Monday, May 17, 2010

Well, You Knew This Was Coming

As expected, Brian Leiter is apoplectic that the New York Times would select a "hack" like Simon Critchley to coordinate it's new philosophy blog, "The Stone." Of course if the Times had any sense, the implication goes, they would have chosen...well, Brian Leiter.

I'm a bit torn here: on the one hand, I'm sympathetic to Leiter's critique of Critchley as a bit of a poser. As I've suggested before, I think he gets a lot of opportunities simply by being in Manhattan and running in certain circles of literary friends. On the other hand, what does Leiter want: a NYT online column written by analytic logic-choppers who specialize in talking to the six other people who care about their little fiefdom of specialization?