The commemorative Philosophy Department newsletter in celebration of the 50th anniversary of UCSD is available here. On pages 5-10 is printed the latest version of my essay "From Historical to Eliminative Mateialism (via German Idealism)", in which I attempt to summarize what I have learned about 47 years of history of the department in 5 pages. Allow me to point out a couple of things about that essay:
(1) All dates are based upon dates found in the UCSD General catalogue. Thus, for example, some people may have been hired a whole year before the date noted in the essay, if their name did not make it onto the department roster until the next year's printing of the roster. Since the department does not retain personnel files on those who are no longer on its faculty, the General Catalogue was only the only consistent source of information to which I had access. This also goes for all the information in the chronology section of this blog.
(2) Much has been left out, and some important people neglected. This is mostly due to my own ignorance. One reason I embarked on this project is because I did not feel that I had a sufficient grasp of the history of the department and its past achievements. I still feel this way. Although I have discovered (for myself at least) many interesting things about the department, and learned about the fascinating people who have been associated with it, I still have a lot to learn. It has already been brought to my attention that I should have said more about Clark Glymour (Professor 1995-?) and Sandra Mitchell (Assistant Professor 1989-1994; Associate Professor 1994-1999). I would also add Helen Longino (Assistant Professor 1971-?) and Elisabeth Lloyd (Assistant Professor 1985-1988) to the list of people about whom I am looking to find out more. Of course there are many others as well. Hopefully I can feature some of the work they produced while at UCSD both on the blog and in later versions of the essay.
(3) I still need help filling out details, and even many larger things. On each segment of the essay I posted on this blog, I begged readers for input, additions, and corrections. And many people have provided me with these and continue to help. Thanks to them, and to the rest of you, I still need help. Please let me know if you notice anything or anyone left out. I hope to have a more complete and final version of the essay done for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Philosophy Department in 2013.
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