Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

New Books in April

Authors and/or publishers kindly sent me these new books this month:

Punishment by Thom Brooks (Routledge, 2012).

Freedom, Responsibility, and Determinism:  A Philosophical Dialogue by John Lemos (Hackett, 2013).

Philosophical Foundations of the Nature of Law edited by Wil Waluchow & Stefan Sciaraffa (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Reference and Existence:  The John Locke Lectures by Saul Kripke (Oxford University Press, 2013).

The Future of Punishment edited by Thomas Nadelhoffer (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Art & Abstract Objects edited by Christy Mag Uidhir (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Reason, Morality, and Law:  The Philosophy of John Finnis edited by John Keown & Robert P. George (Oxford University Press, 2013).

The Unpredictable Species:  What Makes Human Unique by Philip Lieberman (Princeton University Press, 2013).

 

Academic identity theft: if you are one of the 2,000 people invited to contribute to a volume supposedly co-edited by Garry Hagberg, you'll want to read this

Philosopher Garry Hagberg (Bard College) writes:

It has come to my attention that my name has been used without my knowledge or permission to support a project in which I have no involvement whatsoever. Recently, 2,000 invitations have gone out asking for contributions to a planned series of edited volumes devoted to the writings of Mr. David Birnbaum to be published by a private press known as Harvard Matrix Press. In the invitation letter I was identified as co-editor of this series and I have discovered that I appear on the website for this press as an "editorial
advisor" as well as an endorser of his work. I would like to let philosophers know of this alarming misrepresentation: At no time was I informed of or involved in the project, at no time was I consulted about it, and I have absolutely no connection to this undertaking. Furthermore I have written no testimonial or evaluation of Mr. Birnbaum's work, nor have I ever been asked to do so.

What do philosophers believe?

Bourget & Chalmers on the sociology of the profession.

Lots of on-line philosophy videos collected...

...here.

(Thanks to Dirk Felleman for the pointer.)

Your free market at work

God bless freedom.

Fischer on Immortality...

...on the radio.

Turner from Leeds to Saint Louis

Jason Turner (metaphysics), Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, has accepted a tenured appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, effective fall 2014.

Brooklyn Law's Dean Allard Replies to Concerns about Academic Freedom

Dean Allard's constructive reply is here.

Happy Birthday David and Ludwig!

Varol Akman (Bilkent) calls my attention to Garrison Keillor's entries from The Writer's Almanac on the two philosophers who were born on April 26:

It's the birthday of the man who said: "The truth springs from arguments among friends," and "The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster." That's Scottish philosopher David Hume (books by this author), born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1711. While working as a librarian, he wrote the six-volume History of England (1762), which became a bestseller and gave him the financial independence to write and revise his philosophical treatises. He wrote A Treatise of Human Nature (1740), Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding (1748), and Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751). He was a strict skeptic, and questioned all knowledge [purportedly] derived from the senses.

David Hume said, "Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty."

And, "Reading and sauntering and lounging and dozing, which I call thinking, is my supreme happiness."

And, "He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances."

=====

Today is also the birthday of another well-known philosopher: Ludwig Wittgenstein (books by this author), born in Vienna in 1889. He was described by his colleague Bertrand Russell as "the most
perfect example I have known of genius as traditionally conceived: passionate, profound, intense, and dominating." He was the youngest of nine children; three of his brothers committed suicide.

Wittgenstein was born into one of the richest families in Austro-Hungary, but he later gave away his inheritance to his siblings, and aso to an assortment of Austrian writers and artists, including Rainer Maria Rilke.

He once said that the study of philosophy rescued him from nine years of loneliness and wanting to die, yet he tried to leave philosophy several times and pursue another line of work, including serving in the army during World War I, working as a porter at a London hospital, and teaching elementary school.

Wittgenstein was particularly interested in language. He wrote, "The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for."

Fordham's Stephen Grimm interviewed...

...at 3AM.

