早兩天參與了美國哲學聯會西岸年會，不是發表論文，只是做評論。我絕少參加學術會議，因為不大喜歡那裏的氣氛；今次的會議在三藩市，不必穿州過省，只需駕兩三小時車便到，於是便請纓做評論，算是履行會員的義務。
我說不喜歡學術會議的氣氛，只是指哲學的學術會議，其他學科的，我不曾參與過，當然沒有資格說些甚麼。我不喜歡的，是這些會議很令我覺得哲學已被弄成一種學術遊戲；在會議上發表的論文，不乏重要和有趣的，但大多數不是跟風寫熱門題目，就是無關痛癢、小眉小眼之作。哲學茶杯裏的風波，每年都有不少，學術會議正是把這些小風波裝扮成大風浪的好機會；看著一大群哲學家煞有介事地討論這些「無中生有」的哲學問題，我是有點吃不消的。
無奈我這次負責評論的文章，正是這種學術遊戲的產品。文章寫得不錯，清楚而工整，是標準的分析哲學格局，可內容就是那麼derivative，是哲學茶杯裏的風波的一個小漣漪；讀完、評論完、跟與會者討論完這篇文章後，我最強烈的感覺是：大家都浪費了不少時間。
搞學術，是否就一定要參與這種學術遊戲？
I was told exposure is a must... I was told it is all about connections... That is the point of going to conference. Otherwise we might as well just read journal papers.
回覆刪除And that was the reason I bought that super expensive ticket (by my own fault).
However, I don't think we have to... once we are established enough or if we don't care if we are appreciated...
RandomCoil,
回覆刪除In my field, as long as one has enough publications, not going to conferences would not be a problem.
Yes, it might be field specific. In a sense if we have a lot of good publications, people would come to us...
回覆刪除However, I was told that showing our presence is important. Even for established professors... showing that s/he is still very active is important for getting fundings...espeically when research is multidisciplinary and we can't do everything on our own.
RandomCoil,
回覆刪除It seems that you don't have much of a choice then.
This is my little note about networking. Hate it!
回覆刪除http://boundaryinterfaces.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/the-wrong-profession/
RandomCoil,
回覆刪除Have just read your piece. I think I would feel the same if I were in your situation.
對于已經有教職和業績的哲學家而言，你們可能會覺得是在浪費時間，
回覆刪除不過，對于像我這種在讀PhD學生而言，能否在類似會議宣讀論文，有時是生死猶關的。
Hello CYC,
回覆刪除I am not sure if that is really field specific.
I am organising a symposium right now (not in Philosophy)...
While some conferences are more pretigious than others, I would say, don't take the acceptance/rejection of a presentation too seriously...
Hello RandomCoil,
回覆刪除→don't take the acceptance/rejection of a presentation too seriously...
Frankly, I am currently writing a conference paper...
Your words make me feel better：）
CYC,
回覆刪除即使是當研究生時，我也沒有去conferences，不過這只是我自己的性格問題。