I don't think this is specific to philosophy, or even to academia in general. Trying to get tenure isn't all that different from trying to get rich, famous, pow

I don't think this is specific to philosophy, or even to academia in general. Trying to get tenure isn't all that different from trying to get rich, famous, powerful, or so on. If you see tenure (or any of those other things) as a goal in itself rather than the product of doing meaningful work and living a purposeful life, then you may have just climbed to the top of the ladder and realized that it was against the wrong wall.