The American Academy: not as many of the rich got richer this year

 Sure the schools rich in members got richer, but not as much as in prior years, and it seemed to me there was a wider distribution of academic institutions represented (which is as it should be, given the wide distribution of academic talent over the last thirty years); here are the schools ranked by the number of new Fellows elected in 2013:

1.  Harvard University (10)

2.  University of California, Berkeley (9)

3.  Massachussetts Institute of Technology (8)

3.  Princeton University (8)

5.  Stanford University (7)

5.  Yale University (7)

7.  Columbia University (5)

8.  Johns Hopkins University (4)

8.  Northwestern University (4)

8.  University of California, Los Angeles (4)

8.  University of Chicago (4)

12. Brown University (3)

12. Cornell University (3)

12. New York University (3)

12. University of California, San Diego (3)

12. University of California, San Francisco (3)

12. University of Pennslyvania (3)

Schools with two faculty elected this year:  Michigan/ann Arbor; SUNY-Stony Brook; Colorado/Boulder; UC Davis; Illinois/Urbana-Champaign; Boston Univ; Washington/Seattle; Rice; Rockefeller; Southern California; University of Florida/Gainesville.

Schools with one faculty member elected this year:  Bard; UC Santa Barbara; Florida State; UC Irvine; Oregon; Case Western; Minnesota; Temple; Pittsburgh; Purdue; Barnard; Duke; Tufts; City College; Emory; Wash U/St. Louis; UT Southwestern; UT MD Anderson Cancer Center; North Carolina/Chapel Hill; Wisconsin/Madison; Souther Methodist; Georgetown; British Columbia; Baylor College of Medicine.

Academic freedom (and due process) under threat at Brooklyn Law School?

Brooklyn Law School is an independent law school in New York, a school of long-standing and good reputation, with no connection to either Brooklyn College or the City University of New York.  Many of its faculty have national reputations for their scholarship, and its graduates have enjoyed successful careers in both private practice and in the public sector.

Several different sources have reported to me that the Law School's Board of Trustees has adopted the following definition of "Adequate Cause" for termination of tenured faculty:

The definition of “ Adequate Cause” will now include the term “ demonstrated incompetence"..... 

For purposes of the Law School’s regulations, “ Adequate Cause” shall be defined as follows:

“Demonstrated incompetence, including but not limited to, multiple unsatisfactory performance reviews or complaints from supervisors; multiple complaints from students or multiple unsatisfactory student evaluations; sub-standard academic performance; lack of collegiality.”  

There is certainly an important need for American law schools to undertake a review of both their tenure standards and their standards for post-tenure review, given the dereliction of duties that are, alas, widespread (but not only in law schools, of course).    But these standards are very alarming, and suggest the dangers associated with post-tenure review.  The inclusion of "lack of collegiality" in the definition of "adequate cause" is unbelievable, given the AAUP's clear and wholly correct position on the issue.  Any academic institution that wants to avoid sanction by the AAUP would be well-advised to scrap such a malleable criterion.

But at least as alarming is the fact that the definition equates "demonstrated incompetence" not with a peer review finding of pedagogical and scholarly incompetence, but with wholly unreliable and disreputable criteria like students evaluations, complaints from supervisors (which just smuggles "lack of collegiality" in the back door), and so on.   Poor teaching evaluations can properly trigger a peer review of teaching, which could lead to a finding of incompetence.  But poor teaching evaluations from students do not constitute demonstrated incompetence--for reasons the enormous empirical literature on teaching evaluations would make clear, quite apart from AAUP norms.

BLS has long benefitted from its location and its reputation in the recruitment of top-notch faculty.  But unless the school quickly backtracks or clarifies these standards for termination, I am not optimistic for the school's academic future.

UPDATE:  A constructive reply from BLS's Dean Allard to these concerns is here.

On the need to reform the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act

Two law professors have sensible observations.

Philosophers at SUNY-Geneseo Discuss "Sexual Assault"

IHE has a story, but a much more illuminating account is here.  The Geneseo students who started a petition calling for the Administration to denounce the main speaker, Prof. Everett, should apologize; it is never appropriate for a university to express an official criticism of faculty speech (an issue we have encountered before).

Holden Caulfield meets Fred Dretske

Here.

(Thanks to Aleja Santos for the pointer.)

