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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 1d

pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 1d

gm lads

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

entirely fair

N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

yes, and if they change their policy to reflect their practices or their practices to reflect their policy, i'll start complaining about the substantial rather than the formal aspects of the policy (because fuck me if i'm going to quit complaining altogether)

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

on consequentialist grounds if nothing else

N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

even if i didn't think discrimination on the basis of immutable characteristics was impermissible unless that characteristic is necessarily tied to non-ad-hoc, essential functions of the job in question, it seems to me that a bright line rule is better than regular exercise of discretion

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

yes, and many cases of the former seem to involve instances of the latter (this one, for example, necessarily jettisons a nondiscrimination principle which holds that racial discrimination is impermissible in academic hiring)

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

and if that's not acceptable but this is (i certainly think this is likely to be less materially consequential, but my objection isn't consequentialist), what's the principle at play?

N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

ok but surely there's a limit to this right? it can't be that we're going to go fully culturally relativist about this, otherwise i don't see a principled reason why we could exercise discretion the other way round if, say, chinese job posting started discriminating against uyghurs

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

again, if philjobs wants to modify its policy to allow some differences from the apa's, that's perfectly within their purview, my objection here is purely directed at the clearly inconsistent application of their stated policy

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

and so would i! but that would already be covered by the apa's policy, whereas (since it's enacted by duly elected representatives of a legislature) i don't think what i take to be your proposal would

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

again, i suspect this overgeneralizes in ways all of us would find unacceptable

suppose tomorrow the texas legislature votes overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that subjects mexican americans to discrimination in tx academic hiring; i think you'd probably think philjobs should adjudicate that

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

but it seems like that defense runs afoul of what i take to be a premise commonly adopted by many folks who might favor allowing this posting, namely that the intent behind discriminatory behavior doesn't really matter (e.g. ``it doesn't matter what you meant, don't ask `where are you from' '')

N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

in one sense i agree, in that the motives are at least somewhat more benign (though this would of course depend on the society in question and their understanding of nondiscrimination); i simply have a problem with racial discrimination in academic hiring as a matter of principle

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

right, philjobs could endorse a ``to thine own self be true'' policy tomorrow if they wanted; i think there are problems with this, as it'll overgeneralize in ways i and they will likely find distasteful

my main point here is that they haven't, and should clarify why they're allowing deviations

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

some, e.g. those who think present racial discrimination is the only remedy to past racial discrimination, make different judgments i suppose, but i find that problematical for various reasons

if philjobs wants to use that justification, that's as may be -- but they should say so

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

there are colorable prudential reasons why restricting applications to canadian citizens is fine (uni has trouble getting or sponsoring visas)

i honestly can't think of a similarly colorable reason for ``x race only'' racial discrimination

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

(ii) it seems categorically different to me, at least in this and similar cases, to discriminate on the basis of race versus nationality

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

that's fair, and i'd make two points to follow up on that

(i) if philjobs already isn't following or enforcing its stated policy, it shouldn't keep the policy, as that's duplicitous

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

suppose there is an international exception of some kind: nations A, B, and C are allowed to post jobs that violate the nondiscrimination policy, and the rest not

i have difficulty discerning a principle that would cover that and not produce what they (and i) would take to be unacceptable results

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

if they want to loosen that requirement to allow for racial discrimination, that's their choice i suppose, and maybe it's even for a good goal

but then they should say they're not going to follow it

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

"Institutions that seek to advertise in PhilJobs: Jobs for Philosophers will be asked whether they comply with the APA Nondiscrimination Policy. Ads from those that do not so indicate will not be run."

seems pretty exceptionless to me

philjobs.org/job/nondiscr...

Nondiscrimination policy - PhilJobs:JFP

An international database of jobs for philosophers

philjobs.org

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

@dbourget.bsky.social is there a reason why philjobs is advertising a job that explicitly states it is discriminating on the basis of race, in violation of its own policy? i'd be interested to hear it

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 7d

curious

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N. Bourbaki, Dr Chad Latino @d08890.bsky.social · 16d

stuff like this makes the job feel worthwhile

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