File this one under "history of the profession." (Click the image for a larger version.)
My fellow philosopher of science Jack Sanders tells this story:
I saved this ad from Jobs in Philosophy, sometime in 1976. It was posted by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department (ad #24). I later heard that the deal was that the Sheriff of Jefferson County had studied Nietzsche as an undergraduate (or something), and wanted someone to talk to. The fact that one had to provide one's own weapon and boots was one of the highlights of the ad among us grad students looking for work... none of the other ads in JiP required that.
I also suspect that this ad may have been one of the motivating factors behind Jobs in Philosophy later changing its name to Jobs for Philosophers, but I guess you never know...
I also suspect that this ad may have been one of the motivating factors behind Jobs in Philosophy later changing its name to Jobs for Philosophers, but I guess you never know...
Wade Robison corrects him on one point:
Spinoza! He did his dissertation on Spinoza and wanted a colleague with a specialty in Spinoza. Gerry McCallum at Wisconsin was in charge of the JIP committee then and went up to the room in the hotel to check because it sounded bogus.
2 comments:
I'm picturing the sheriff stuck on a long stake out with a guy who only talks about fishing and thinking "If only I had a partner who knew some Spinoza!"
I heard a different story (and by the way I remember this ad because I was in grad school at the time). The story that I heard was that they had hired a philosopher and that had worked out so well, they wanted another!
But my story is probably false, given that the source was the grad student rumor mill.
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