertising the scheme, the AHRC has adopted the current government’s notion of the ‘Big Society’. This raises a variety of important ethical questions about on what grounds public research funding should be distributed. However, in this post, I want to focus on the question of whether the Big Society is a good idea in the first place. It seems to me that, contrary to what some people at the AHRC and the government seem to think, there’s already plenty of good philosophical research done to show that it is not (which has unfortunately been ignored in the public discourse). So, to do my part of the unoriginal academic research on the Big Society, I want to lay out Robert Goodin’s argument against the Big Society from his wonderful 1988 book Reasons for Welfare – the Political Theory of the Welfare State.....

The International Association of Women Philosophers

Firstly I think it is a good thing that a society has been created to support women in philosophy. Several of my most appreciated authors are women, particularly Butler's work or the instability of categorization. There also is that deep hope in every male philosopher that someday when you say  "epistemology", "phenomenology", "Eudaimonia", or "analyticity" you will get something other than a confused stare from a pretty face. I admit that  was a little less than PC, but it just reflects my own belief that women could have a lot to contribute to philosophy. I believe that the system of academic philosophy has been run by men for so long that it has institutionalized its masculinity.  Perhaps this is being even more sexists but it seems that many of philosophy's core concepts (like aggressive argumentation and refutation) are less appealing perhaps to women. 


Any thoughts?


The International Association of Women Philosophers

Defending the Humanities Through...Philosophy of Mind?

Basically an article about how studies in philosophy of mind show that 'science' or hard facts about the world do not give us a complete set of knowledge. Thus humanities programs should be encourage. Braced partially on the work of  David Chalmers. 

Found on "In Socrates' Wake" a blog about teaching philosophy

See full article HERE.

Philosophy Publications and Hiring Practices ( Pedigree?)

This is a questions sent to Lieter. Professionals comment on the state of the profession.

Two questions:
 1: Does philosophy, as a profession, have a route for philosophers to dig themselves out of their professional qualification? That is, if one did not go to a top 10 school, does philosophy, as a profession, have a way for exceptional philosophers to distinguish themselves?
 2. What do we do about this lack?

Article: In the Basement of the Ivory Tower

Professor X suggests that many students should not go to college even though this places his own position as an adjunct in jeopardy.

read the article here

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-basement-of-the-ivory-tower/6810/1/

Survey Results: Philosophical Beliefs

The PhilPapers Survey was a survey of professional philosophers and others on their philosophical views, carried out in November 2009. The Survey was taken by 3226 respondents, including 1803 philosophy faculty members and/or PhDs and 829 philosophy graduate students.

Book: Academically Adrift

If the purpose of a college education is for students to learn, academia is failing, according toAcademically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, a book being released today by University of Chicago Press. Review and summery from Inside Higher Ed.

The UNIVERSITY SYSTEM as a failing BUSINESS

Many people have been outraged by the merciless cutting of departments recently. It seems to me that this is going about the problem in the wrong way. If we think about the college system as a business, which is partially how investors see it, I think I can show us several interesting aspects of it's decline. 

Public Philosophy

This seems interesting, I have noticed that quite a few schools are doing something along these lines. It seems that this is a great way to give back to the community. It also forces our ivory tower to be able to relate to the "folk" which seems like a good thing.  Information on the public philosophy network in this post.

Feel free to comment

Department Chair: Roles, Jobs, and Recomendations

A very interesting article about the responsibilities and problems of being the chair of a department. The article takes information from many studies and interviews. Posted here are the roles/ jobs of a department chair and implications and recommendations for departments on how to make the position of chair more effective.

APA members Vote: Change Date and Purpose of the APA?

Thats right OPEN that packet and share your views with the rest of us. The APA recently sent out a voting ballet to all its members. This vote takes up to APA issues which have been on the lips of many bloggers. After the blizzard this year (or was it last year?)  many people have been calling for a change. Secondly, a new technological revolution which has been slowly taking on force is skype job interviews. APA asks if job interviews should be a main function of the eastern APA.

Philosophy in the Community

The University of Saskatchewan Philosophy department offers free lectures to the surrounding community available to anyone interested. Firstly a brilliant marketing idea. Secondly, if we think this stuff is so important it seems like we should offer to share it.