MOVING TO FRONT from May 26, 2021, UPDATED (MOST RECENT: 9/2/2021)--ORIGINALLY POSTED AUGUST 24, 2020 (recent updates [retirements] to Columbia, Cornell, Wash U/St. Louis).
Since the 2020-21 PGR has been delayed, this is a summary of changes at the tenured (or almost tenured) ranks at roughly the top 50 PhD programs in the U.S. since the 2017 Philosophical Gourmet Report; more precisely, these are changes that were not reflected in the faculty lists evaluators saw for the 2017 PGR surveys (some moves that weren't official until 2018 were reflected in the faculty lists for the 2017 surveys). (Please e-mail me any corrections or additions, thanks.)
At the end, I give a rough guesstimate of the new rankings in light of these changes if surveys were done this fall.
New York University (#1 in 2017 PGR): Lost Jim Pryor (epistemology) to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Richard Foley (epistemology) and Beatrice Longuenesse (Kant, post-Kantian Continental philosophy), both of whom retired (or are about to retire), and David Velleman (ethics, moral psychology, philosophy of action), who also retired and took up a Research Professorship at Johns Hopkins University. Will probably remain #1 despite these significant losses.
Rutgers University, New Brunswick (#2 in 2017 PGR): Losing Anthony Gillies (philosophy of language, epistemology) to the University of Arizona. Hired Karen Bennett (metaphysics) from Cornell, Derrick Darby (social & political philosophy, philosophy of race) from Michigan, Nir Eyal (bioethics) from the Harvard School of Public Health, Michael Glanzberg (philosophical logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics) from Northwestern University, Brian Leftow (philosophy of religion, medieval philosophy) from Oxford University, and Michael Otsuka (political philosophy, ethics) from the LSE. Daniel Hausman (philosophy of social science, ethics), who has retired at Wisconsin, has accepted a six-year appointment with the new Rutgers bioethics center, that will also include regular teaching in philosophy for the next six years. Rutgers was already one of the very top programs in both metaphysics and philosophy of language, and will now be close to tops in philosophy of religion as well and a good choice for philosophy of race and also bioethics (with Frances Kamm, in addition to Eyal). These appointments largely play to strengths, but will close the gap with #1 NYU somewhat (NYU's big advantage in terms of the overall rankings has been its broader coverage of philosophy, especially history of ancient and modern philosophy, including the post-Kantian Continental traditions).
Princeton University (#3 in 2017 PGR): Lost Johann Frick (moral & politcal philosophy) to Berkeley and Alexander Nehamas (ancient philosophy, Nietzsche, aesthetics) to retirement; hired Lara Buchak (decision, game & rational theory) from the University of California, Berkeley and Andrew Chignell (Kant, philosophy of religion) (primary appointments in Religion and Center for Human Values) from the University of Pennsylvania. Also added junior lateral Una Stojnic (philosophy of language, philosophical logic) from Columbia University. Should remain squarely in the top three.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (#4 in 2017 PGR): Added Kristi Dotson (epistemology, feminist philosophy, philosophy of race) from Michigan State Universitiy; lost Derrick Darby (social & political philosophy, philosophy of race) to Rutgers, Daniel Jacobson (ethics, aesthetics) to the University of Colorado, Boulder, Maria Lasonen-Aarnio (epistemology) to Helsinki and advanced Assistant Professor Meena Krishnamurthy (political philosophy) to Queen's University in Canada. Will probably still remain in or around the top five despite these losses.
University of Pittsburgh (#4 in 2017 PGR): hired Ann Cudd (political philosophy, philosophy of economics, decision theory) as Provost from Boston University; Sara Magrin (ancient philosophy) from the Classics Department at Berkeley; Jacob Rosen (ancient philosophy) from Harvard; Nandi Theunissen (ethics, metaethics) from Johns Hopkins University; and David Wallace (philosophy of physics) from the University of Southern California. Pitt lost Michael Caie (philosophical logic, philosophy of language, formal epistemology) and (untenured) Jessica Gelber (ancient Greek and Roman philosophy) to the University of Toronto; lost Mazviita Chirimuuta (philosophy of neuroscience & perception) to the University of Edinburgh and advanced junior Dmitri Gallow (philosophy of science, metaphysics) to the Australian Catholic University. Pitt will move into the very top ranks for philosophy of physics (along with Michigan and Oxford) and should remain squarely in the U.S. top five.
