t’s more than just knowledge of the material that is carried over from professors to kids. — Larynx

This does sum it up in a nutshell sort of way, does it not? When considering how much about such educational institutions is about indoctrination, as opposed to any actual open-minded edification, I can now see why from almost day one of school I intuited with a sinking feeling that it was some kind of sham cooked up by those in charge to imprison me within their parochial worldview. No wonder I spent so much time window-gazing in imaginative revelry about what mysteries may await beyond the pane ... pun intended.

William's piece just... ugh. :vomit:
"Why I left Academic Philosophy". "Because Men. Because the way Men Write (badly). Because I felt insignificant in comparison to BLM. Because philosophy student are arrogant hairy (Men) hipsters that nobody in their right mind would want to associate with. Because I felt shame when I told people I was studying Philosophy." — Akanthinos

I think that that's the best criticism I've seen so far. It's one of those "harsh, but true" comments.

ONE good thing about all the underpaid, exploited adjunct instructors who would like to be professors, but are not going to be, is that they are free to teach. They don't have to worry much about publishing pointless papers and they can pursue their interests freely.

Another good teaching group in college are full, tenured, agéd professors who are getting close to retirement and no longer need to prove anything.

It is the younger, fully committed to the not-so-tender trap of the tenure track who are made to suffer the most.

I think that that's the best criticism I've seen so far. It's one of those "harsh, but true" comments. — Sapientia

And to note, I kinda do agree that Philosophy courses are dominated by men (and mostly white men). In a specific way. Philosophy is like the reverse Law course. In Law, you often start with 50/50 men/women in early classes. After the second semester, tho, it becomes 40/60 men/women, and keeps increasing until you finish with graduations that are 85% women. Philosophy, in my experience, goes the other way.

And ideally, there should be a diversity of people from different cultural backgrounds and experience that interest themselves in Philosophy enough that they wish to register to a university course. And when a group becomes predominantly male and white, especially when a lot of the members of the group are socially akward, then it can become very toxic toward women, transgender and etc...

But if someone leave Philosophy because there are too many White Men, because they are too hipster, because they feel shame at what they do, then, honestly and seriously, we are the better for it. I'm 100% positive she would have been bad at it.

Philosophers use “rigor” to justify bad writing
Even if academic philosophy were publicly accessible, I doubt the public would be interested in reading any of it. Philosophers often go to great lengths to make their papers as boring and difficult to read as possible. This is done in order to seem “rigorous” and “technical,” but most of the time that “rigor” does nothing but make it harder for non-philosophers to understand.

I agree with this.

But I think the ultimate sin is that academic philosophy is filled with people — mostly men — who spend a lot of time talking about things that are almost entirely abstracted from the pragmatic realities of human existence.

And not in a good way.

Contemporary academic philosophy is embarrassing
I will never forget sitting in our auditorium listening to a long talk about meta-ethics when, right outside the doors of the university, Black Lives Matters activists were marching (this was in St. Louis at the time of Ferguson).

I could hear them chanting; the stark contrast between the esoteric subtleties of meta-ethics vs. the concrete realities of what would be considered “applied ethics” — a term usually uttered with slight contempt — made me deeply uncomfortable.

How could I justify this exuberance of abstraction when there were so many real-world problems that needed the minds of intelligent people?

I don't agree with this.

As the cost of college rose, they also began stepping off the belt with fairly large college loan debt. — Bitter Crank

We have the Hope scholarship in Georgia funded by the lottery and I pay just over $1,000 in tuition per semester for my son to go to the University of Georgia. He pays $400 a month in rent and like $100 a month for food. He also spends $0 annually on haircuts and clothes and it seems like he has a very small soap budget. He'll emerge tired, hungry, dirty, and cold, but he'll have no debt. I might allow him a hot shower upon graduation if his grades are good enough.

We have the Hope scholarship in Georgia funded by the lottery and I pay just over $1,000 in tuition per semester for my son to go to the University of Georgia. He pays $400 a month in rent and like $100 a month for food. He also spends $0 annually on haircuts and clothes and it seems like he has a very small soap budget. He'll emerge tired, hungry, dirty, and cold, but he'll have no debt. I might allow him a hot shower upon graduation if his grades are good enough. — Hanover

Wow, I applaud you both, that is precisely how I wish I could have aspired to play this game. If I could watch your son I would truly lust over his methods and achievements, but most of all; the display of that innate ability to hold oneself together. I can't even take it as it comes.

If I could watch your son I would truly lust over his methods and achievements — XTG

Well, thanks, although the odor is a challenge. I keep a can of Axe in the trunk of my car and I make him get out and put his arms out and I spray him down when he comes home. It'd be funnier if I were joking.