Philosopher Naomi Zack, a senior member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oregon and a leading writer on the philosophy of race, writes:
I have been a tenured full professor in the University of Oregon Department of Philosophy, since Fall 2001. I work in philosophy of race, feminism, and disaster ethics.
I have, for several reasons, requested that the UO Department of Philosophy decline the SWIP-UK Women-Friendly Department Recognition Award and make that fact be known in all relevant contexts.
On the matter of philosophical pluralism, based on my experience in the UO Philosophy Department, I think that Brian Leiter is correct that there are now two incompatible meanings of pluralism. However, philosophy departments are not always intellectually monolithic. My colleagues in the department do not hold the standard meaning of pluralism in our profession, either intellectually or in practice. I think that the standard meaning of pluralism allows for different approaches and methodologies, for example, broadly speaking, both analytic and continental, as well as American philosophy, and varied new subfields, including feminism and the study of race. The overriding idea is that philosophical practice not become an ideology on any side. My sense has been that the new pluralism excludes the possibility of genuine debate about core issues and methodologies and rejects a great deal that is valuable in the history of philosophy, with a very low tolerance for disagreement or self-criticism; it becomes implicitly normative, which can lead to a defensive attitude instead of an inquiring one. There is a tendency to circle the wagons around what an individual in a context happens to do; I think that what an individual philosopher spends her time on should be viewed by her as contingent to a much larger philosophical picture. I think that we all need to be humble about our own hobby horses and not be too quick to dismiss the general intellectual standards of the oldest academic profession.
My presence in the U of O philosophy department results in the de facto pluralism of the department--in the standard meaning of pluralism--and the result is not always harmonious. As a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon Department of Philosophy, I will continue to pursue my own work, support my students (male as well as female), and do the best I can to uphold professional and ethical standards, including basic norms of collegiality, respect, and civility in academic life. I expect the same from my colleagues.
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