Yale University (#6 in 2017 PGR): hired L.A. (Laurie) Paul (metaphysics, philosophy of cognitive science, formal epistemology) from North Carolina; lost advanced junior Elizabeth Miller (metaphysics, philosophy of science) to Brown University. May crack the overall "top 5" again.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (#7 in 2017 PGR): lost Miriam Schoenfield (epistemology) to the University of Texas, Austin; Stephen Yablo (metaphysics) will be on disability leave (and retiring in 2023), but continuing to supervise students. MIT should still remain in or around the "top 10."
University of Southern California (#7 in 2017 PGR): Lost Stephen Finlay (metaethics) and John Hawthorne (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language) to the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne (although Finlay will continue teaching at USC for roughly half a semester each year [so quarter-time], while Hawthorne will continue teaching at USC for a semester each year [so half-time]--both for at least the next two years [through 2021]) and David Wallace (philosophy of physics) to the University of Pittsburgh. Gary Watson (ethics, philosophy of action) retired. Will probably remain in or around the top ten.
Columbia University (#9 in 2017 PGR): hired Jenann Ismael (philosophy of science and physics, metaphysics, philosophy of mind) from the University of Arizona. Philip Kitcher's phased retirement (noted in the 2017 surveys) ended in 2020; cognate faculty member Joseph Raz (philosophy of law, political philosophy) retired in fall 2019; and Particia Kitcher (Kant, philosophy of mind) retired in 2021. Should remain in or around the top ten.
Harvard University (#9 in 2017 PGR): lost Russell Jones (untenured Associate Professor) to his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma and Jacob Rosen (untenured Associate Professor) to Pittsburgh (above). Christine Korsgaard's phased retirement (noted in the 2017 surveys) has come to an end (she is now listed as emerita at Harvard). Added advanced junior lateral Samantha Matherne (Kant, 19th- and 20th-century Continental philosophy, aesthetics) from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Will probably remain in or around the top ten.
Stanford University (#9 in 2017 PGR): lost Ken Taylor (philosophy of language), who passed away; and part-time faculty member Brian Skyrms (decision theory, philosophy of science, epistemology) and full-time faculty member Helen Longino (philosophy of science, feminist philosophy), both of whom retired; losing advanced junior faculty Anna-Sara Malmgren (philosophy of language & mind, metaphysics, epistemology) to a tenured post at Inland Norway University of Applies Sciences, Lillehammer. Added Leif Wenar (political philosophy) from King's College, London. Will probably remain in or around the top ten.
University of California, Berkeley (#9 in 2017 PGR): Added Johann Frick (moral & political philosophy) from Princeton University and Andreja Novakovic (19th-century German philosophy) from the University of California, Riverside; lost Lara Buchak (above) to Princeton and Hans Sluga (history of analytic philosophy, Continental philosophy) to retirement.
City University of New York Graduate Center (#14 in 2017 PGR): hired Muhammad Ali Khalidi (philosophy of science and cognitive science, Islamic philosophy) from York University, Toronto and (to Hunter College and the Graduate Center) Sandra Shapsay (aesthetics, Kant, Schopenhauer) from Indiana University, Bloomington (she is on leave from Indiana until 2022, so may return); lost Jennifer Morton (below) to North Carolina (but then she moved to Penn).
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (#14 in 2017 PGR): lost L.A. (Laurie) Paul (metaphysics, philosophy of cognitive science, formal epistemology) to Yale (above); Gillian Russell (philosophy of language) to the Australian Catholic University; Thomas E. Hill, Jr. (ethics, Kant), who had been on phased retirement (noted in the 2017 surveys), has now officially retired; and Gerald Postema (legal and political philosophy), who also retired. Hired Tom Dougherty (ethics, political philosophy) from Cambridge University; James Pryor (epistemology) from New York University, and Sarah Stroud (ethics) from McGill University, who will also direct the Parr Center for Ethics. UNC should remain in or around the top 15.
University of Arizona (#16 in 2017 PGR): lost Michael Gill (history of ethics) to the University of Edinburgh; Jenann Ismael (above) to Columbia; Shaun Nichols (moral psychology, philosophy of mind and cognitive science) to Cornell University; Connie Rosati (ethics, philosophy of law) to the University of Texas at Austin, and Julia Annas (ancient, ethics) and Terence Horgan (philosophy of mind) both to retirement. Gerald Gaus (political philosophy) passed away. Hired Anthony Gillies (philosophy of language, epistemology) from Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Allen Buchanan (political philosophy) retired at Duke and has taken up a quarter-time appointment at Arizona. Arizona is likely to drop out of the top 20.
