The Philosophers' Cocoon

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Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
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  • If your published work isn’t read, why do you do philosophy?

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

    In a recent thread a lot of people were sharing a sentiment that it doesn’t really matter what you publish about because basically no one will read your work anyway. To people who feel this way, I wanted to ask, what are you doing philosophy for?

    On the one hand, one answer to this question seems pretty obvious: many of us do it for ourselves (i.e., because we enjoy doing it, writing it, treat it as a process of personal discovery, etc.). And of course this rationale doesn’t just apply to philosophy but to other things too. I’m not merely a philosopher but also a musician, and I still write and record songs. Why? Because I love creating music!

    On the other hand, I wonder if many of us who adopt this perspective also fall prey from time to time to the nagging feeling, “If no one ever reads my philosophical work, is the internal enjoyment of doing it/discovery enough to make spending so much time on it worthwhile?”

    Fortunately (I think?), claims that “no one reads your work” may be overblown. Looking at people’s PhilPeople/Philpapers pages, lots of works do appear to be read (or at least downloaded) by significant numbers of people. And why isn’t the possibility of “changing or influencing a few minds” on something enough? Can’t we ask similar questions about most human activities, all of which ultimately fade into the dusts of time?

    What do readers think?

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  • Can authors prevent their writing from being fed into AI?

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

    To what extent can I expect that my writing will not be fed into AI at any point in the publication process? I understand that many journals now have AI policies that ask reviewers to not upload papers to LLMs, but what about after being accepted for publication? Are there efforts to renegotiate copyright transfer to include clauses banning our work from being AI training material? Or, in the case of open access journals, are concrete measures being taken to discourage “crawlers” &c. from lifting text from journal websites? I’m only asking because of the significant anti-AI sentiment voiced here and elsewhere (rightly so, I think)–I fear I may have missed announcements of actions being taken based on this shared sentiment to safeguard our collective work.

    One reader submitted a reply suggesting that sadly, this is very difficult to avoid. Indeed, I’m not sure what is being done or could be done, above and beyond copyright cases that are making or have made their way through various courts. And, or so I’ve heard, some (many?) publishers are now explicitly including provisions to the effect of “your work may be fed into AI”) into publishing contracts. So, I’m not sure what authors can do (other than not publishing?).

    Do any readers have any helpful insights to share?

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  • Tips for moving to a new (type of) institution after tenure?

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

    I am currently tenured at an R2 university in the US. I recognize I am fortunate relative to many peers, though I also understand that I will probably be stuck here forever if my program won’t be eliminated (fingers crossed). Nevertheless, I still wonder what some potential career possibilities remain open for me within philosophy and how I might pursue them, knowing that most of them will be very unlikely to happen?

    For example, is publishing a ton at top journals the only way to make it possible to move to an R1? Given that my current position is teaching-intensive at the undergraduate level, what are practical strategies for carving out more research time? (Even more practically, would it be reasonable for me to not care too much about my teaching evaluations or pedagogical innovations but to spend more time doing my own research, if I would like to keep this possibility open?)

    I saw some people did parallel moves from an R2 to another R2 (or lower end R1). How does this sort of career path happen? Would some administrative experience help?

    I think I also saw some people moved from R2s to SLACs. In such cases, does research still matter most? Or does a strong undergraduate teaching record carry more weight?

    I have already accepted the fact that I will be at my current job for a couple more decades. But knowing some potential ways to be out would still help me understand my situation better. Thank you for your input!

    These are all good questions, and I’m not sure about the answers. I have worked at a SLAC for past 16+ years, but did receive an offer from an R1 last year (which I turned down). I’m not sure, but I suspect that publishing in some good places probably helped. At least anecdotally, my sense is that some tenured jobs are looking for people with various administrative & leadership experience, such as experience as department chair or leading public-facing university programming. But obviously, these are just some anecdotes.

    Do readers have any helpful tips in response to the OP’s questions?

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  • Leaving an M.A. off your CV due to potential bias against the institution?

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

    Suppose I’m someone who has an M.A. from an institution that, deservingly or not, may be perceived negatively by many hiring committees (as a “conservative” religious institution). Would it make sense, and would it be deceptive, to remove my M.A. from my CV once I’ve obtained my Ph.D from a different, “respectable” institution? Suppose further that I was young and naive back when I decided to attend the M.A. institution, and so still understandably under the sway of the beliefs and values of the religious culture in which I was brought up, but that (having grown up) I no longer endorse or identify with those values.

    While I certainly understand and sympathize with the OP’s concerns, I worry that omitting a part of one’s educational history (including a degree earned) is deceptive. My sense is that CVs should be complete and accurate representations of one’s educational history and accomplishments. Although it is always possible that members of hiring committees might be biased against a given institution, I wonder whether they’re more likely to look at what the candidate has actually written/published, etc. I also wonder whether it might be good to address this in a cover letter, though there are probably risks with that.

    What do readers think?

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