Plutocracy Watch #423: Marx was right

Of course.

Four Philosophers Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

They are:  David Chalmers (ANU/NYU); Alan Code (Stanford); Rae Langton (MIT, moving to Cambridge); and Michael Smith (Princeton).

Fish with a transparent head filmed

This is a propos nothing, but it's still quite striking!

Adjuncts now at risk due to new healthcare law's insurance requirement?

A philosopher writes:

I wonder if the issue addressed in this Chronicle article might merit discussion on your blog.

I'm the assistant chair of a philosophy department at a very poorly funded public commuter school that has been using adjuncts as de facto full-time faculty for years now. Our administration has just told us that we may have to throw a bunch of these people out on the street as early as the beginning of summer so that we won't have to pay for their health insurance.  I'd be curious to know whether fellow philosophers elsewhere in the country might be going through a similar ordeal, and what strategies they've been adopting for dealing with it.

Good developments at Illinois/Urbana-Champaign

500 new faculty to be hired, a 50% increase in spending for the humanities and social sciences.

Information useful for advising students (esp. from underrepresented groups) about advantages of graduate study in philosophy and careers people pursue thereafter?

MOVING TO FRONT FROM APRIL 20, TO ENCOURAGE MORE RESPONSES

A colleague elsewhere writes:

Are you aware of resources I might consult that would give me information about the various kinds of careers people doing graduate (MA or PhD) study in philosophy enter?  Or other materials that might be useful in counseling students from underrepresented groups about the possible advantages of graduate study in philosophy?  (Some of this information might be in the form of information originally directed at potential undergraduate majors.)

Please post links or pertinent information in the comments.

So-called "moral saints"

Interesting interview with the writer who has done memorable profiles of Parfit and the Churchlands.

Who are the most significant moral philosophers in the history of Western philosophy?

So our poll got over 650 responses; here's the top 20:

1. Aristotle  (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices)

2. Immanuel Kant  loses to Aristotle by 364–227

3. Plato  loses to Aristotle by 414–168, loses to Immanuel Kant by 349–241

4. David Hume  loses to Aristotle by 494–95, loses to Plato by 378–197

5. John Stuart Mill  loses to Aristotle by 493–102, loses to David Hume by 292–271

6. Socrates  loses to Aristotle by 464–104, loses to John Stuart Mill by 292–250

7. Thomas Hobbes  loses to Aristotle by 556–29, loses to Socrates by 319–192

8. John Rawls  loses to Aristotle by 557–38, loses to Thomas Hobbes by 272–250

9. Jeremy Bentham  loses to Aristotle by 543–39, loses to John Rawls by 273–250

10. Aquinas  loses to Aristotle by 547–23, loses to Jeremy Bentham by 280–222

11. Augustine  loses to Aristotle by 550–20, loses to Aquinas by 306–131

12. Friedrich Nietzsche  loses to Aristotle by 542–57, loses to Augustine by 263–247

13. Soren Kierkegaard  loses to Aristotle by 553–31, loses to Friedrich Nietzsche by 290–210

14. Epicurus  loses to Aristotle by 554–21, loses to Soren Kierkegaard by 218–214

15. Henry Sidgwick  loses to Aristotle by 542–27, loses to Epicurus by 286–181

16. Jean-Jacques Rousseau  loses to Aristotle by 566–21, loses to Henry Sidgwick by 242–216

17. G.E. Moore  loses to Aristotle by 563–20, loses to Jean-Jacques Rousseau by 264–191

18. Benedict Spinoza  loses to Aristotle by 543–24, loses to G.E. Moore by 252–194

19. G.E.M. Anscombe  loses to Aristotle by 555–13, loses to Benedict Spinoza by 268–165

20. G.W.F. Hegel  loses to Aristotle by 546–14, loses to G.E.M. Anscombe by 227–161

I'm not surprised by the top five, all of which I would have picked for the top ten, except perhaps Kant.  But thereafter I do marvel at what my colleagues think!  Thoughts from readers on the results, and what they say about the current state of philosophy?  Signed comments strongly preferred.  You may, of course, lament the absence of your favorite philosophers from the poll, though do consider whether they would have likely craked "the top 20."  (Of those that didn't make the top 20, the biggest surprise to my mind is Adam Smith.)

