Applications 2014

[bar_scene_gambler]

Caveat Emptor: I am somewhat drunk on Ouzo, so feel free to ignore questions you don't feel like answering.

I've noticed that there is a drastic difference between the amount of conversation between last years grad. student hopefuls and this year's. As such, I wanted to ask a few questions of the few that are wandering around this forum.

First, I'd like to say that, much like Philstudent1991, I find that I'm incredibly attached to you guys. I hope that you all find placement within the programs that you apply to.

Second, are you guys working on any last minute projects? I'm working on a paper regarding the concept of exemplar and it's use in language (related to Nietzsche in Schopenhauer as Educator and Kant in his Critique of Judgment). I was wondering if you were working on any interesting projects as last minute CV boosters. If you want (though I'm sure you're familiar) I could send you guys some links to conference/publication info.

Third, I'm really interested in your personal interests philosophically. I was wondering if we could all talk about our interests concerning our philosophical goals and how they relate to the programs we're applying to. 

Fourth, could we all talk about our writing samples and statements of purpose a little? I feel as if transparency is at a minimum these days (though we're all familiar with dfindley's writing sample/statement of purpose).

Fifth, where are you looking to go, and who do you want to work with? I'd like to go to U Chicago or UT Austin and work with Pippin or Higgins. What about you guys/gals?

Finally, I was wondering if you guys/gals had any idea what you're dissertation might be on? I know this isn't particularly pertinent in terms of applications, but, ideally, I'd like to be able to follow your work as you move forward, and as such, I'd like to know what it is that lights your philosophical passions (metaphorically speaking).

I say again, forgive me for my drunkenness. But could we form tighter-knit cadre? We may not all have the same goals, in fact, we may not all have the same beliefs, but we do all share in one thing; this awful process. As they say, there are no atheists in foxholes, and likewise, there ought be no opponents in these applications. Ideally, I'd like you all to be my peers. In fact, I'd like you all to be my friends/colleges, even if I don't make it into a grad. program this year. Likewise, if I make it into a grad. program, I'd like to be able to help you all out, given the difficulty of grad. applications. I try, after all, to be pluralistic and not to favor analytic or continental one way or the other. Could we help each other out? Maybe we could form a critique/suggestion group for personal statements/writing samples. I know I still have to submit approximately 8 applications.

[dfindley]

So many schools emphasize the writing sample as the most important factor in the application, but it is too late to write another.

..you could focus on a statement od intent and discuss a specific philosophical project you would like to research through the years. ..hinting at a dissertation maybe.

I think that is better than ' going in with an open mind' or being 'open to new things' 'broadening ones horizons'

Which to me imply you are aimless and haven't developed any serious passions in philosophy.

Or who knows? Maybe all different type of faculty will project their own values and expectations into the evaluations process. So standards may always be somewhat different.

[MattDest]

This is a beautiful time-wasting opportunity - thanks barscene! You should answer these questions yourself. I enjoyed your drunken desire for camaraderie. 

 

(2) I'm not working on any last minute projects for my application (I've already turned them in), but I'm organizing a graduate student conference for the spring and am awaiting submissions *wink wink*. I'm also writing my MA thesis this spring, which I'm really excited about. 

 

(3) I'm interested in philosophy of mind (psychology/neuroscience esp. perception and consciousness), social epistemology, and philosophy of religion. These interests allowed me to cast a really wide net while applying. However, my experience at my MA program taught me that my interests don't necessarily need to be set in stone, and might develop differently depending on where I end up. 

 

(4) My writing sample was a paper I developed during a summer seminar on John Broome's "Rationality Through Reasoning". It's a critical response to some of the requirements of rationality he proposes.  It's a bit outside of my usual areas of interest, but I went through two rounds of revisions with professor comments, and I feel pretty confident in it. My PS was pretty generic, but I did tailor the last paragraph to specific programs.

 

(5) Honestly, I would want to go to any of the programs I applied to. Arizona and Northwestern (Lackey) are pretty high on my list at the moment. 

