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Philosopher Brian Leiter to step down from philosophy program ranking post

Denyse O'Leary
October 11, 2014
Culture, News, Philosophy
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Leiter has been in the news here lately; see Another atheist wrongsides the rules and Brian Leiter on Why tolerate religion?

From the Daily Nous (language warning):

Leiter’s agreement to resign from the editorship was negotiated with the PGR’s advisory board after a majority of the board, in a letter drafted by David Chalmers (NYU), Jonathan Schaffer (Rutgers), Susanna Siegel (Harvard), and Jason Stanley (Yale), requested that he turn over the rankings to new management. This letter was delivered to Leiter shortly after the posting of what has come to be called the “September Statement,” an open letter from philosophers “declining to volunteer our services to the PGR while it is under the control of Brian Leiter.” The September Statement currently has over 620 signatures.

The September Statement begins by referencing an email Leiter sent Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins (UBC) containing “derogatory and intimidating remarks,” including telling her she comes off as a “sanctimonious asshole.” Jenkins and Leiter had had no email correspondence prior to this message. The occasion for Leiter’s remarks were the publication on Jenkins’ blog of personal resolutions of hers regarding the respectful treatment of other philosophers. Though the resolutions contained no mention of Leiter nor any threats, Leiter accused Jenkins of having “issued… threats aimed at me on your blog” in his email, which was posted on a website as part of a “Statement of Concern” by Sally Haslanger (MIT) and David Velleman (NYU). More.

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Comments
".... including telling her she comes off as a “sanctimonious asshole.” And to a woman, as well. What a chivalrous soul. Is it really necessary to specify the orifice? I suppose it goes with the territory. I mean, on the one hand, Americans have produced a cornucopia of sometimes coarse slang-words and phrases of utterly hilarious genius. But on the other hand, there sometimes seems to be no limit to the lengths they will go to, to shock. Copulating with your mother is another one. I wonder 'whether they can tell their backside from a hole in the ground.''They need beating 'like a redheaded step-child....' They're 'as ugly as a junkyard dog', when they use cuss like that. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the Anglophone world catches up (or down). Axel
Mung, not clear what you mean here? Who thinks freedom of speech is inimicable to intelligent design? The News desk's take is that Leiter was free to insult ID theorists (among many others) but he made the mistake of insulting someone with PC-protected status. If he had said that to a woman who was a design sympathizer, he might still be safe because she wouldn't have PC status. It's not a healthy state of affairs for the discipline, but all we can do is keep track of it. Note: The underlying problem is that the decline in public manners evident in the learned professions and disciplines (to the level of a quarrel in the back room of a seedy auto dealership) has caught up with the members. But, instead of a general reform of manners, the disciplines have developed "PC": Some people can't be attacked because they represent groups to be approved, protected, and encouraged. Everyone else is still fair game. Or are they? Is it too much to hope that plummeting public esteem will wake many philosophers and others up? That may be happening here (the PC case may have been a stalking horse for others, similarly fed up). But as media people say, it takes three to make a trend. News
Given that freedom of speech is inimicable to intelligent design, I don't understand the objection. Mung

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