"An Unsuitable Job for a Philosopher"

Abstract

A panel at the Eastern division meeting of the American Philosophical Association was convened last winter to address the question, "How Can (and Should) Graduate Programs in Philosophy Train for Non-Academic Jobs?" Called in response to the prolonged scarcity of academic jobs, the panel was intended to respond to and elaborate upon Richard Schacht's essay, "W(h)ither Graduate Study in Philosophy?" published in the APA's Proceedings and Addresses in May of 1998. My aim is not so much to criticize Schacht's position regarding effective strategies to address the scarcity of academic jobs (and the questionable future of graduate study in philosophy that accompanies this scarcity), as it is to examine the ground of the failure-exhibited both in Schacht's essay and the accompanying APA panel---to investigate these questions philosophically, that is, to apply the tools of philosophical analysis to problems facing the profession. After reviewing Schacht's treatment of the problem, I will bring the analytic framework of social theorist Pierre Bourdieu to bear on the questions Schacht's essay provokes concerning philosophical practice. Analysis of philosophical practice in terms offered by Bourdieu, together with the account of the recent history of philosophy provided by John McCumber, will enable us to suggest possible mechanisms that function to check the practice of philosophy. Articulation of these mechanisms, I shall conclude, suggests modes of resistance native to philosophical practice that may offer the possibility of a substantive response to current questions regarding the future of graduate education. Schacht's "W(h)ither Graduate Study in Philosophy?" Taking account of the fact that a significant number of graduate students in philosophy are unable to secure academic employment or become uninterested in doing so, Schacht proposes several modifications to graduate education. As he sees it, graduate training in philosophy currently operates on the model of a "pipeline," where departments function as professional schools, preparing graduates to take their places in academic positions. In the absence of sufficient "market demand" for individuals with such training, Schacht reasons, a different model--the "open field"--could be instituted to accommodate those students interested in pursuing post-baccalaureate study in philosophy absent the expectation that this study would end in employment as professional philosophers. Such a model could entail rethinking the requirements of the Ph.D., or granting a degree such as the MPhil. Offering the MPhil. would benefit students who opted to cease their study of philosophy beyond the M.A., and could also provide departments with the research and teaching assistance they require, something that is currently provided by doctoral students banking on a future in academia. Schacht's essay is admirable for the seriousness with which it approaches the problem, and the genuine concern he demonstrates both for the profession and for the individuals who commit considerable time and resources to the pursuit of a degree in a discipline that could very well fail to offer them anything in the way improved job prospects in or out of philosophy. It falls short of its own goals, however, in failing to address substantively the role of philosophy departments in training graduate students for non-academic employment. While Schacht writes that "careers in law, business, government, academic administration and publishing are but a few examples" (Schacht 1998, 3) of professions that find the training and credential of the Ph.D, in philosophy beneficial, he does not suggest concrete ways that the "open field" model could serve as preparation for employment outside academia.1 The reticence Schacht displays with respect to venturing even preliminary suggestions for how training in philosophy could be made (or be understood to be) conducive to work outside the academy is significant, I believe, for the implicit difference it reveals, not simply between philosophy and the "real world" but between philosophy and other academic disciplines. …