Wittgenstein is the lion who talks...

...or W. meets Robert Frost.

(Thanks to Aleja Santos for the pointer.)

New draft paper: "Nietzsche Against the Philosophical Canon"

This is a revised version of the keynote address I gave at the Danish Philosophical Association last month; the abstract:

Nietzsche views the Western philosophical tradition as organized around a conception of philosophy deriving from Socrates. According to this (loosely) Socratic philosophical canon: (1) Philosophy, as the “love of wisdom,” aims for knowledge of timeless and non-empirical truths, including truths about the good and the right; (2) Knowledge of the truth is the overriding value in philosophy and is also essential for living well; and (3) Philosophical knowledge is acquired through the exercise of reason, understood as a faculty that can operate independently, in whole or in part, of a posteriori evidence. This paper explores Nietzsche's reasons for rejecting this conception of philosophy on each count, especially as developed in his book, Twilight of the Idols. Nietzsche's replacement of metaphysical speculation with psychological diagnosis is compared to Carnap's own critique of metaphysics, and helps explain Carnap's high appraisal of Nietzsche compared to other major figures in post-Kantian German philosophy. Nietzsche's rejection of the traditional philosophical canon is contrasted with that of other critics of the tradition, including Marx, Quine, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein. The reaction against naturalism in recent Anglophone philosophy is offered, finally, as a case study in support of Nietzsche's skepticism about the philosophical canon.

Comments are welcome.

Simon Critchley denies behaving badly: the saga continues

Jacob Blumenfeld, one of the three listed editors of the contested volume on anarchism, kindly sent me a copy of the reply sent on behalf of all three editors (including Critchley) to the allegations by Mr. Rousselle noted yesterday.  Mr. Rousselle has posted that reply in its entirety along with his response, and I commend the whole thing to readers who have been following this story.  

There are a number of unusual things about this incident (e.g., Mr. Blumenfeld et al. say that Mr. Rousselle "spontaneously" acted as a "mediator" for the volume), but it does seem to me the crux of the matter is this:  someone who prepares a book proposal, and responds to the press's referees, which then results in a contract is an editor of the resulting book.  This is what Mr. Rousselle reports doing, and as far as I can see, no one is denying he did that.  Mr. Blumenfenfeld et al. now offer to add Mr. Rousselle to subsequent editions, perhaps acknowledging that point.  Mr. Rousselle, in any case, takes issue with several claims in the reply from the listed editors.

UPDATE:  It seems I read Mr. Blumenfeld et al.'s letter too generously, i.e., they are not offering to restore Mr. Rousselle as an editor.

Sattler from Yale to St. Andrews

Barbara Sattler (ancient philosophy), currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, has accepted a (permanent) appointment as Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews.  This is the second loss in ancient philosophy for Yale in roughly the last year (the other being Bobzien's departure for Oxford).  Verity Harte, a leading senior scholar in the field, remains at Yale, and I would imagine the Department will make other appointments in the area before long.

Simon Critchley behaving badly

Nothing like exploiting graduate student labor; an excerpt:

In 2011, Simon Critchley, Chiara Bottici, and Jacob Blumenfeld organized a conference entitled “The Anarchist Turn” at the New School for Social Research. Naturally, the conference was exciting news for anarchist scholars....

I had heard it through the grapevine that the conference organizers were interested in turning the conference papers into some sort of publication. However, I also heard, from some of my contacts, that their proposals were being rejected across the board (Verso, for example, rejected their book proposal, among others). I knew what it took to make this a successful publication but I wanted to help make it successful in such a way as to bring that success back into the anarchist studies milieu. I approached Simon Critchley with a number of ideas. I informed Critchley that I would publish the conference papers in one of two ways: (1) through Pluto Press as an edited volume, with my name on the cover for all of my assistance, and with the Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies [journal] logo somewhere within the publication....