 

(6) I have no earthly idea. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

I'm glad you enjoyed my drunken ravings. I was touched by Philstudent's post, so I just wanted to talk to you guys/gals a bit more. I'll absolutely answer these questions for you.

2) Like I said, I'm currently working on a paper on the concept of exemplar, specifically exemplary educators. In Schacht's "Zarathustra/Zarathustra as Educator" he claims that Nietzsche believes that our educators need to be exemplars, but his usage of the term is a flawed one I think. Really the problem is the same one that Kant has in his Critique of Judgment, specifically the unteachability of genius, I'm trying to say that both Kant is right about our ordinary usage of the term "exemplar" and that Schacht uses the flawed understanding of exemplar to teach Nietzsche, but that Nietzsche's understanding of exemplary educators is quite different than our ordinary understanding of the concept. Hopefully I'll finish it in time to submit to journals/conferences.

3) I'm interested in a wide range of topics, including American and German Romanticism, Nietzsche, Chinese Philosophy (mostly Gongsun Longzi and Zhuangzi), Kafka, Camus, French Phenomenology/Post-Structuralism, and more recently, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Cavell. It's safe to say that I'm almost totally interested in Continental thought, so I'm applying to (mostly) continental programs, but I'm also applying to some analytic programs as well, as I would like to be a more rounded philosopher. I'm also applying to Chicago's Committee on Social Thought, as my interests are quite broad and cross the boundaries between literature and philosophy.

4) My writing sample is a paper that I worked on in a graduate level course on Kant's ethics. It's main goal is to show that, separated from the usual caricatures and underlying prejudices of Western academia, Eastern philosophy can be read as rigorously and as deeply as and Western philosopher. As such, my paper tries to draw similarities between Kant's duties of respect to others and various passages out of the Tao Te Ching. The point was to make the comparison as drastic as possible for maximum impact, and though the comparison is, obviously, imperfect, it turns out that the two areas of thought aren't as mutually exclusive as I thought they'd be.

My PS is also fairly generic. I pretty much did what you did, except for Chicago's programs and Georgia State. The Committee on Social Thought wanted a personalized letter explaining your intentions and your trajectory, so I had to write that one from scratch, and I wrote another statement from scratch for the philosophy department, as I wanted it to be genuine and not cut/pasted. Georgia State had an additional requirement in the PS that asked you to explain why you want to get an MA, so I obviously had to write something extra, in addition to the tailored concluding paragraph.

5) Like I said, UT Austin, U Chicago, and U Warwick are my top picks. I'd like to work with Robert Pippin, Kathleen Higgins, or Keith Ansell-Pearson ideally, but Jessica Berry at Georgia State is also pretty good, from what I've gathered from our emails anyway. Of course, Pippin is my top pick, so if (and that's a big if) I get an offer, I'm immediately accepting the Chicago offer. From what the grad students told me on my visit, I might have a decent chance, but who really knows at this point?

6) Currently I'm considering doing something with Nietzsche, perhaps a continuation of my thesis. But as we all know, interests change, so it might not end up going in that direction. 

[dfindley]

Have you considered doing philosophy for yourself?

Your -own- philosophy? To be you own Nietzsche, your own heiddegrr, your own camus?

[bar_scene_gambler]

You know, even the greatest philosophers start by writing about others. Deleuze didn't start doing "his own" philosophy until he'd already published works on Hume, Leibniz, Nietzsche, Bergson, and Spinoza. Before you can do your own philosophy, you need to understand the philosophy of others. Maybe you feel like you get the people you're writing about,  but your brief sketch of your chapter on politics says you at least misunderstand Nietzsche. I know none of this will matter to you, for several reasons, but perhaps you should think about deepening your knowledge of philosophy before going out on your own. We don't work in a bubble; philosophy is a conversation, one which has been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years, that you can either be a part of it or not, but if you choose not to be then don't expect others to listen to you. You aren't getting any respect here because you don't respect others, and you don't respect philosophy.

