Linguistic diversity in philosophy

Abstract

In recent years, increased attention has been devoted to the problem of the lack of diversity in academic philosophy. Indeed, the profession does not represent the diversity of our current population. This is what Linda M. Alcoff calls the “demographic challenge,” a challenge regarding representation and marginalization in the discipline. Among the various cases of diversity within the profession, the issue of linguistic diversity seems the most controversial one. While it is clearly unjust to judge academic performance based on gender, race, or ethnicity, it seems less clear in assessments of one’s work based on language proficiency. This chapter is an attempt to provide an overview of the related issues, including how the absence of linguistic diversity shapes the current status of the discipline. We first review the role of English in academic knowledge production, circulation, and evaluation globally. Using data from a recent study, we argue that English has an asymmetric influence on scholarly output in other languages in academic philosophy. The lack of linguistic diversity within the profession raises not only ethical but also epistemological concerns. It leaves non-native English-speaking philosophers in an underprivileged position and hinders the inclusion of different thoughts and novel perspectives. In closing, we made some suggestions for change.