MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY
This petition is an opportunity for members of the philosophical community to register their concern and unhappiness with the way the Editors-in-Chief have handled the special issue on "Evolution and Its Rivals" (for pertinent background, see especially here and here). It also calls for the disclosure of more information pertaining to the role of Intelligent Design proponents in this affair. This petition does not call for a boycott. Please consider signing. The petition has room for comments, so if you do not concur with all four requests in the petition, you may say so in the comments.
ADDENDUM: Signatories, please let your philosophical friends and colleagues know about the petition as well.
UPDATE: Another good reason to sign the petition!
A CLARIFICATION in response to a query: graduate students in philosophy are certainly eligible to sign the petition, and some have already.
UPDATE 4/26 7 AM (CST): So for reasons unknown, the "Petitions Online" site was down for a couple of hours last night (maybe longer, I'm not sure), but it is back up now. Thanks to the many who have already signed. I am pleased to see that the list includes many distinguished contributors to Synthese and even members of the editorial board. One person asked about signing anonymously, for fear that signing with his name might prejudice his chances of publishing there in the future (he did not support a boycott, but he does support the letter). In this context, I think signatures by name are important. I would hope that the fear about repercussions for signing are misplaced in this context, and would urge those waivering to see who has now signed and to add their name if they share the concerns in the letter. Needless to say, any philosopher concerned about this matter is eligible to sign the petition; you needn't work in the fields where Synthese typically publishes.
I was particularly struck by the straightforward comment by signatory Geoffrey Hellman, a distinguished philosopher of physics and mathematics at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul: "The editors should certainly not have published a disclaimer and should retract it at the earliest opportunity. Everyone understands that views expressed in published articles are not to be attributed to editors. Disclaimers are entirely out of place."
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