Philosophical Gourmet Report
Encyclopedia
The Philosophical Gourmet Report (also known as the Leiter Report) edited by Philosophy and Law professor Brian Leiter
— in response to the Gourman Report
— is a ranking of philosophy
departments in the English-speaking
world, based on a survey of philosophers who are nominated as evaluators by the Report's Advisory Board. Its purpose is to provide guidance to prospective Ph.D students, particularly those students who intend to pursue a professional career in academic philosophy.
As of December 2004, there are a total of 110 philosophy Ph.D programs in the U.S. alone. In its latest version (2006–2008) the Report ranks the top 50 programs in the United States
, the top 15 in the United Kingdom
, the top five in Canada
and the top five in Australasia
. The rankings are based primarily on perceived quality of the philosophical work of the faculty members.
The Report was first compiled and distributed in 1989 and first appeared on the web in 1996; it has been distributed by Blackwell
since 1997.
Brian Leiter
Brian Leiter is an American philosopher and legal scholar who is currently John Wilson Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, and founder and Director of Chicago's new Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values and the editor of the Philosophical Gourmet Report. He taught from...
— in response to the Gourman Report
Gourman Report
The Gourman Report is Dr. Jack Gourman's ranking of undergraduate, professional, and graduate programs programs in American and International Universities...
— is a ranking of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
departments in the English-speaking
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
world, based on a survey of philosophers who are nominated as evaluators by the Report's Advisory Board. Its purpose is to provide guidance to prospective Ph.D students, particularly those students who intend to pursue a professional career in academic philosophy.
As of December 2004, there are a total of 110 philosophy Ph.D programs in the U.S. alone. In its latest version (2006–2008) the Report ranks the top 50 programs in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the top 15 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the top five in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the top five in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
. The rankings are based primarily on perceived quality of the philosophical work of the faculty members.
The Report was first compiled and distributed in 1989 and first appeared on the web in 1996; it has been distributed by Blackwell
Blackwell Publishing
Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley's Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing, after Wiley took over Blackwell Publishing in...
since 1997.
Methods
The report's rankings are based on an anonymous survey of faculty members of philosophy departments throughout the English-speaking world. Respondents are asked to assign scores from one to five to lists of the faculty of each department (the name of the department is suppressed in the survey questionnaire.) The results are compiled and sorted into an ordinal ranking which used to be subdivided into "peer groups," but no longer is.Evolution since the first web report
- Addition of a consultative board who influence policy, ranking refinements, instructions to and nomination of evaluators.
- Elimination of peer grouping universities based on median scores, as this could potentially mislead consumer choice as to the difference in relative merits of institutions.
- Addition of specialised rankings (but not yet scores) of various areas of philosophy.
- Elimination of handicapping based on department size.
- Addition of median scores, and local (for non-U.S.A. universities) mean and median scores.
- Addition of some data on placement records and career prospects.
- Addition of some advice on some individual areas of philosophy.
- Addition of number of staff evaluated at each department.
- Addition of names and specialties of evaluators.
External links
- The Philosophical Gourmet Report
- Female Friendly Departments
- A Ranking of U.S. Departments of Continental Philosophy
- The American Philosophical Association's statement on Rankings
- Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy statement on rankings
- A Letter of Concern about the Philosophical Gourmet Report
- Yale's Keith DeRose's position
- Richard Heck updates and re-articulates his opposition to the Gourmet Report
- "Some Thoughts on How to Choose a Graduate Program in Philosophy," by Keith DeRose
- The Boston Globe profiles Leiter