David Velleman (NYU) writes:
A more significant symptom of the APA's uselessness is the annual appearance of news items like this one. A professional organization that was worth the dues would help visiting journalists to understand the central concerns and accomplishments of the discipline, so that they could write more than a hodgepodge of caricatures and titillating tidbits from the program. I have never seen any indication that APA represents us as a discipline to the world at large. It's just an organizer of meetings -- a task for which we could hire a convention-planning service that would be cheaper and more efficient.
Of course, the journalist in question here is a bit notorious for both ignorance of and hostility to philosophy. Yet Professor Velleman's general point surely stands: wherever the APA is hosted, silly news items like this tend to appear in the local press. Perhaps the APA should send out a new release to local journalists about the conference, explaining its function, and highlighting some sessions and their significance. That would likely yield more substantive items in at least some newspapers.
Thoughts on this and other APA issues? Non-anonymous comments preferred; post only once. Defenders of the APA also welcome!
