Tag: SPEP

The favorites’ favorites — another round of PGR rankings of continental philosophy

I see that Brian Leiter has posted a preview of the five 20th century continental programs that his reviewers like best, certainly all fine programs: Columbia University; Georgetown University; University of California, Riverside; University of Chicago; and University of Notre Dame. I wasn’t surprised by the absence of “spep-ish” departments, as the bleiterites are wont to put it, for it is rare that a “spep-ish” continental philosopher serves as an evaluator. (Never mind that the big tent called the Society for Phenomenology and Existentialist Philosophy is the second largest philosophical society in North America, next to the American Philosophical Association, and, I would hazard, the largest continental philosophy society in the world. So to call a program with strengths in continental philosophy “spep-ish” is like calling any program in philosophy “apa-ish”  —  it’s practically trivial.)

(Also, I am not at all surprised by the omission of the Emory University program for we simply do not participate in the rankings.)

I have long argued that the fatal flaw of these reports is that the evaluators do not represent a cross-section of the field.  So, to try to make this point a bit more pointedly, take a look at the names of the 24 evaluators for 20th Century Continental Philosophy programs:

James Bohman, Steven Crowell, Maudemarie Clark, David Dudrick, Gordon Finlayson, Max de Gaynesford, Charles Guignon, Gary Gutting, Beatrice Han-Pile, Scott Jenkins, Pierre Keller, Michelle Kosch, Brian Leiter, Dean Moyar, Stephen Mulhall, Brian O’Connor, Peter Poellner, Bernard Reginster, Michael Rosen, Joseph Schear, Iain Thomson, Georgia Warnke, Mark Wrathall, Julian Young.

This is a great group, including many I personally know and admire.  But let me explain how it does not at all represent a cross-section of philosophers doing work in 20th Century Continental Philosophy.  I took a couple hours this evening to consult the websites and phil papers sites, etc. of members of this group, and made notes of what areas they worked in — in their own words.

Only three-quarters specialize in any area of 20th Century Continental Philosophy. (Unless I am mistaken, Maudemarie Clark, Max de Gaynesford, Scott Jenkins, Michelle Kosch, Brian Leiter, and Dean Moyar have specialties elsewhere, but not here.)

There is a solid group doing work in existentialism, phenomenology, and critical theory, but only four of the 24 specialize in post-1968 French philosophy.  Of those four, only two of the 24 evaluators (Stephen Crowell and Charles Guignon) profess to have any expertise on any of the major thinkers of French poststructuralism after Foucault.

Nietzsche scholars were very well represented (nine of 24), including many who have been published by or with the author of the reports.

So for students interested in the full range of important work in 20th Century Continental Philosophy, especially work post-1968, I encourage a trip to the library, not to the PGR.

49th SPEP

I returned home this morning from Montreal and the 49th annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy.  It was a great meeting.  In the coming days I’ll report on the public philosophy session and other noteworthy matters.  Also I’m planning to post something on HOW to rank philosophy programs, in response to some of the recent commentary on my recent post on Brian Leiter’s ranking of continental philosophy programs.

P.S.  You can now follow SPEP on twitter: @SPEPorg

 

Not your old APA

I spent some of the final days of 2007 at the American Philosophical Association eastern division meeting in Baltimore.  What a change from years past.  There were some very good sessions, including one on the history of philosophy with attention to difference, featuring Robert Bernasconi, Eduardo Mendietta, and Penny Deutscher.  There were several feminist panels and a very good SPEP presentation by Kelly Oliver with a response by Tina Chanter.  The new eastern division president is Anthony Appiah and the next one will be Seyla Benhabib.  Altogether, it’s possible to discern a shift in the leadership and the program to things that, I think, matter. Moreover, the mood was very different — perhaps because the interviewing took place in a different hotel and because the meeting was in Baltimore. It was simply more laid back.  What a nice change.