University of Notre Dame (#17 in 2017 PGR): hired J.C. Beall (philosophical logic) from the University of Connecticut and Kris McDaniel (metaphysics) from Syracuse University, appointments which enhance Notre Dame's already strong position in both areas. Lost Anjan Chakravartty (philosophy of science) to the University of Miami, and Peter van Inwagen (metaphysics), who had been on phased retirement (noted in 2017 surveys), who fully retired. Michael Detlefsen (philosophy of mathematics) passed away. Notre Dame will certainly remain squarely in the top 20.
Brown University (#18 in 2017 PGR): hired advanced junior Elizabeth Miller (metaphysics, philosophy of science) from Yale University (into a tenure-track position).
University of Texas, Austin (#18 in 2017 PGR): hired Julia Driver (ethics) and Roy Sorensen (philosophy of language and logic, metaphysics & epistemology) from Washington University, St. Louis; Connie Rosati (ethics, philosophy of law) from Arizona (above); Karl Schafer (ethics, metaethics, epistemology, Hume, Kant) from the University of California, Irvine; and Miriam Schoenfield (epistemology) from MIT. Part-time faculty member Larry Laudan--an eminent philosopher of science who over the last 15 years has emerged as a penetrating writer on the epistemology of the rules of evidence and criminal procedure--resigned from his position in both philosophy and law. Texas is likely to crack the top 15.
University of California, San Diego (#20 in 2017 PGR): added David Danks (philosophy of science and cognitive science, machine learning, ethics of AI) and Mara Harrell (philosophy of science, philosophical pedagogy), both from Carnegie-Mellon. Lost Lucy Allais (Kant, moral psychology) to Johns Hopkins, Donald Rutherford (early modern philosophy, Nietzsche) to retirement and Paolo Santorio (philosophy of language and mind, philosophical logic) to the University of Maryland, College Park.
University of California, Irvine (#21 in 2017 PGR): hired Duncan Pritchard (epistemology) from the University of Edinburgh and advanced junior lateral Katherine Ritchie (metaphysics, philosophy of language, social philosophy) from City College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York; lost Karl Schafer (above) to Texas, and Ermanno Bencivenga (Kant, Hegel, logic), Bonnie Kent (medieval philosophy), and Penelope Maddy (philosophy of math and logic), all of whom retired. Should remain in the top 25.
University of Chicago (#21 in 2017 PGR): lost Arnold Davidson (Continental philosophy), who retired.
Washington University, St. Louis (#21 in 2017 PGR): lost Julia Driver and Roy Sorensen (above) to Texas, John Doris (metaethics, moral psychology) to Cornell (below), and advanced junior Julia Staffel (formal epistemology) to Colorado (below). J. Claude Evans (Continental philosophy), Dennis Des Chene (early modern philosophy) and Mark Rollins (philosophy of mind, aesthetics) retired. Added Becko Copenhaver (early modern philosophy) from Lewis & Clark College; Matthew McGrath (epistemology, metaphysics) from Rutgers University (he had only moved to Rutgers the year before), and Lori Watson (political philosophy, feminist philosophy) from University of San Diego. Will likely drop out of the top 25, but has emerged as a strong choice in metaphysics and epistemology (McGrath, Hazlett, Heil, Kvanvig), in addition to its traditional strength in philosophy of cognitive science. Should remain in or around the top 25.
University of Wisconsin, Madison (#21 in 2017 PGR): lost Daniel Hausman (philosophy of social science, ethics), who retired; and Sarah Paul (philosophy of action) to New York University-Abu Dhabi; added two advanced junior laterals, Hayley Clatterbuck (philosophy of science and biology) from Rochester and Bruno Whittle (logic) from Texas Tech. Should remain in the top 25.
