Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Academia

  • Brian Leiter: Recent Developments and Further Insight into His Character

    I thank my readers for keeping me apprised of these unsavory matters. Recent manifestations of Leiter's thuggish nature are documented in a Statement of Concern by Sally Haslanger and David Velleman. Further information and hyperlinks at The Daily Nous, here and here. More on the Ladderman in Brian Leiter.  (As luck would have it, this…

  • Patriarchy and Rape Culture Flourish in Boulder . . .

    . . . if this pathetic piece can be believed.  But it so reads like a parody of POMO rhetoric that it negates itself.  The writer is an alumna of the UC Boulder Philosophy Department.   One hopes that she is not representative of the sort of graduate the department 'produces.' If she is, then…

  • Twilight Time for the Universities?

    Morris Berman, The Twilight of American Culture (Norton, 2000), p. 122: Latin mottoes adorn the crests of many of these schools, boasting of "light" and "truth." [BV interjects: Harvard's crest shows Veritas] The reality, however, is something very different, as thousands of these institutions have literal or de facto open admissions policies in the name…

  • Inheritance and Appropriation

    The high school I attended required each student to take two years of Latin.  Years later the requirement was dropped. When a fundraiser contacted me for a donation, I said, "You eliminated Latin, why should I give you a donation?"  He replied that the removal of Latin made room for Chinese.   What I should…

  • Academic Librarian Compares PhilPapers and Philosopher’s Index

    Here. (HT: Dave Lull)

  • Philosophy and Feminism: Spencer Case Replies to Critics

    Excerpt: I am critical of giving feminism and race the extra attention and insulation from criticism that comes from designating these topics as “entire sub-disciplines of philosophy.” Given that it’s considered impolitic to criticize “entire sub-disciplines of philosophy,” we should vigorously debate what deserves to be considered as such. Knowledge, ethics, and being-qua-being deserve that…

  • The Gender Academy

    In his latest NRO column, Spencer Case argues that "The feminist left is politicizing philosophy."  I would add that this is but a special case of the general truth that the Left politicizes everything.  Some related posts of mine: The Politicization of the American Philosophical Association The Recent Dennett-Plantinga A. P. A. Debate and the…

  • David Stove’s Tribute to David Armstrong

    Excerpt: But, while David has never aspired to put the world right by philosophy, the world for its part has not been equally willing to let him and philosophy alone in return. Quite the reverse. His tenure of the Chair turned out to coincide with an enormous attack on philosophy, and on humanistic learning in…

  • Brian Leiter’s Initial Attack on Me and Why I Respond Harshly to Him

    My recent anti-Leiter posts may give new readers the impression that I am doing the same sort of thing he does, namely, hurling abuse and name-calling.  Not so.  He attacked me out of the blue in November of 2004, and I ignored him.  But given his recent attack, it is time to supply the context…

  • Dissertation Advice on the Occasion of Kant’s Birthday

                          Immanuel Kant was born on this date in 1724. He died in 1804. My dissertation on Kant, which now lies 36 years in the past, is dated 22 April 1978.  But if, per impossibile, my present self were Doktorvater to my self of 36 years ago, my doctoral thesis might not have been approved!…

  • What is the H Index?

    A U. K. reader made mention in an e-mail of a feminist philosopher with a high H index. "What is this? It's a measure of citation apparently. Is that good? Or is it a bunch of useless people citing each other — a sort of walled garden? Interested in your thoughts." To tell the truth,…

  • Roger Scruton on the Decline of the Modern University

    Our man in Boulder, Spencer Case, here interviews Roger Scruton.  I have reproduced the whole piece, bolding those portions I consider most important.  To my pleasure, I find myself in  agreement with  what Scruton maintains below, though he ought to have avoided the "ideological concentration camp" exaggeration.  I reproduce the whole of the interview to…

  • Leiter Lambasted: A Case of the Left Eating Their Own?

    Brian Leiter is known for his academic gossip site, Leiter Reports.  He is also known for his careerism, thuggishness, and political correctness.  Some call him Ladder Man because of his obsession with rankings and status.  (One of the meanings of the German Leiter is ladder; another is leader as in Gauleiter.)  Others call him Brianus…

  • Boulder as Salem: Steven F. Hayward on an Academic Witch Hunt

    Excerpts: Unquestionably philosophy is among of the most male-dominated disciplines in universities today, but inviting outside review by the American Philosophical Association's (APA) Committee on the Status of Women was guaranteed to produce a finding as predictable as the Salem Committee to Investigate Witchcraft in 1691. The irony of this situation is the unacknowledged reversal…

  • A Reader’s Comments on the A. P. A. ‘Climate’ Report on The UC Boulder Philosophy Department

    Philip Sheridan writes, I read the 17 page American Philosophical Association site visit report on the University of Colorado, Boulder, philosophy department.  As a consultant, I wrote many reports like this — you interview, obtain documentation and data, analyze the information, compare performance to best practices, and then finalize recommendations. Most of the time outside…