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Most pressing issues confronting the academic profession of philosophy in the US currently

Brian Leiter

MOVING TO FRONT FROM JULY 24–MORE COMMENTS WELCOME

More than 1,000 readers voted; here were the top 9 vote getters (there was a drop-off thereafter):

1. Lack of tenure-track jobs  (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices)
2. Erosion of tenure and closing of philosophy departments  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 469–453
3. Excessive politicization of the discipline  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 754–202, loses to Erosion of tenure and closing of philosophy departments by 727–209
4. Sexual harassment  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 851–102, loses to Excessive politicization of the discipline by 447–429
5. Harmful effects of social media (blogs, twitter, facebook) on the profession (e.g., promoting rumor-mongering, bullying, mobbing, group polarization)  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 821–147, loses to Sexual harassment by 456–392
6. Lack of tolerance for a wide range of philosophical and political views  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 815–143, loses to Harmful effects of social media (blogs, twitter, facebook) on the profession (e.g., promoting rumor-mongering, bullying, mobbing, group polarization) by 421–387
7. Capture of the APA by interest groups with political rather than philosophical aims  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 763–169, loses to Lack of tolerance for a wide range of philosophical and political views by 410–349
8. Lack of racial, ethnic and/or gender diversity in the profession  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 848–106, loses to Capture of the APA by interest groups with political rather than philosophical aims by 425–392
9. Excessive emphasis on issues of diversity in the profession  loses to Lack of tenure-track jobs by 766–181, loses to Lack of racial, ethnic and/or gender diversity in the profession by 424–419

The neck-and-neck showing for #8 and #9 indicates how polarized opinion is on these issues right now. I would have been surprised if the top two had been anything other than what they were (by a wide margin).  #4 and #5 were on my "top five," and I think #7 was in my top five too.  But #3, #6, and #7 probably all reflect overlapping concerns.

Readers who voted are invited to comment on their own rank ordering, how they understood the choices, and/or choices they wished had been included.  Comments are moderated, and may take awhile to appear; comments that include a valid e-mail address (which will not appear) are more likely to be approved.

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11 responses to “Most pressing issues confronting the academic profession of philosophy in the US currently”

  1. Ina

    One issue that I wish had been listed in the poll was discriminatory or otherwise problematic treatment of women that falls outside the category of sexual harassment, and also discriminatory treatment of people of color and other marginalized groups.

    I particularly wonder whether, if some such option had been included, "diversity" would have shown up lower on the list of concerns. Talk of diversity is sometimes really just about diversity as an intrinsic value, but it's often a proxy for the issue of discrimination. "Diversity" in this latter sense means something like, "women/PoC/etc. aren't being discriminated against in such a way as to chase most of them out of the discipline and to push the rest down into adjunct positions."

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  2. YAAGS

    I find it a bit odd that people placed the lack of TT jobs over the erosion of tenure and departments closing. Getting a TT job ain't worth much if they get rid of tenure or close your department after you're hired! Moreover, the latter can quickly snowball if many universities catch wind that they can cut their humanities departments and still be taken seriously.

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  3. Andrew

    Those people are probably thinking that they'd take a job that is somewhat insecure over no job at all (or, adjuncting at four different local colleges). That doesn't seem surprising to me.

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  4. YAAGS

    Well, the two are somewhat correlated. Having a department is generally a precondition for having a TT job. And a TT job isn't all that secure if the department is closed and you get fired.

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  5. Michel

    For my part, I put the lack of jobs before the closures simply because I see a serious dearth of jobs, but not so much a plague of closures. That's not to say that the closures aren't happening or aren't worrying over the long term, or whatever. It's just to say that the real jobs seem to be disappearing much faster than the departments.

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  6. Daniel

    Most places aren’t closing down or killing tenure, but the scarcity of TT jobs is being felt everywhere, even at top departments.

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  7. YAAGS

    I'm sure the lack of TT jobs is felt harder, for now. But I think the problem is better described as too many PhDs. Or, at least, too many PhDs searching for academic jobs. The glut is the primary thing that allows universities to dissolve tenure. If it's a problem for the profession it seems the solution is to either close down PhD programs that don't have a chance of placing people or make these PhD programs focused more on practical skills useful outside academia such as programming. But I think people are underestimating the risk of universities across the nation shutting down their philosophy departments given the utterly absurd cost of universities and the fact that for most people they function as trade schools. The humanities are in a very precarious position.

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  8. V. Alan White

    I served on the University of Wisconsin Task Force on tenure ('15-16) after the legislature unilaterally removed strong tenure protections from state statute without announcement, public input, or hearings. UW, from Madison on down, now has a policy of what I called then on record "tenure-lite". Tenure now is subject to revocation and dismissal for reasons not just from legal cause or demonstrated incompetence (which had produced a number of dismissals prior to that, as I argued to no avail) but from "program change" and "financial considerations" and the like–not institutional financial exigency as per AAUP standards. It was not pretty–clearly there was an agenda on the part of the state and even the Regents, then mostly appointed by a staunchly right-leaning governor. And now, barely two years later, there are real consequences in terms of my own institution being shut down, campuses merged, faculty (like me) retiring early from facing by-outs or being put on the road to fill out loads, programs being eliminated (Superior, Stevens Point, etc. etc.). Here's the formula: freeze tuition and tax-payer assistance and claim that's helping the public while strangling tenure by "financial considerations" and watch the fun while enrollments decline from demographics and the competition from for-profits assisted by capitalist politics. By institution UW has been cut from having 26 campuses to 13, and the 13 smaller campuses as now absorbed by the 4-years are subject to being closed by them for "financial considerations". If you think it can't happen in your state to your state university–then you'd better think again. And, as I have said on multiple occasions here–I thank Brian for this forum promoting values of strong tenure allied with the social goods of public education, even as both are under constant attack.

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  9. Robert Allen

    1 and 2 certainly legit, the rest BS. But, any way you look at it, academia = capitalist-wanabe hell. Thank God I'll be so 'already gone' (great rock anthem) from it in just 2 short weeks. 20k pension to sit around the house all day pretending I'm Epicurus-cum-Bob & Jerry. (On a date with a divorced woman, her 5-year old boy piped up from the backseat 'Hey, that's Bob and Jerry' when I put on a Grateful Dead tape. Shocked at his preternatural judgment and designation, I looked over at the mother. She hung her pretty head and said 'His father's a Deadhead.') Good luck with it, helpful colleagues. Talk about draining a swamp. RFGA, Ph.D.

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  10. VL

    There is another explanation for the close ranking of issues 8 and 9. Indeed, I voted them in that order myself, because while I believe that philosophy needs greater diversity (in both demographics and in the subject matter comprehended, as argued on your blog previously by J.E.H. Smith), I find much of the _discussion_ of diversity issues to be reflexive, unnuanced, intolerant, and unhelpful. In other words, I trust the experience of philosophers who express difficulties being part of marginalized groups, but I don't think that individuals behaving like members of Tracey Ullman's "Woke Support Group" helps anyone.

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  11. ModeratelyBoringBat

    Next time you run a poll like this it would be really useful to include a few basic demographics. I'd love to know whether those who lack a tenure-track job are the ones that see that as the big issue, and whether those who have one see politics as the big issue.

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