Critchley wanted to go with the first option. He agreed to the stipulations in full and then asked that I continue from that point on to discuss the matter with his colleague and co-conference organizer Chiara Bottici. I spent several weeks working on the proposal for Pluto Press. I knew what Pluto looked for in a contract because I had already published a book with them called Post-Anarchism: A Reader....Chiara was also incredible to work with – we went through the finer points that Critchley and I discussed and she worked with me to re-brand the project and create a new chapter outline, among other things. In other words, she allowed me to adapt the book as it needed to be adapted for it to be approved for publication.

I kept updating and working through the proposal with Chiara, and Simon backed off from communicating with me. I had approached numerous professors and asked them if they would agree to use the book in their courses and had them write this formally so that I could place it into the document with the selected course modules. I did extensive editing of the chapters for the proposal and then spent several weeks in negotiations with the publisher. After handling the peer-reviewers for an additional month, I landed a really sweet contract with Pluto and they mailed it to me immediately....The contract, of course, included all of the stipulations I have listed above (journal special issue affilitation, my name as editor, etc)....

It was a few weeks after the contract was mailed from Pluto’s UK office to my office at Trent University – where, upon receiving I signed my name and sent the contract off to the New School in New York – that Chiara wrote to me to let me know that Critchley now wanted to change the deal. He knew that Pluto was serious and that the deal had been made but he wanted to (1) change the title of the book and (2) remove my name as an editor. The original title of the book paid more debt to the anarchist tradition. It highlighted that anarchism was always a serious line of thinking. The new title, which merely reflects the conference name, assumes that anarchism was now legitimate simply because Judith Butler and Simon Critchley now called themselves anarchists....

It seemed to me that Critchley’s thinking was that editing involves merely soliciting the pieces from authors. In this case, of course, Critchley ought not be listed either since, I have been told, the majority of the heavy lifting was done by Chiara Bottici and Critchley’s graduate student Jacob Blumenfeld. None of my efforts in producing a revised manuscript, table of contents, title for the book, proofing, editing, etc., was anymore considered a form of “editing”. After some debates between Pluto, Chiara, and myself, all of which lasted at least a few days, I gave in and said that it is okay for my name to be removed so long as the rest of the stipulations remained. A new contract was going to be drawn up without my name on it and sent directly to Chiara in New York.

It was at this time that I was removed from all future correspondence.  Several months later, David Castle at Pluto Press wrote to me to let me know that the book was going to continue to press without me. He also informed me that Simon had informed him to drop all of the agreed upon stipulations with [the journal] Anarchist Developments in Cultural Studies.

I wrote to Simon about this and let him know how much work I put into securing the contract for him. The next day I received a single sentence email from him stating the following: either you accept the new amendments or else I take everything and leave. I wrote back and asked him if he understood how many months of intense work I put into the project and he responded by letting me know that he would, of course, detail my work in the acknowledgements section. While I was still a little bitter, I nonetheless thought that this was better than nothing. At least I would receive a little bit of credit for my work.

I received a copy of the book today and my name is nowhere to be found.

All of this is to say that my creative labor was exploited to help Simon Critchley and his colleagues get a book deal that they couldn’t otherwise get.

The Stone' blog's weekly links are often pilfered from this site; I wonder if they will pick this one up?

If there is a different account of these events out there, please send me the link.

(Thanks to Nathan Jun for the pointer.)

Unionizing adjuncts?

If the SEIU (which is the most aggressive and progressive force in the American labor movement right now) succeeds in this initiative, it will change the economics of higher education for the next generation.

Shame would be too lenient a sanction...

...for the craven villains in the U.S. Senate (not to mention their morally deranged supporters).  What a sick, pathetic country this is.

UPDATE:  A NY tabloid gets it right.

Most significant moral philosophers in the history of Western philosophy?

Not much news right now, and we haven't run a poll in awhile, so here it goes.  No living philosophers were included.  I'm sure that almost everyone will think there is at least one outrageous omission, so I apologize in advance, but so it goes.  Have fun!  (Links now fixed, sorry about that.)

All Americans have a constitutional right...

...to own a musket.  It is what the framers intended, after all.

Downturn in Poli Sci Hiring This Year

To early to tell whether the same was or wasn't true in philosophy this year.

