Brian Leiter has been ramping up to the next edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) recently having posted the penultimate draft faculty lists of the departments to be evaluated (see here). There have been various criticism of the PGR throughout the years, sometimes resulting in changes in methodology, and I don’t wish to rehash old arguments, rather I would like to raise an issue with the PGR that I have not seen discussed as of yet: top philosophy PhD programs in non-English speaking countries.
More specifically, I am concerned with programs that do not require prior knowledge of the native language, i.e. programs which are conducted mostly or entirely in English. The PGR currently does not evaluate such programs (although the National University of Singapore is on the most recent list), and given the importance of Leiter’s rankings, it may be that brilliant English speaking philosophers are put at a disadvantage in the US job market because of this.
I realize that it would be impractical to add a large number of schools to the PGR, but I am thinking of about a dozen top programs, mostly in Europe, where some of the top researchers in many areas of philosophy are available to supervise PhD students.
This is particularly relevant for people working in logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, cognitive science, formal epistemology, and cognate areas, although there are some great philosophers in other areas as well (the Center for the Study of Mind in Nature at the University of Oslo comes to mind). Some top philosophers, often with PhD’s from top ten schools, are going to work in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Germany (for example).
Arguably even more important is that prospective English-speaking students are being discouraged from applying to PhD programs where they would thrive and have the opportunity work with (often a large group of) top people in their, and related areas. All of this is not to mention the opportunity for working and living in some of the greatest cities and best universities in the world.
A couple of other worries that might arise with adding such programs to the list are the language barrier outside of the philosophy department, and differences in funding practices and program requirements. The first of these is only really a worry if the PGR is targeted only at students from English speaking countries, which I don’t think is the case. It is true (in my experience) that at many European schools –I’m not sure about elsewhere –there are fewer funded places, but the same is true of schools in the UK for non-Europeans. A similar comment could be made about program requirements in the UK vs. North America. Actually, many European programs are structured in a similar way to Canadian programs –requiring a masters, but also some coursework.
So, Brian Leiter, if you’re listening, why not add top, English speaking programs in non-English speaking countries to the PGR?
NB: I am more familiar with what’s going on in Europe, so I have concentrated on that, but I do not wish to exclude top departments anywhere in the world.
A Philosopher's Take 
Justin Caouette
August 22, 2014
Could you specify the programs you’re thinking of, Aaron? Brian just tweeted that he is not aware of which programs you are suggesting.
LikeLike
Aaron Thomas-Bolduc
August 22, 2014
In response to Brian Leiter’s question, here are two lists of Schools that supervise PhDs in English with very good philosophy programs. This should be taken with a grin of salt, as I am more aware of what’s going on in philosophy of mathematics and logic than in other areas. That also means that I have probably missed some programs with strenghts in other areas.
Definitely worth looking at:
-LMU/MCMP (Munich)
-Amsterdam
-Gronigen
-Oslo
-Central European University
worth keeping in mind:
-Leiden
-Vienna
-Gothenburg
-Utrecht
-KU Leuven
Vienna and Gothenburg seem to be trying to raise the profiles of their departments with junior and senior appointments, but may not be quite there yet.
LikeLike
Brian
August 22, 2014
Justin alerted me to your query. In general, I prefer not to take on more work, but with that personal caveat to one side, we do include programs that teach in English when they are likely to be competitive at the regional or international level. I knew CEU taught in English, and while I think they have a good faculty, they are very unlikely to make, say, the UK top 15 or the US top 50. We could add, I suppose, a regional grouping of English-language programs for Europe, esp. if you’re correct that all those programs teaching in English. What I’d rather see is someone based in the European philosophical community organize such an evaluation effort with philosophers in the region who are knowledgeable, and would certainly be more knowledgeable than me or most of the Advisory Board. If someone wants to undertake it for Europe, I will publicize the effort.
LikeLike
Aaron Thomas-Bolduc
August 24, 2014
Brian,
if the expert opinion of you and your advisory board is that none of the English language programs in Euope would compete with the ranked schools, that would be reason enough not to evaluate them. However, because of the way the PGR is presented, it does not look to the outside reader that such schools were even considered. That said, the first five schools listed above would plausibly do well in some of the subject rankings.
As far as organizing evaluations directly by Europeans, I think that is a good idea. I am not in the best position to arrange something like that, but I could reach out to people I know at a few of the mentioned universities to try and gauge interest.
Also, I am reasonably certain that all of those schools teach/supervise in English, though I will double check when I have a chance.
LikeLike