The discipline of philosophy is one of the most traditional disciplines in contemporary academia. It has remained remarkably conservative, both epistemologically and politically, about engaging challenges to its fundamental assumptions. Consequently, it is important that we try to garner as much information as possible and invoke as much candid discussion as possible on all of the strengths, weaknesses, and problems of all philosophy departments in the U.S. and Canada, especially those granting doctoral degrees.
I thank and applaud the creators of The Pluralist’s Guide to Philosophy for their diligent work on just such a project, particularly on areas of philosophy that continue to be underrepresented in the major doctoral programs. I am especially grateful for the information on the areas of Critical Philosophy of Race and Ethnicity, Feminist Philosophy, and GLBT Studies (although I lament and note the exclusion of a “Q” in this last category). Social and historical dynamics such as gender, race, and sexuality are philosophically important, complex, and challenging fields of inquiry; yet, scholarship in these fields continues to encounter obstacles on all sides of disciplinary divisions. Reading the report, I caught a glimpse of moving this discipline into the twenty-first century—a most welcome and heartening event.
--Shannon Winnubst
Comments