Professional philosophy has strayed so far from its roots that Socrates wouldn’t stand a chance of landing tenure in most departments today. After all, he spent his time talking with people from all walks of life rather than being buried in the secondary literature and polishing arguments for peer-reviewed journals. Yet somehow this hypertrophy styles itself ‘real’ philosophy. Socrates Tenured diagnoses the pathologies of contemporary philosophy and shows how the field can be revitalized. The first part of the book sketches the crisis facing philosophy in a neoliberal age and traces its roots back to the 20th-century move to turn philosophy into an academic discipline. In the second part the authors look at various attempts from applied ethics to their own brand of ‘field philosophy’ to confront the resulting problems of insularity and societal irrelevance. Part three connects this evaluation of philosophy with wider discussions in the politics of knowledge about the impacts of research on society. The final chapters consider both what impacts philosophy might have and what a philosophy of impact might look like.

In this provocative criticism of the contemporary American professoriate, Jon Huer argues that tenure has created a kind of academic stupor in which those who have it no longer live up to the ideals of their profession. In Huer's view, the institution of tenure has created an economic sinecure, rendering the tenured professor irrelevant to the society that sustains him or her. The typical tenured career, Huer asserts, often degenerates into intellectual boredom, the routine publication of a series of narrowly specialized research papers, a pervasive dissatisfaction, and a search for monetary and other rewards outside the university. Huer proposes that the time has come to reexamine the issues surrounding tenure in an attempt to determine the best ways to reinvigorate the professoriate and reestablish a fruitful connection between academic and nonacademic society. Divided into four sections, Huer's work is written throughout in a refreshingly nonacademic style. He begins by examining the institution of academic tenure and its relevance given current market realities. Subsequent sections explore the impact of tenure on issues of academic freedom, on the relationship between the professor and the larger society, and on the professor and his or her career. Huer demonstrates that, in general, those who have tenure do not need it, and those who need it do not have it. In pursuit of tenure, professors are forced to produce meaningless scholarship relevant only to their specialized colleagues and immediate career goals. Tenured professors, on the other hand, far from using their academic freedom in service of truth and society, help perpetuate the academic insulation and irrelevance. Certain to spark controversy and debate, Tenure for Socrates serves as a much needed reevaluation of both the role of the American professoriate and the impact of tenure on that role.

Philosophers increasingly engage in practical work with other disciplines and the world at large. This volume draws together the lessons learned from this work—including philosophers’ contributions to scientific research projects, consultations on matters of policy, and expertise provided to government agencies and non-profits—on how to effectively practice philosophy. Its 22 case studies are organized into five sections: I Collaboration and Communication II Policymaking and the Public Sphere III Fieldwork in the Academy IV Fieldwork in the Professions V Changing Philosophical Practice Together, these essays provide a practical, how-to guide for doing philosophy in the field—how to find problems that can benefit from philosophical contributions, effectively collaborate with other professionals and community members, make fieldwork a positive part of a philosophical career, and anticipate and negotiate the sorts of unanticipated problems that crop up in direct public engagement. Key features: Gives specific advice on how to integrate philosophy with outside groups. Offers examples from working with the public and private sectors, community organizations, and academic groups. Provides lessons learned, often summarized at the end of chapters, for how to practice philosophy in the field.

Why top scholars make the best university leaders Socrates in the Boardroom argues that world-class scholars, not administrators, make the best leaders of research universities. Amanda Goodall cuts through the rhetoric and misinformation swirling around this contentious issue—such as the assertion that academics simply don't have the managerial expertise needed to head the world's leading schools—using hard evidence and careful, dispassionate analysis. She shows precisely why experts need leaders who are experts like themselves. Goodall draws from the latest data on the world's premier research universities along with in-depth interviews with top university leaders both past and present, including University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann; Derek Bok and Lawrence Summers, former presidents of Harvard University; John Hood, former vice chancellor of the University of Oxford; Cornell University President David Skorton; and many others. Goodall explains why the most effective leaders are those who have deep expertise in what their organizations actually do. Her findings carry broad implications for the management of higher education, and she demonstrates that the same fundamental principle holds true for other important business sectors as well. Experts, not managers, make the best leaders. Read Socrates in the Boardroom and learn why.

