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Matt Bennett

@mattpbennett.bsky.social

Moral and political philosopher working on trust in people, experts, and institutions, distributive justice (esp. meritocracy), post-Kantian European philosophy (esp. Nietzsche) https://drmattbennett.weebly.com

1,392 Followers  |  164 Following  |  103 Posts  |  Joined: 20.09.2023
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Posts by Matt Bennett (@mattpbennett.bsky.social)

FWIW, this is precisely the sentiment I read in Nietzsche’s eternal return of the same. More generally: β€œThere is no progress or redemption arc. It is what it is”

08.04.2025 11:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The closest thing to success in philosophy peer review: "It my pleasure to tell you that we have accepted your shitty work which you must revise line-by-line before we publish it"

29.03.2025 07:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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No philosophy journal *acceptance* would be complete without being told by the editor that the paper falls below the journal's standards and to revise the paper "from beginning to end"

29.03.2025 07:26 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks Tom. Hope you’re surviving everything in Edinburgh

14.02.2025 18:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Would you mind explaining your reasoning a little Tom? I’m struggling to trust any candidate enough to bother voting, and everything I read from/about the candidates isn’t really helping that

14.02.2025 17:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Journal rejection after 11 months. Philosophy is often a callous and cruel profession, and I'm struggling to see how I continue in it. I've been given chances, and I'm getting closer to accepting I've failed to make it work, but today it's hard not to feel that I've been screwed

08.04.2024 11:22 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm hiring two three-year postdocs in political theory for my ERC/UKRI project Systemic Risk and the Transformation of Democracy. One postdoc would ideally have already worked on climate change. Please spread the word!

www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/086948-...

29.03.2024 14:16 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Jfc that's awful, I'm so sorry

02.04.2024 14:35 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Once again for those at the back: doing well in the REF & getting great student satisfaction scores won't save you from politically motivated cuts. It doesn't matter if your research is good, your unit is profitable, or your students are happy if a VC needs to prove their radical vision/pet scheme.

21.03.2024 20:31 β€” πŸ‘ 57    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This isβ€”or rather should beβ€”an absolute scandal. The UK’s University of Kent is closing its highly ranked Department of #Philosophy. This undermines the very idea of a university. #HigherEducation #PhilSky #Academia

21.03.2024 16:30 β€” πŸ‘ 75    πŸ” 45    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 1

Least of all me #blessed

06.03.2024 12:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Congratulations to my paper and Editorial Manager for 10 months together! Almost made it to that big first-year anniversaryπŸ€ͺ

06.03.2024 09:46 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

It's not a good day for job worries. Woke up with catastrophising thoughts about what happens at the end of my current job (Sept), and I just learned that even our business school is being forced to pull fixed-term teaching. The picture at (most) UK universities is very bleak indeed

23.02.2024 10:33 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ah yes. But actions are solidaristic, right? Not people, or collectives i.e. things that have traits

23.02.2024 09:52 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

If solidarity is a trait, what is the associated adjective? Like if courage is a trait, we say that a person is courageous. (Answers needn't be in English, of course)

23.02.2024 09:16 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
A poster showing the Palestinian flag. "#WriteForPalestine creative writing workshop, led by BSFA longlisted and pushcart nominated writer, Dr Rachel Handley. Where: Zoom, When, 1st March 7 pm to 8:30pm fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)", QR code.

A poster showing the Palestinian flag. "#WriteForPalestine creative writing workshop, led by BSFA longlisted and pushcart nominated writer, Dr Rachel Handley. Where: Zoom, When, 1st March 7 pm to 8:30pm fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)", QR code.

I am running an online creative writing workshop on 1st March (7 pm - 8:30 pm) UK time to help raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

Writers at every level are welcome!

Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Please repost!

14.02.2024 14:18 β€” πŸ‘ 86    πŸ” 117    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 11

I was already thinking journal of the APA next, good shout

13.02.2024 15:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Rejection number 6 on the winner-takes-all paper. Kudos to CRISPP for a 3 month turnaround, albeit with just one report. On the hunt for rejection number 7, open to recommendations

13.02.2024 08:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Hello! Could I be on the philosophy list? Thanks!

09.02.2024 22:11 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Are there any philosophy journals that don’t care if your submission is simultaneously under consideration elsewhere? Asking purely out of curiosity of course

09.02.2024 17:54 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
It’s not about β€˜woke’ or foreign students – the truth is that UK universities are starved of... We need to have a frank conversation about higher education. These confected rows benefit nobody, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

'It’s not about β€˜woke’ or foreign students – the truth is that UK universities are starved of cash'
A good summary of the issues.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

06.02.2024 18:10 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Presentation slide for a talk entitled 'Who wants desert?', featuring a picture of a sliced dessert pie and a hand removing a slice

Presentation slide for a talk entitled 'Who wants desert?', featuring a picture of a sliced dessert pie and a hand removing a slice

Presented this last week (virtually) to a great bunch at a workshop on empirical+normative pol-theory in Prato. The talk covered, among other things, dictators, bankruptcy, capuchin monkeys, and the American Red Cross, and all under 20 mins!

05.02.2024 09:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
PPE Graduate Summer Workshop Info on the PPE Summer Workshop

Grad Students! Want to learn more about core methods of PPE? Want to build your network? Want to do all of this for free? Join us at the 4th Annual PPE Graduate Summer Workshop! July 22-26.

Applications due Feb 15.

www.chapman.edu/research/ins...

29.01.2024 16:38 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah I agree. I think posting on social media is primarily my way of channeling my urge to β€œdo something” away from the submission, the journal, and the editor

29.01.2024 10:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ugh that's awful. This journal has a policy of seeking 2nd reviewer only if 1st doesn't recommend reject, which on the one hand is good news for me, but on the other it more or less double the wait (and of course there is still the possibility of being rejected with a negative 2nd review)

29.01.2024 09:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I didn't think so, but I'm starting think it might be based on this

29.01.2024 09:31 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Editorial manager screenshot reading "date submitted: 6 May 2023", "status date: 3 Jan 2024", "current status: reviewers assigned".

Editorial manager screenshot reading "date submitted: 6 May 2023", "status date: 3 Jan 2024", "current status: reviewers assigned".

*sigh* closing in on 9 months. I'm 99% sure "reviewers assigned" means "waiting for response to invitation to review". They tell me they have a 1st report and they are looking for a 2nd. My last contact with them was 3 Jan.

What do I do? Anything? Nothing?

29.01.2024 09:26 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

This is a remarkably Nietzschean account of late 19th century scientific method

27.01.2024 17:52 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"Faculty on the move" updates but for all the temp teachers losing their jobs

23.01.2024 13:46 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Some small steps towards fixing the publishing crisis in philosophy:

i. Papers should bounce around quickly between journals, getting rejected without much feedback, then resubmitted somewhere else to be rejected without much feedback again by the same referee.

ii. CVs should be in 12pt font.

23.01.2024 13:05 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0