I don't understand why you're rushing to develop an innovative system anyways. It seems forced. Philosophy isn't a young-person's field; it's certainly no coincidence that so few philosophers write their magnum opus early in their lives. I fully expect to be learning and writing about others for quite some time, and that will make me a better philosopher because, rather than forcing something into existence, I will be giving myself the time I need for something truly good to come to me. Honestly, for someone interested in Eastern philosophy, it astounds me that you're so anxious to publish something groundbreaking. What do you think wu-wei is about?

Edited December 2, 2013 by bar_scene_gambler

[maxhgns]

When I TA for introductory courses, my students always balk at their first assignments, complaining that the word limit is too low (sometimes it's as low as 500 words for the first paper, with increasing limits as the semester unfolds, and sometimes it's as high as 1200 words). The brutal, honest truth, however, is that they can't yet be trusted with more words. They all think they can write strong, focused research papers, but they're wrong. The proof is how badly they garble their 500-word exegeses. They just haven't developed the skills required to write a proper research paper yet. Those skills will come with time and practice.

 

It's the same for us all, dfindley. We like to think we're exceptional, but we're dead wrong. We can't be trusted with that kind of writing, not yet. It's a skill one develops, not an instinct with which we're born.

[dfindley]

Deleuze is not a 'great philosopher'.

You only think so because he is famous. Not because you think for yourself.

Edited December 3, 2013 by dfindley

[bar_scene_gambler]

Yep. Couldn't be because I find Post-Structuralism interesting...you know, like I said in my comment. Couldn't be that at all. It couldn't be the case that I'm applying to Emory specifically because I might want to do work on Deleuze. Yep, you've got me figured out dfindley. Great work.

[dfindley]

You find it interesting because it seems exotic to you, and because you see it as 'advanced' curriculum. Not because you are interested in him as he might prove historically relevant -- which would be quite a compliment for him.

[bar_scene_gambler]

For someone who thinks they know so much about philosophy, you're quick to make uneducated guesses based on absolutely nothing.

[gatewayselect]

You find it interesting because it seems exotic to you, and because you see it as 'advanced' curriculum. Not because you are interested in him as he might prove historically relevant -- which would be quite a compliment for him.

 

Shouldn't you be busy trying to find two other letter writers?

[quackademic]

Deleuze is not a 'great philosopher'.

You only think so because he is famous. Not because you think for yourself.

 

 

 

But seriously, imagine how this guy must treat his wife.

[dfindley]

I don't hear the things I need to hear from you.

Whom among you genuinely seek Truth. to read and write and think that you might come to Truth.

To love philosophy not as an end but as a means.

None of you. At most such motivation has been forgotten -- for prestige, or maybe a cool career?

Hear me tower in greatness over you, that I love not philosophy but Truth !

[gatewayselect]

I don't hear the things I need to hear from you.

Whom among you genuinely seek Truth. to read and write and think that you might come to Truth.

To love philosophy not as an end but as a means.

None of you. At most such motivation has been forgotten -- for prestige, or maybe a cool career?

Hear me tower in greatness over you, that I love not philosophy but Truth !

 

Grand words coming from someone who was just trying to tell another person that they have poor interests, bad opinions, and are disingenuous in regards with their interests. 

[dfindley]

(Edited for vulgar content)

Edited December 3, 2013 by dfindley

[dfindley]

Why don you give a brief synopsis on the historical significance in de lose.

We can do philosophy. Would you like that?

[gatewayselect]

Why don you give a brief synopsis on the historical significance in de lose.

We can do philosophy. Would you like that?

 

To be honest, I liked it when you called me "professional student scum" before you edited it out. 

[MattDest]

This thread started out so promising. Let's not feed the trolls and instead focus on the questions that bar_scene prompted. 

[bar_scene_gambler]

Thanks MattDest. Honestly, I say we just downvote and move on from now on. dfindley doesn't have anything valuable to contribute.

[quackademic]

This thread started out so promising. Let's not feed the trolls and instead focus on the questions that bar_scene prompted. 

 

True words!  I shall bow out.  Good luck to you all this season!  

[bar_scene_gambler]

True words!  I shall bow out.  Good luck to you all this season!  

