{"id":7646,"date":"2014-10-10T13:49:25","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T13:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2014\/10\/10\/brian-leiter-to-step-down-as-editor-of-pgr-in-2014-15\/"},"modified":"2014-10-10T13:49:25","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T13:49:25","slug":"brian-leiter-to-step-down-as-editor-of-pgr-in-2014-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2014\/10\/10\/brian-leiter-to-step-down-as-editor-of-pgr-in-2014-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Leiter to Step Down as Editor of PGR in 2014-15"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Leiter-537x350\"<\/a>In effect, Leiter ignored my warning:<\/span><\/p>\n

Do not multiply enemies beyond necessity<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He finally went too far.  For years he got away with vicious out-of-the-blue personal attacks on conservatives and white males, but when he turned on females, such as Prof. Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins<\/a>, the Left turned on one of its own. (Be sure and click on the link to get the full flavor of Leiter's thuggishness.)<\/span><\/p>\n

See my Brian Leiter<\/a> category for more on this sorry specimen.  I wouldn't be mentioning this status-obsessed careerist and academic gossip monger at all if it weren't for his attack on me which you can read about, if you care to, in the category just mentioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Had enough yet?  If not, there is more below.<\/span><\/p>\n

UPDATE (10\/11)<\/strong>:  You've read the September Statement<\/a>.  Here is the October Statement<\/a>.  What's needed  is a November Statement<\/em> the gist of which would be:  forget the despicable Leiter and his antics, and all this rating and ranking nonsense, and the hyperprofessionalization and politicization of this noble and beautiful calling, Philosophy, and return, if you can, to meditation on the questions and problems that ought to have led you to philosophy in the first place — assuming that your goal is wisdom and insight and not the life of a status-obsessed academic functionary like Leiter.  <\/span><\/p>\n

UPDATE (10\/11):<\/strong>  Here<\/a> is a surprisingly detailed and regularly updated archive of Brian Leiter's ongoing collapse with links galore.
<\/span><\/p>\n

A commenter here<\/a> penetrates to the essence of Leiter (emphasis added):<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Her [Jenkins'] original post, which essentially celebrated her happy ascension to being a professor in a treasured field, was instantly stalked and trolled and attacked by a prominent professional in her field who put her on notice that nothing she wrote or published would happen without his eye falling on it, that whatever she wrote could be construed as legally actionable, that he would be watching her to make sure that she steered clear of the sin of ever impinging on his gaping wound of an ego. In other words: she\u2019s minding her own business and an important, touchy, asshole turns out to be stalking her and turning her private and professional life into a legal cause of action.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an instant she went from being a person celebrating and engaging with her field and her colleagues into, apparently, the enemy of a person with zero sense of proportionality and restraint\u2013a person so narcissistic that they go out of their way<\/span> [he goes out of his way] to threaten legal action against a perfect stranger for a perfectly innocuous post that doesn\u2019t reference Leiter at all. <\/strong>[. . .]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That's exactly right.  No reasonable and decent person could object to Jenkins' statement of her principles and ideals.  And even if it is too earnest for the jaded, only a scumbag like Leiter would call her a "sanctimonious asshole" for writing it.  And only an egomaniac like the Ladderman could take it as directed at him.<\/span><\/p>\n

You see, the problem with Leiter is not that he responds uncivilly to people who attack him; the problem is that he initiates vicious attacks on, and threatens, people who haven't mentioned him at all simply for stating something with which he disagrees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leiter is a strange study in self-destruction: he craves status and recognition and yet behaves in a way that any fool can see will lead to his loss of reputation.  Chivalry may be moribund, but it is not entirely dead.  To attack a woman who has made it in a male-dominated field as an "asshole" for simply announcing her values and ideals is not only morally offensive but profoundly foolish for someone for whom status and standing are everything.  <\/span><\/p>\n

And how 'philosophical' is such behavior?  How can one call a philosopher one who places a premium on status and standing?  Leiter fancies himself a philosopher, the real thing, while I, according to him, merely "purport" to be a philosopher.  But he does not enjoy an appointment in a philosophy department! So by his own entirely superficial criterion of what makes one a philosopher he himself is not a philosopher.  His criterion, it goes without saying, is absurd on the face of it, excluding as it does Socrates and Spinoza and so many others as philosophers, including his master Nietzsche, another profile in self-destruction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The man is without substance, devoid of wisdom and decency, a two-bit self-promoter and academic functionary, in no way a Mensch<\/em>, in some ways a Macher<\/em><\/a>, and in most ways a blight upon academic philosophy.  It is good that he has decided to self-destruct.  May he complete the project and emerge with a metanoia, a change of heart and mind.
<\/span><\/p>\n

We who are now witnessing his self-induced unravelling may wish to ask ourselves: is this Schadenfreude<\/em>, or righteous satisfaction at his comeuppance?<\/span><\/p>\n

UPDATE (10\/15):<\/strong>   Keith Burgess-Jackson<\/a>  quotes Colin McGinn<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

As to Professor Leiter himself, I wish to say as little as possible (we have had our run-ins, to put it mildly). But I think everyone should acknowledge that Brian Leiter is not solely responsible for Brian Leiter: he has been pandered to, encouraged, and enabled by large segments of the philosophy profession, especially in the United States. The reasons for this have been essentially corrupt. It is time for people to wake up to their own complicity. He has no more power than the power people have given him. I look forward to a post-Leiter age in philosophy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Keith, one of Leiter's early victims, goes on to report his satisfaction at Leiter's humiliation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here's hoping that Leiter's self-defenestration does indeed usher in "a post-Leiter age in philosophy."<\/span><\/p>\n

\nRelated articles<\/legend>\n
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\"\"<\/a>The Revolt Against Leiter<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Everyone Hates This Poor Law Professor<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Brian Leiter, supporter of Steven Salaita, embroiled in his own civility controversy<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Brian Leiter: Recent Developments and Further Insight into His Character<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>The Man Who Ranks Philosophy Departments Now Rankles Them, Too<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>The Man Who Ranks Philosophy Departments Now Rankles Them, Too<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Being a New Yorker<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Some thoughts on the recent Leiter imbroglio<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Brian Leiter, Academic Thug<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Editor to Give Up Leadership of Philosophy Rankings<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In effect, Leiter ignored my warning: Do not multiply enemies beyond necessity. He finally went too far.  For years he got away with vicious out-of-the-blue personal attacks on conservatives and white males, but when he turned on females, such as Prof. Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins, the Left turned on one of its own. (Be sure and … Continue reading “Brian Leiter to Step Down as Editor of PGR in 2014-15”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-brian-leiter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}