In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

How do you handle publishing work that could appear to be critical of values held by your institution? Imagine you’re publishing on atheism at a religious school. Philosophers are good at distinguishing between endorsing a view and defending it or recognizing the weight of reasons behind it. But students and administrators are not always. There are ways of making clear that you are interested in a position, or find an argument persuasive, without accepting it, e.g., saying as much in print, or offering the argument conditionally. But I suspect that some will take up a more political stance and see any interest in certain views as damning enough. How might one handle such situations?

Do any readers have helpful insights or experiences to share?

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One response to “Publishing work critical of your institution’s (e.g. religious) values?”

  1. Anonymous

    First, I don’t know your affiliation with the university, but make sure you’re not doing something that breaks a contractual clause you signed on to. You probably aren’t, but always worth a double-check.

    Second, the reality is that, unless you’re a very, very famous person, basically nobody will read your research. So, while I grant some people could have a bad reaction, the probability of this happening is really slim.

    Now, if you’re wanting to place at a religious school, then you might want to be careful, since hiring committees will at least skim abstracts if you get far enough in a search. But even here, most religious faculty generally understand that there are some merits to arguments for atheism, and some demerits for some religious objections to atheism as well.

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