Thank you. Good luck with the week or so that remains in the semester. 

[MattDest]

True words!  I shall bow out.  Good luck to you all this season!  

Good luck to you too!

[Cottagecheeseman]

Okay, let's not feed Dfindley - who is either a troll or mentally ill -

1: I too yearn for for camaraderie in applying to Grad school. It's so competitive in philosophy but I don't feel the need to be competitive with other applicants. I hope everyone here gets in to their dream school with full funding and go on to become famous philosophers who write on cool topics. Drinks all around! (I'm not drunk at all, I'm at work, so this will be less enjoyable then when I would have seen it last night) - also is it just me but everywhere I find young philosophers online I also find alcoholics, maybe there is some necessary relationship between booze and philosophy?

2: I'm still working on writing sample! Yes I know I'm late, but it's done but I'm just doing major and minor edits to it! It's on virtue epistemology, specifically a critique of the virtue epistemology (knowledge as success from ability) that Greco puts forward in his book Achieving Knowledge. If anyone wants to look at it and give me feedback, that would be cool - I'll just do it over private message.

3. I'm interested mostly in Epistemology and Metaethics. Yup, I'm an analytic guy, but my days of hating on continental philosophy are over, except for jokes on the internet. I also want to pursue extra study in philosophy of science and experimental philosophy - something I haven't had the chance to study in undergrad work.

4. I already mentioned my writing sample, but my statement of purpose is bland. I start with a story about why I want to study philosophy in graduate school (my experience with David Lewis' book "On the plurality of worlds" - but then I just say what I'm interested in studying, mentioning research I did in independent studies with some professors, and then end with why I want to study at X school and some various stuff about my undergraduate study that I think will help me look more interesting. (Namely, President Philosophy Club, Outstanding Student Award for the philosophy department)

5. I want to go anywhere on my list (Yale, USC, Arizona, U-Mass Amherst, UVA, Rochester, VA Tech MA, one or two other MA programs) - but mostly I want to go to USC to work with Mark Schroeder and Hawthorne.

6. If I did a dissertation right now I would probably present some arguments against moral realism/objectivism (the idea that there are more properties) - argue that they don't exist. But who knows. I'm still very much unschooled in a lot of philosophy, and that's mostly why I want to go to Grad school!

Again, best of luck everyone!
 

[bar_scene_gambler]

(2) I'm not working on any last minute projects for my application (I've already turned them in), but I'm organizing a graduate student conference for the spring and am awaiting submissions *wink wink*. I'm also writing my MA thesis this spring, which I'm really excited about.

If your winking is a suggestion, then I'd happily attempt a submission, though I don't know the theme, and so I'm not sure I have anything worth presenting.

 

 

and philosophy of religion

Who specifically? I've been looking to get into the philosophy of religion, but I've only read Kierkegaard (I'm not even sure that counts).

 

2 - I applied to a conference for the spring, but I don't think I'll know about acceptance in time to put it on my CV. It's mostly just for fun anyway. I'm working on a presentation with a few friends on personal identity and ethics in Doctor Who. 

 

3 - I have broad interests, but primarily in value theory--ethics, metaethics, political philosophy. I tried to apply to programs that have strengths in a lot of areas.

2- Care to elaborate? Ethics in Doctor Who sounds interesting.

3- Anyone specific? The only ethics I've ever studied were in two graduate level courses, one on Kant's ethics and the other on Hume.

 

 

It's on virtue epistemology, specifically a critique of the virtue epistemology (knowledge as success from ability) that Greco puts forward in his book Achieving Knowledge. If anyone wants to look at it and give me feedback, that would be cool - I'll just do it over private message.

I've never read Greco, so I don't know that I'd be much help.

 

 

mentioning research I did in independent studies with some professors

What independent studies have you done? I spent my last 2 years doing nothing but languages and graduate level independent studies. To this point, I've done independent studies on/in Hume, Kant's ethics, Being and Time, Plato's Republic, Capitalism and Schizophrenia, and Nietzsche's early period. I hope that they'll be of some advantage in the application process, but I'm not holding my breath any.