An interesting fact I just considered...

...is that I don't really have anyone to talk to in my area. One thing that was told me before I went to graduate school, and has held up, is that you really learn how to do philosophy from the grad students, not the professors. And this is mostly true. And you can have meaningful and educative conversations with people who aren't writing their dissertation in your area. That is also quite true. It is without any sense of malice or envy that I mention this, but I do wish I had some more people who do normative ethics full time. Oh sure, we have some people who dabble, and quite a crew of people who do continentally-oriented virtue ethics, but no one I can talk to about Kantian ethics or even non virtue ethics more generally. In fact, virtue ethicists are generally defined by a rejection of most of the questions that govern orthodox normative theory.

    Interestingly, there are a couple people who do do my kind of ethics, but seem manifestly unwilling to talk philosophy to anyone, let alone me. I am disappointed that the few people who do study Kant's ethics or Rawls' political philosophy don't contribute more to the intellectual and social life of the department. I think their doing so would benefit not just me but everyone else as well. I don't know how many conversations I have had or heard about Nietzsche but outside of Dixon, none about substantive political philosophy (impromptu conversations, that is). I am glad to do it; this isn't a complaint.

    I am just surprised, that's all. Ethics and value theory is one of this department's strengths. I would hope that we could get a stronger discourse on those issues.

Comments

[exemplar of benevolence]

Well, you can talk to me Pat, but I can't guarantee I will be able to talk back. I'm just glad that normative ethics exists (or does it? damn it's that deconstructionist side of me again). If it makes you feel any better, Studio 60 has been picked up for the full season.