Considers the questions posed by Socrates using group discussions from around the world in an effort to show universal commonalities.

Applying the tools and methods of analytic philosophy, analytic feminism is an approach adopted in discussions of sexism, classism and racism. The Bloomsbury Companion to Analytic Feminism presents the first comprehensive reference resource to the nature, history and significance of this growing tradition and the forms of social discrimination widely covered in feminist writings. Through individual sections on metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory, a team of esteemed philosophers examine the relationship between analytic feminism and the main areas of philosophical reflection. Their engaging and original contributions explore how analytic feminists define their concepts and use logic to support their claims. Each section provides concise overviews of the main debates in feminist literature within that particular area of research, as well as introductions to each of the chapters. Together with a glossary and an annotated bibliography, this companion features an overview of the basic tools used in reading analytic philosophy. The result is an in-depth and authoritative guide to understanding analytic feminist's characteristic methods.

Introduction: Why Confucianism? -- Harmony with nature -- What people really want -- Emotions and enjoying life -- Cultivating feelings -- Learning -- Ritual, music and embodied emotions -- Temptations, excuses, and putting ideas into practice -- Power, politics and action.

This agenda-setting collection argues for the importance of fieldwork for philosophy and provides reflections on methods for such ‘field philosophy’ from the interdisciplinary vantage point of the environmental humanities. Field philosophy has emerged from multiple sources – including approaches focused on public and participatory research – and others focused on ethology, multispecies studies, and the environmental humanities more broadly. These approaches have yet to enter the mainstream of the discipline, however, and ‘field philosophy’ remains an open and uncharted terrain for philosophical pursuits. This book brings together leading and emerging philosophers who have engaged in critical and constructive forms of fieldwork, for some over decades, and who, through these articles, demonstrate new possibilities and new experiments for philosophical practices. This collection will be of interest to scholars working across the disciplines of continental philosophy, environmental humanities, science and technology studies, animal studies, cultural anthropology, art, and more. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Parallax.

Philosophical issues often lie at the heart of societal problems, yet it is rare for philosophers to be actively engaged in the search for solutions. Conventionally, philosophy prioritizes the written word and the seminar room while living at a remove from everyday life. In contrast, field philosophy, the approach invoked by the chapters in this book, emphasizes the immediacy of the spoken word and engages people in their daily activities to help them understand the philosophical elements of their everyday tasks. This book offers field philosophy as a model for social engagement, advancing a new way for doing philosophy relevant to the needs of 21st century society. The chapters in the book describe the historical significance of field philosophy, its ethical commitments, and the theoretical warrant underlying its practice. Together, they advance the societal relevance of philosophy and the many ways it can interface with a diverse range of communities from engineers and scientists to policymakers and activists. This book will be of interest to the academic philosophy community, policy makers and policy researchers, university administrators, and those interested in the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity. Versions of some of its chapters were originally published as a special issue of Social Epistemology.

The commodification of science—often identified with commercialization, or the selling of expertise and research results and the “capitalization of knowledge” in academia and beyond—has been investigated as a threat to the autonomy of science and academic culture and criticized for undermining the social responsibility of modern science. In From Commodification to the Common Good, Hans Radder revisits the commodification of the sciences from a philosophical perspective to focus instead on a potential alternative, the notion of public-interest science. Scientific knowledge, he argues, constitutes a common good only if it serves those affected by the issues at stake, irrespective of commercial gain. Scrutinizing the theory and practices of scientific and technological patenting, Radder challenges the legitimacy of commercial monopolies and the private appropriation and exploitation of research results. His book invites us to reevaluate established laws and to question doctrines and practices that may impede or even prohibit scientific research and social progress so that we might achieve real and significant transformations in service of the common good.