Recently, Brian Leiter (of Philosophical Gourmet Report fame) wrote a simple post on his blog about the lack of open-access journals in philosophy. A fellow postgrad student in a solid programme at Dundee commented that there are some good OA journals in recent continental philosophy. By the end of the conversation, Leiter has stood his ground by dismissing (1) that student as not being knowledgeable about his own field, (2) those journals for being “of poor reputation.” Leiter then closes with a grandiose sentiment of “I’m writing/editing a book about continental philosophy and I know what I’m talking about.” Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
As a result of Professor Leiter’s rudeness, the drama has continued. First, Graham posted an example of Leiter’s callousness regarding Derrida’s death. Not to be outdone, Leiter sends off retorts to Graham as well as Michael (the postgrad student). It’s great to stand one’s ground, however name-dropping and appealing to a reputation league table (which Leiter himself organises!) isn’t the best argument. We all know that good things only come out of the top 10 philosophy programmes in anglo-american analytic philosophy. We all certainly know that Leiter is the authority for reputation throughout the philosophy world, as he himself has demonstrated by naming people who he considers good sources…even if half of them are unheard of at continental programmes. That’s probably because those programmes are ranked low on Leiter’s scale and therefore cannot be considered good sources of continental philosophy. Next, we’ll be hearing that Deleuze isn’t a major figure in recent continental thought. Go figure.
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