Cornell University (#25 in 2017 PGR): lost Karen Bennett (metaphysics) to Rutgers and Richard Miller (ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of science), who retired. Added Shaun Nichols (above) from Arizona, Karolina Hubner (early modern) from University of Toronto; Carlotta Pavese (philosophy of mind and language) from Duke University; and David Shoemaker (philosophy of action, moral psychology) from Tulane University (joins in 2021). Charles Brittain (ancient philosphy), who had briefly moved to the University of Toronto, returned to Cornell (with primary appointment now in philosophy). In addition, John Doris (moral psychology, metaethics) from Washington University, St. Louis joined the Business School faculty, with a cross-appointment in philosophy. Cornell may return to the top 20, and will now have an unusually strong moral psychology group.
Duke University (#25 in 2017 PGR): lost Carlotta Pavese (philosophy of mind and language) to Cornell (above). Allen Buchanan (political philosophy) retired. Robert Brandon (philosophy of biology), Michael Ferejohn (ancient philosophy) and Owen Flanagan (ethics, moral psychology, philosophy of mind and cognitive science) are all on phased retirements ending in 2021-22. Karen Neander (philosophy of mind, biology & cognitive science) passed away. Likely to drop out of the top 30.
University of Pennsylvania (#27 in 2017 PGR): lost Andrew Chignell (Kant, philosophy of religion) to Princeton. Susan Sauve Meyer (ancient philosophy) and Stephen Perry (legal and political philosophy) will retire at the end of this academic year. Samuel Freeman (political philosophy) will enter a five-year phased retirement starting in 2021-22, and will be teaching one course per year (quarter-time) and continuing PhD supervisions. Added Jennifer Morton (philosophy of action, moral/political philosophy, philosophy of education) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Will remain in or around the top 30.
Indiana University, Bloomington (#28 in 2017 PGR): Timothy O'Connor (metaphysics, philosophy of action, philosophy of religion) returned after a year at Baylor University. Added advanced junior lateral Elizbeth Schechter (philosophy of mind & cognitive science) from Washington University, St. Louis, but then lost her to Maryland; also lost Sandra Shapsay (above) to CUNY. Mark Kaplan (epistemology) and Joan Weiner (history of analytic) both retired at the end of 2017-18. Will remain in or around the top 30.
Ohio State University (#28 in 2017 PGR): Lost Julia Jorati (early modern philosophy) to the University of Massachussetts, Amherst.
University of Colorado, Boulder (#28 in 2017 PGR): hired Daniel Jacobson (ethics, aesthetics) from Michigan (above) and advanced junior lateral Julia Staffel (formal epistemology) from Washington University, St. Louis; lost Graeme Forbes (philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophical logic) to retirement.
University of Massachussetts, Amherst (#28 in 2017 PGR): hired Julia Jorati (above) from Ohio State.
Northwestern University (#32 in 2017 PGR): lost Fabrizio Cariani (philosophy of language, philosophical logic, epistemology) to the University of Maryland, College Park, and Michael Glanzberg (philosophical logic, philosophy of language) to Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Richard Kraut (ancient philosophy, ethics) is on phased retirement. May slip out of the top 40.
University of California, Riverside (#32 in 2017 PGR): lost Andreja Novakovic (19th-century German philosophy) to Berkeley; added Alexandra (Sasha) Newton (Kant, German Idealism) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and advanced junior lateral Kim Frost (philosophy of mind and action) from Syracuse University.
Carnegie-Mellon University (#35 in 2017 PGR): Lost David Danks (philosophy of science and cognitive science, machine learning, ethics of AI) and Mara Harrell (philosophy of science, philosophical pedagogy) to the University of California, San Diego.
Georgetown University (#35 in 2017 PGR): hired John Greco (epistemology) from Saint Louis University.
Syracuse University (#35 in 2017 PGR): hired Luvell Anderson (philosophy of race, philosophy of language, aesthetics) from the University of Memphis, which will probably get Syracuse ranked for philosophy of race in the next PGR; hired adavnced junior lateral Karin Nisenbaum (Kant, 19th- and 20th-century Continental philosophy) from Boston College. Lost advanced junior Kim Frost (philosophy of mind and action) to UC Riverside, and lost Kris McDaniel (metaphysics) to Notre Dame. Frederick Beiser (Kant, 19th-century German philosophy) will retire in 2021-22. May drop out of the top 40.
University of Connecticut, Storrs (#35 in 2017 PGR): lost J.C. Beall (above) to Notre Dame; and Susan Schneider (philosophy of mind & cognitive science) to Florida Atlantic University. Will probably drop out of the top 40.
