Recently, someone sent me a copy of this extremely recent interesting Harper’s article by William Deresiewicz, “The Neoliberal Arts: How College Sold its Soul to the Market.” It’s a scathing critique of contemporary undergraduate liberal arts education, very nicely timed to appear with the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year. I don’t know WD’s previous … [continue reading]
The Strange Case of Don-the-Monster, Or, Coercive Moralism in Professional Philosophy
Part 1. Y’s Take on The Strange Case of Don-the-Monster. One of my colleagues (let’s call him Don) considers himself a religious man and has a strong background in ethics. He specializes in health care ethics, and also plays an integral role in emphasizing the importance of “teaching values across the curriculum” at our institution. … [continue reading]
The Pseudo-Family from Hell: Against Philosophy Departments & For Philosophy Research Groups.
Every happy philosophy department is the same, but each unhappy philosophy department is fucked up in its own special, weird way. Of course, I’m profanely spinning on the justly famous first line of Tolstoy’s titanically brilliant Anna Karenina. Tolstoy knew all about fucked-up families. But philosophers are, by nature, special, weird people; and professional academic … [continue reading]
Professional X-ian Philosophy as Dismaland for Academics.
I’m a serious philosopher who also used to be a professional philosopher. And I study and write about X-ian philosophy. But all too often, professional X-ian philosophy made and still makes me feel like a whale jumping out of a toilet through a tiny hoop held by a dominatrix in a frog suit, like one … [continue reading]
Philosophical Rigor as Rigor Mortis, Or, How to Write a Publishable Paper Without Even Having to Think.
My anarcho-philosophical attention was recently drawn to this very interesting blog post, by Marcus Arvan, “Has Contemporary Philosophy Over-Fetishized Rigor?” By “rigor” Arvan means, and I also mean, analytical clarity, consistency, a preparedness to give reasons for one’s claims, attention to validity in arguments, and a preparedness to defend one’s claims and arguments against actual … [continue reading]
Learning to Love Your Captors, Or, How to Publish, then Perish before Leaving Grad School.
I would venture to guess that the vast majority of us took an interest in philosophy not as a way to have better access to a job, but as a way of life. I would also venture to guess that the vast majority of those who began philosophy in this way have now abandoned philosophy … [continue reading]
“Analytic” vs. “Continental” Philosophy Re-Revisited.
APP Editors’ Note: not-Q is a recently tenured associate professor of comparative literature at an institution of higher education somewhere in North America; and JdB recently received her/his BA in philosophy at a public university somewhere in North America. This conversation flows from these three posts: 1. “Analytic” Philosophy vs. “Continental” Philosophy: WtF? Why Does … [continue reading]
Real Philosophy from the Outside.
APP Editors’ note: M is a recent PhD in philosophy, and also the holder of an advanced degree in law, who is currently teaching in a non-TT position at a public university somewhere in Europe; Boethius is a tenured associate professor of philosophy at a public university somewhere in North America; & L_E is a … [continue reading]
Which Brand Do You Identify With? Brand Loyalty as Discrimination in Professional Philosophy.
Are you Analytic-coke, or Continental-pepsi? Are you Femininist-Tareyton, or non-Feminist-Tareyton? Would you rather fight than switch? Now remove ‘coke’, ‘pepsi’, and ‘Tareyton’ from those all-too-familiar professional-philosophy labels. Do you now see how essentially stupid, rationally unjustified, or even immoral it is for you to identify yourself with one brand of professional philosophy than another? Or … [continue reading]
Philosoflicks 2, Installment 1: Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus, Preface & Letters I-IV.
WHAT IS A PHILOSOFLICK? In “Let’s Make More Movies,” the epistemological anarchist Paul Feyerabend wrote this: The separation of subjects that is such a pronounced characteristic of modern philosophy is … not altogether undesirable. It is a step on the way to a more satisfactory type of myth. What is needed to proceed further is … [continue reading]