Topics Profession

Question So I’m a doctoral student trying to become a physicist. As a philosopher though, I’m just a dilettante amateur. I might however, some day, wish to professionally develop and publish a philosophical paper (the assumption being that before attempting this, I rigorously research on whatever I wish to publish). How do I (or any amateur for that matter) go about doing that, without switching departments? I imagine that I’d have to contact a professor at some department, and if given encouraging words, I’d then submit to some journal. What is this process like for amateur philosophers in general (if it exists)?

Accepted:
February 14, 2013

Comments

Great! Some journals do blind reviews and so your identity and thus your not being a professional philosopher in a department would not be know to those who are evaluating the work submitted. Though the initial review would be by the Editor in Chief or an assistant to her or him, and that would probably be transparent. To get started I highly recommend your reading a handful of journals in your area of choice, possibly reading the last 10 years of issues. So, if you are interested in ethics, there is the journal Ethics as well as Philosophy and Public Affairs, the Journal of Value Inquiry. If you are writing on philosophy of art, you might start reading both the British Journal of Aesthetics or the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, and if philosophy of religion Faith and Philosophy, Religious Studies, the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Philosophia Christi, and Sophia. If you are seeking to do something on the philosophy of science there are a range of special journals that you can find either by doing a general search or go to the free online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Some of the main journals publish from almost any sub-field of philosophy (Mind, Philosophical Quarterly, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophy (published by the Royal Institute of Philosophy in the UK, the Journal of Philosophy, the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Review, the International Journal of Philosophy, the Review of Metaphysics, and more).

As for making a connection with a professor in a philosophy department, I think that would be great. I would get to know the philosophy doctoral students NOW as they will be your peers in terms of their careers and they will be the future professors of philosophy. So, having the advice and recommendations of a professional philosopher would be quite desirable, as is having a community of friends who have philosophical interests with whom you can share your work. If you are seeking a post at a university to teach physics, it would probably be quite easy to attend colloquia or go to guest lectures and talks, but usually (in my experience) professional philosophers are a welcoming sort, and if you are in the private sector or with NASA you would still be welcomed by the philosophers at the nearest university.

We tend to not use the term 'amateur philosopher,' though we should as amateurs are usually doing some practice for the sheer love of doing it, and not for the monthly paycheck! A term that is more often used by those who contribute to some area of scholarship who are not attached to a university or college is "independent scholar." I have met several independent scholars who are first-rate as philosophers and have a ball at philosophy conferences, as they have no investment in trying to get a job as a philosopher in an institute. You might also appreciate that some very famous philosophers did not hold university positions such as Spinoza and John Stuart Mill. Edmund Burke is another person who comes to mind who probably would not have warmed up to being called a philosopher, and yet he contributed to the philosophical field of aesthetics and political theory, the latter being picked up by professional philosophers like Michael Oakshott.

You were looking for "encouraging words" and I hope I provided a few! Good wishes to you and any other lovers of philosophy who are interested in contributing to the field as independent scholars.