University of Miami (#35 in 2017 PGR ): hired Anjan Chakravartty (philosophy of science) from the University of Notre Dame, as well as advanced junior laterals Helen Yetter Chappell and Richard Yetter Chappell from the University of York; this should push Miami back to the cusp of the top 30.
Johns Hopkins University (#40 in 2017 PGR): hired Lucy Allais (Kant, moral psychology) from UC San Diego; and Hanna Pickard (philosophy of mind, moral psychology, clinical ethics) and Ian Phillips (philosophy of mind & psychology), both from the University of Birmingham. Added David Velleman (ethics, moral psychology) from NYU as a "Research Professor" (he will do some teaching but will not direct dissertations). Lost Nandi Theunissen (ethics, metaethics) to Pittsburgh. Eckart Forster (Kant, German Idealism) is retiring in 2020-21. Should move to the cusp of the top 30.
University of Maryland, College Park (#40 in 2017 PGR): hired Fabrizio Cariani (philosophy of language, philosophical logic, epistemology) from Northwestern University; Paolo Santorio (philosophy of language and mind, philosophical logic) from the University of California, San Diego; and Elizabeth Schechter (philosophy of mind & psychology) from Indiana University, Bloomington. Lost Christopher Morris (political philosophy) to retirement. Should move to the cusp of the top 30.
University of California, Davis (#42 in 2017 PGR): Senior faculty David Copp (ethics and metaethics) and Marina Oshana (ethics) both took emeritus status. The department will probably remain in the top 50 nonetheless.
University of Illinois, Chicago (#43 in 2017 PGR): Lost Mahrad Almotahari (metaphysics, philosophy of language) to the University of Edinburgh; Peter Hylton (history of analytic philosophy) and Constance Meinwald (ancient philosophy) both retired; some tenure-stream faculty were tenured in the interim. The department might drop out of the top 50.
Boston University (#44 in 2017 PGR): Peter Hylton (above from UIC) will be teaching at BU for at least the next three years. If his appointment continues, it would make BU a major destination for students interested in history of analytic philosophy.
Florida State University (#44 in 2017 PGR): hired Edward Hinchman (epistemology, moral psychology, philosophy of mind and action) and Andrea Westlund (feminist philosophy, ethics, moral psychology) from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Marie Fleming (19th/20th-century Continental philosophy) and Michael Ruse (philosophy of science & biology) both retired.
University of California, Santa Barbara (#44 in 2017 PGR): hired Elinor Mason (ethics) from the University of Edinburgh.
Saint Louis University (#49 in 2017 PGR): hired Helen De Cruz (philosophy of religion, philosophy of cognitive science, experimental philosophy) from Oxford Brookes University; lost John Greco (epistemology) to Georgetown University. May slip out of the top 50.
University of Rochester (#49 in 2017 PGR): hired Rosa Terlazzo (moral & political philosophy) from Kansas State University.
Rice University (just outside top 50 in 2017 PGR): added Elizabeth Brake (ethics, applied ethics) from Arizona State University and Uriah Kriegel (philosophy of mind and cognitive science) from the Jean Nicod Institute. Lost Richard Grandy (philosophy of logic, math & science) to retirement. Should definitely be back in the top 50 (their not being in the top 50 in 2017 seemed to me the clearest fluke in the results that year).
If surveys were conducted this fall, I would expect the top 50 to look something like the following "peer group" clusters, organized alphbetically within groups.
An * indicates a program's job placement is comparable to or superior to that of programs in the next highest group.
Group 1 (1-3)
New York University
Princeton University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Group 2 (4-7)
University of California, Berkeley*
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Pittsburgh
Yale University
Group 3 (8-13)
Columbia University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology*
Stanford University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Southern California
Group 4 (14-17)
City University of New York Graduate Center
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Texas, Austin
Group 5 (18-24)
Brown University
Cornell University
University of Arizona
University of California, Irvine
University of California, San Diego
University of Chicago
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Group 6 (25-29)
Indiana University, Bloomington
Ohio State University
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Pennsylvania
Group 7 (30-37)
Duke University
Georgetown University
Johns Hopkins University
University of California, Riverside
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Miami
University of Virginia
Washington University, St. Louis
Group 8 (38-41)
Carnegie-Mellon University*
Northwestern University
Syracuse University
University of California, Santa Barbara
Group 9 (42-50)
Boston University
Florida State University
Rice University
Texas A&M University
University of California, Davis
University of Connecticut, Storrs
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
University of Rochester
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