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Wasn't there a US university that shut down its philosophy department in recent times? Can there be any surer sign of mathiness than that? 'referentialism' is

Wasn't there a US university that shut down its philosophy department in recent times? Can there be any surer sign of mathiness than that? 'referentialism' is a problem but at least we have digital tools to help us now. I suppose we're in a more honest situation now than in the past. But it is indeed a problem. Why? Because now we'll be ranked by our citation scores. > I suspect his observations work just as well with other epistemological (knowledge-kind) combinations and their tensions. Yes, jargon-heavy humanities papers work in the same vein as math-heavy economics (for example) papers. They are both, ultimately, bullshit.

rwnspace 9y ago
Good point re: citation scores. I like to imagine that people who think critically about data and measurement a lot don't take such things at face value. But maybe not. Univ of St Thomas Houston & Univ of Zagreb seem to be 'reviewing' their Philosophy depts (though both cases have their nuances). Middlesex University (middle-of-the-pack Uni in UK) already closed theirs. Only couple mins of searching, I guess there's more. It's almost definitely mathiness from those who hold the purse strings. I think it's regrettable we have degrees for every job under the sun, it makes cross-pollination that much more difficult. Maybe something to do with the rise in total sum of bullshit. It might be because I like to get an overview of things and read around, or because I find it difficult to commit attention for very long... But it seems to me like there's plenty of room for exactly the kind of thinking philosophical training is great for: fruitful interdisciplinary stuff between the humanities and sciences. Instead we seem to be getting profit-motivated consumption of the former by the latter, and filling the space with bachelors that stand in for what once was training in the workplace.

rwnspace 9y ago

Good point re: citation scores. I like to imagine that people who think critically about data and measurement a lot don't take such things at face value. But maybe not. Univ of St Thomas Houston & Univ of Zagreb seem to be 'reviewing' their Philosophy depts (though both cases have their nuances). Middlesex University (middle-of-the-pack Uni in UK) already closed theirs. Only couple mins of searching, I guess there's more. It's almost definitely mathiness from those who hold the purse strings. I think it's regrettable we have degrees for every job under the sun, it makes cross-pollination that much more difficult. Maybe something to do with the rise in total sum of bullshit. It might be because I like to get an overview of things and read around, or because I find it difficult to commit attention for very long... But it seems to me like there's plenty of room for exactly the kind of thinking philosophical training is great for: fruitful interdisciplinary stuff between the humanities and sciences. Instead we seem to be getting profit-motivated consumption of the former by the latter, and filling the space with bachelors that stand in for what once was training in the workplace.