Regarding the possible effect of the economic downturn on the academic job market for philosophers, Thomas Carson (Loyola/Chicago) writes:
This is very grim news for people who would like to enter the profession. Your observation that "a lot of faculty who might have been thinking about retirement in the coming year are going to postpone given the huge losses most will have suffered" [in the stock markets] seems correct. This raises seriouis ethical questions for tenured faculty. Since keeping one's position and not retiring is likely to directly cause the unemployment/underemployment of young philosophers, it is wrong to postpone one's retirement past a certain age? If so, at what age should one retire? I don't have answers to these questions but would like to see them discussed on your blog.
We had a related discussion some time ago, but perhaps the subject is timely again.
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