The Future of Philosophy?
I was recently elected to the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on the Status and Future of the Profession. The committee’s description (from their website):
The committee is charged with studying and making recommendations to the board of officers concerning trends in graduate and undergraduate education in philosophy and conditions relevant to the employment of philosophers in academic and non-academic work. To this end the committee conducts periodic surveys of philosophers and philosophy departments and monitors changes in higher education in the humanities as reported by the learned societies and by government agencies, working closely with other APA committees when appropriate.
Interesting (scary?) time to join this committee. Though I am encouraged by the ideas coming from the chair of the committee, Alex Guerrero (Rutgers). He argues that we should have philosophy in high schools and we should count public outreach as part of our work, alongside teaching, research, and service. I wanted to be part of the committee partly because I was impressed by this vision.
Despite everything going on, I have hope for the future of the profession. We may not be in the best shape, but we’re in pretty good shape to face the challenges that we currently face. Today, philosophers are able to better articulate why philosophy matters to a public audience.
Arguments alone will not be enough, but I have hope for the profession still.