It used, I think, to happen a great deal, when one didn’t get called on however often one’s hand went up in a question period until finally at the end one could say something and it was completely misunderstood and dismissed.--Anne J Jacobson "Am I Dead"
I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.--G. Marx.
Variants on the phenomenon that Prof. Jacobson describes above have happened to me, too, quite a bit before April 10, 2005. I say this not to deny that there is no sexism (and racism, etc.), but rather to reflect on the fact that among men there are also huge status differences within professional philosophy. As I have recounted elsewhere (here and here), while I have always had privileged jobs (by academic and non-academic standards), I had a slow start publishing and found it hard to land my first tenure track position. In addition to the phenomenon described above, once I left the safety of my own PhD program, I have been invisible at the so-called APA Smoker (if you don't know what that is, be grateful for small mercies) to my own placement director; I have had graveyard shift sessions (i.e., the last one on the final day) at the APA clear out of the whole audience after the talk ahead of me; I had an audience laugh after I get introduced as an Adam Smith expert at my job-talk (they invited me to laugh at me?), etc.
This all changed when my then-colleague, Prof. Dennis Des Chene, asked me to give a talk at a fantastic workshop he hosted in St. Louis. I really didn't want to be at his workshop (I was very upset about being passed over for a position), but Dennis gently prevailed on me. As it happens, by the time of the conference, I had two post-doc offers in hand, and a tenure-track offer at a fantastic department at Syracuse (and a few more offers to come). Dennis made a point of mentioning all of this in the introduction to my talk. The effect was uncanny; it was, as if, I was reborn. (Does that count as a transformative experience, Prof. Paul?)
Don't get me wrong: even when I felt at the margins of the discipline, 'early modern' seemed like a very nice 'crowd' to be in. None of us are, you know (name your favorite HOTSHOT Philosopher professor here.) Of course, philosophers are human beings, too; as Veblen emphasizes, status matters. In some respects it's long been the most important currency in our trade. (My first publication was about the significance of fame and status in the philosophies of David Hume and Adam Smith.) While I very much enjoy being on the inside of the club and I remain grateful to the many rewards, intellectual and personal, that professional philosophy has directed my way, I have always also been a little bit suspicious toward it since April 10, 2005.
i love this blogpost and earlier ones like it, Eric. Prestige plays a disproportionate role in our discipline: where to submit (a prestigious journal foremost), whom to hire (someone from a top department), whom to invite as a keynote (a rising star) I know it is like this in general in academia, but I'm wondering if the Matthew effect does not disproportionately play in our discipline?
Posted by: Helen | 01/24/2014 at 08:30 PM