the Greater Nomadic Council

Welcome to academia friend; being a professor increasingly excludes the possibility of being an rigorous intellectual.

Oh, *now* you tell me!

Of course, they try not to tell you so that those already there can get somebody to teach the intro courses ... I'm debating whether or to go on for the PhD or whether there is some other possible way of cheating the system.

Heheh.. well, I was pretty well warned from all the academic blogs out there, so I'm not too surprised. I love it anyways.

What is your discipline, Ace (if you don't mind me asking)? I had the impression you were with a think tank.

Ludwig,

I assume you can probably hazard a good guess?

Philosophy. No surprise?

I'm just wrapping up my Master's Thesis at the University of Dallas but working from D.C. because I deferred going to University College Dublin this Fall to get the PhD. It is ridiculously expensive in Ireland. And as one might have expected, the philosophy Master's degree is treated as something of a cute novelty by many employers ... it lacks "real world" experience ... also, I lack the grace, humility, and motivation to find something utterly unconnected with scholarship ... so, yes, I took what I could get at a think tank until next Fall. The pay is sad, the position is lowly, and I feel somewhat de-frocked admitting this.

Mallarme,

Yes, there is that love which will likely never let one leave ... that love for which one is willing to sacrifice ... but also unable not to. Honestly, I kid myself by thinking of escape.

Well, I've already spent 7 years in the business world working in IT. I know my alternatives and like academic life much better (so far). Plus, if it ever gets *too* bad, I can just go back to working with computers.

I'm amazed that the think tank is seen as such a lowly state. Granted, I'm assuming you're not a fellow, but still, I would ultimately much rather be at a policy-oriented think tank than in a university system. I suppose it's a matter of fields, or course - policy is about half of what I do, as opposed to, um, none, for most of the rest of you.

Sleepnotwork,

It is a lowly state primarily because I'm in a lowly position. But also, for me, the move from philosophy to research on a subset of somebody else's project on the minutae of the non-maternal child-care and human capital (a particularly disconcerting way of looking at the family as an economic resource) is ... well ... not exactly an advance in my ascension toward the top of the philosophical world.

Although ... the higher ups here are like professors on indefinite tenure ... an ideal job ... possibly better than academia these days ... my hesitance to join the think-tank world is furthered by the distinct possibility that my thought would slowly become sedimented into an ever narrowing modus operandi rather than attempting to challenge it to seek broader and deeper insights at every turn. Of course, I suppose the same could be said of becoming a professor due to the extensive grading and the increasing demand to teach "business ethics" rather than a more properly philosophical course.

Ace,

I agree with Sleep that a think-tank sounds more attractive than the university in a lot of ways (comradery, discipline, practical orientation, etc.) but I can definitely understand the drudgery of being a grunt in an empirical study.

I'm in an interdisciplinary German Studies program out here in Colorado. I'm almost definitely going to switch schools after I wrap up the Masters this Spring, and likely switch fields as well (I'm going to apply to some programs in Intellectual History and perhaps some theory oriented Comp Lit programs). It's annoying to switch fields but I think it will be better in the long term if I get into a discipline where I'll have more communication with students and communities. And maybe I can get in somewhere where I don't have to teach and can just focus on writing.

Anyway, why go to Ireland to study? Why not apply to some program in the US and try to get a fellowship or something? And what is your Master's Thesis about?

Ludwig,

The Intellectual History route has always been a temptation for me too ... precisely because of its more immediately accessible relation to the contemporary world we live in ... this has led me to take an interest in Foucault's philosophy of history ... thus I'm finishing my first major go around with the Western Tradition with a Master's Thesis on Foucault and, indirectly, Nietzsche.

Well, technically, its on a recent publication (by Catherine Pickstock) out of England by the disturbing and noxious Radical Orthodoxy movement. This is a High Anglican theological/philosophical movement that is in the process of taking over Cambridge. Their work is an effort to confront postmodern nihilism with a rather insidious "Christian postmodernism" that is little more than pure theologism bent on hijacking what is valuable in postmodern thought in order to argue for the necessity of building a "liturgical" and "faith alone" Western culture. The recent (and growing) popularity and influence of this movement is particularly dangerous to honest scholarship (their interpretations twist everything from Plato to Neo-Platonism, from Thomas Aquinas to Duns Scotus, and from Heidegger to Foucault, to fit the "faith alone" message) and they would destroy both philosophy and ultimately true ideals of Christianity itself. If they have their way, no true dialogue will occur to bridge the apparently insurpassible distance between the "Conservative" and "Liberal" rationalities that have growing apart with a rapidity that cannot bode well for the future.

So, while I myself am a Catholic (oh no!! many will say: not another uneducated quack bent on an illusionary next life that is nothing but the making of his own sorrow and desire!!), I'm taking up Pickstock's extensive use of Foucault and postmodernity to turn it back upon her in order to crush the Radical Orthodoxy movement which is harmful to both philosophy itself and the frequently tenuous balance that characterizes the political world today.

As for: Why Ireland?

Well, UCD has a phenomenal reputation in 20th century Continental Philosophy. And due to my thesis advisor's friendship with some of the professors over there, I'll probably be able to get the Fellowship they offer ... I missed the deadline last spring.

And ... European PhD programmes don't require two more years of classes ...

So, while I myself am a Catholic (oh no!! many will say: not another uneducated quack bent on an illusionary next life that is nothing but the making of his own sorrow and desire!!), I'm taking up Pickstock's extensive use of Foucault and postmodernity to turn it back upon her in order to crush the Radical Orthodoxy movement which is harmful to both philosophy itself and the frequently tenuous balance that characterizes the political world today.

Half of the commenters on this blog are Catholic, as you know. :) That sounds like a really interesting use of theory. I like to see theory put in service of something beyond explication of texts. Ludwig may well have something more to say about Foucault since he's been taking a course on his theories this semester.

I'm going to purposefully leave my antecedents unclear in that last sentence, but just a few months ago I don't think I would have even noticed. One of my profs is meticulous and old-fashioned grammar stickler. So at least I can say I've learned something already.