welcome

Welcome to ‘The Pluralist’s Guide to Philosophy’ (TPGP).

You’ll find here a survey of expert opinion on the best places to study select sub-fields of philosophy. Our aim is to provide students and their mentors with some informed, crowd-sourced ideas about two things: 1) where any student might productively cultivate an interest in American Philosophy, Continental Philosophy, Critical Philosophy of Race and Ethnicity, Feminist Philosophy, and GLBT Studies; and 2) where students from traditionally under-represented populations might reasonably expect to find a welcoming environment (as much as philosophers, or graduate programs, are ever welcoming). This site is totally independent of any philosophical organizations.

Having read this far, you probably find yourself with some questions already. You might, for example, be wondering: Why these sub-fields? Or: Why have you given my field this troubling name? Or: Why do we need another guide? Professor Leiter has already given us one, and it is a) perfect and wonderful, or b) proof that no such project can serve aught but evil ends. (a’s and b’s, you know who you are.) Our considered responses to questions like these appear on our FAQ and Methodology pages. But it may be worth saying two things at the start: First, it’s hard to get too much information about studying philosophy, especially at the graduate level, where one’s intellectual life is bound up with one’s professional and material prospects. And second: it is hard just to get good information – good, systematically-gathered information – in the areas we hope to illuminate. In deference to these facts, we humbly offer our assistance to any who might find it useful.

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Program Recommendations By Category

Here are the types of programs that we are offering recommendations for:

  • American Philosophy
  • Continental Philosophy
  • Critical Philosophy of Race and Ethnicity
  • Feminist Philosophy
  • GLBT Studies

Featured Articles

The APA Guide to Graduate Programs

The APA Guide for Graduate Programs in Philosophy can be found here. This guide provides one-of-a-kind, comprehensive information about placement records and demographics, and it includes a list of MA Programs as well as Ph.D. programs. Objective, unbiased information about all programs is now available in one centralized place for the first time. The Pluralists’ Guide applauds the long work and effort it took many people to put this together and supports further efforts in the APA to make good information available to all people interested in pursuing advanced degrees in philosophy.

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The Climate of Climate Studies

Linda Martín Alcoff
There appears to be a groundswell of demands in numerous philosophy departments across the country for climate studies

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Pluralism and Diversity as Intrinsic Philosophical Concerns

Linda Martín Alcoff
Why would anyone think that the world’s philosophy might be adequately developed and exhaustively thought through by one small subset of one small grouping of people located in one relatively small section of the globe?

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Climate for Women in Philosophy

New British Guidelines for Best Practices Regarding Women in Philosophy

Some excellent suggestions and information available here.

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Statistics on Number of Women in U.S. Doctoral Programs in Philosophy

Julie Van Camp has an updated list of the number of women in each U.S. Doctoral Program and their ranking in the Philosophical Gourmet Report.

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Latin American and Latino/a Philosophy

Announcing a new list: Latin American and Latino/a Philosophy

The Pluralist’s Guide to Philosophy is expanding this year to include a new list for those interested in Latin American and/or Latino/a Philosophy. This is just the initial of a number of expansions planned for the future: most immediately, we will launch a list for Africana Philosophy next year, but also plan to expand to other sub-fields as well.

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New listserv on Latino/a Philosophy

To join the newly revised listserv on Latino/a Issues in Philosophy, now called “LatPhil,” send an email to Ernesto Velasquez at evelasquez1@udayton.edu

Keep up with conference and book announcements and other relevant news, and share your own announcements. And help spread the word!

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Feminist Support for the Guide

A fine Blog Post about the controversy around our site

From Feministing, this nicely written and balanced post

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Feminist Philosophers Support Pluralists’ Guide

The undersigned, publicly support the efforts of the new Pluralist’s Guide to Philosophy in both of its endeavors…

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News

New British Guidelines for Best Practices Regarding Women in Philosophy

Some excellent suggestions and information available here.

See article on its own page

Statistics on Number of Women in U.S. Doctoral Programs in Philosophy

Julie Van Camp has an updated list of the number of women in each U.S. Doctoral Program and their ranking in the Philosophical Gourmet Report.

See article on its own page