The rise in non-tenure-stream faculty as a percentage of all university faculty

Striking chart and data.

Robert Stalnaker interviewed...

...at 3AM.

Yet more on Edwin Mellen Press and its founder...

...at CHE.  One philosophy professor, Leonard Carrier (emeritus, Miami), is quoted in support of the Press.

Objective reporting...

...NY Times-style.

Stanley's Move from Rutgers to Yale..

...in CHE.

Your tax dollars at work...

...finding fake enemies.

Visiting the Great Barrier Reef in August

Which island is best--in terms of proximity to the reef, accomodations, food, activities/amenities or anything else readers think is relevant.  Will be travelling with children (all old enough and experienced enough to swim in the ocean).  Advice from those with experience gratefully received!

Woodin from Berkeley to Harvard

W. Hugh Woodin (set theory, mathematical logic), Professor of Mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley, has accepted a joint senior appointment in the Departments of Mathematics and Philosophy at Harvard University.

Eklund from Cornell to Uppsala

Matti Eklund (metaphysics, philosophy of language and logic), Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University, has acccepted the Chair in Theoretical Philosophy at Uppsala University in Sweden.  That's a notable gain for Uppsala, and a notable loss for Cornell, though with Karen Bennett and Ted Sider, among others, Cornell will continue to have a strong presence in metaphysics.

Three Philosophers Win Guggenheim Fellowships in 2013 Competition

They are:  Elizabeth Anderson (Michigan), Elijah Millgram (Utah), and Nancy Sherman (Georgetown).

UPDATE:  Andy Lamey (Monash) points out that another philosopher, Troy Jollimore (Cal State/Chico), also won a Guggenheim for his poetry work!

How do you know if your paper idea is "original"?

A philosophy PhD student writes:

[W]hat is the surest way of knowing that one's idea for a philosophy paper is original? I have often found myself frantically looking up possible titles of papers/books with similar ideas to mine on Google scholar, philosopher's index etc., and, conducting an almost identical search months later, new entries always seem to creep in. Is that just about the best one can do, apart from talking to experts in relevant fields? 

My inclination is to think the best bet is to ask faculty in your department who are expert in the area, but I imagine many readers would benefit from the experience of others on this front.

New Zealand's Research Assessment Exercise is now out...

...and Otago is once again tops in philosophy (though, at the international level, in the PGR surveys, Auckland is usually tops in New Zealand).  This may, partly, have to do with the high per capita quality and productivity at Otago.

UPDATE:  A philosopher in New Zealand writes with an explanation of how their research exercise works:

Here is a simplified explanation of the “rankings”.  Every researcher that counts toward the ranking is given a grade of A, B, or C.  These grades are represented by numerical values which are then averaged to yield the “Average Quality Score (AQS)”.  The AQS is supposed to represent the mean quality of the researcher at a given institution in a given area  or dept.  It doesn’t take into account the number of researchers in that area (dept).  In principle, if an institution had 1 philosopher who scored an A, it would rank more highly than an institution with 100 A-rated philosophers and 1 B-rated philosopher.    

One major reason why Auckland scores better on the PGR is that it has roughly twice as many members as Otago and Vic.  Both the PGR rankings and the PBRF mean scores provide useful information.  As we can all agree, however, neither should be the only consideration in choosing a graduate program in philosophy.

The New Yorker's Recent Hatchet Job on Venezuela

Interesting.

Problems with Schools Trying to Force PhD/MA Admits to Decide before April 15?

Stacey Patton, a reporter at CHE, is interested in hearing from faculty or students about cases where schools have inappropriately pressured students to accept admissions/financial aid packages before April 15.  She can be reached at [email protected].

Plutynski from Utah to Wash U/St. Louis

Anya Plutynski (history and philosophy of science, esp. biology), Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah, has accepted appointment as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis, effective fall 2013.

Financial crisis at U of Alberta?

This seems alarming.  What's really going on?  Signed comments strongly preferred.

Interesting post on L'Affaire Edwin Mellen and the Question of Whether Libraries Should Boycott the Press

Here.