March 13, 1998
Dear Norman,
I read 'Philosophy as a Blood Sport' today and entirely agree with you. I
too have worked in interdisciplinary groups, a number of them in fact over
the years. People in other disciplines actually try to learn from one
another, just as you say. This is a rare occurrence among philosophers.
You are also dead right about referees' reports. What philosophers
will do when they can hide behind anonymity has simply amazed me over the
years. Here's one gem from my own collection. Kant says in the
Introduction to the Critique of Pure Reason
something like: "The purpose of this work is show how
synthetic a priori propositions are possible". I once began a paper by
saying "Kant's most important objective in CPR is to show how synthetic a
priori propositions are possible" or words to that effect. I got a
referee's report on this paper that began, "The weakness of this paper is
revealed in the very first sentence, where the author says, if you can
believe it, that Kant's most important objective in CPR is ... [and quoted
the line I just reproduced]." The referee went on to excoriate the paper
without offering a single constructive suggestion. Now, I've been around
long enough that I just laughed (a few hours later). Plus, the paper was
part of book on Kant that Cambridge had already accepted. But can you
imagine the effect of a report like that on a young scholar just starting
out? You should expand your piece and publish it.
I'm going to give your piece to the CPA Equity Committee: you
identify a key factor in the percentage of women and other
under-represented groups dropping from about 50% in first year
philosophy courses
to 30% by fourth year and 25% or so by time of graduation with a PhD.
Andrew Brook, Professor of Philosophy
Director, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies
Member, Canadian Psychoanalytic Society
2217 Dunton Tower, Carleton University
1125 Col. By Drive, Ottawa, CANADA K1S 5B6
Phone: (613) 520-3597 Fax: (613) 520-3985
email: abrook@ccs.carleton.ca
Web: http://www.carleton.ca/~abrook/
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