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September 21, 2011 by Nigel Thri (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/author/nthri)

Derek Part and the Future of the Academic

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I have just been reading Larissa MacFarquhars very enjoyable account of the life
and works of the British philosopher, Derek Part, in The New Yorker.
(http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/09/05/110905fa_fact_macfarquhar)
No one can but be impressed by both Parts resonant and adamantine body of
work and well his utter single-mindedness.
I should probably declare at the outset, as a lesser mortal, that I am no particular fan
of Parts oeuvre (countless people including myself have quoted those electric
passages on the self and death at the end of Reasons and Persons, but I wonder how
many have actually read the whole book). In particular, apropos of the issue of moral
truth that is central to the concerns the recent gargantuan On What Matters, I am
much less vexed by the need for moral certainty than is Part, Still I doubt that
anyone could paint Part as other than a remarkable thinker and savant.
In any case, I think that there is a much wider issue at work here than such
individual reactions to Partss writings. Parts life has been able to be intellectually
uncompromising because he found the infrastructure especially All Souls College
in Oxford, which does no undergraduate teaching that allowed it to be. But I
wonder how much longer that kind of infrastructure will be available in all but a few
universities.
Now I am not saying that every academic is operating on Parts plane and needs his
degree of intellectual latitude. Indeed, for a long time wry looks have been generated
amongst university leaders by the so-called John Rawls gambit which is sometimes

used by members of staff who have been recalcitrant researchers: just as John Rawls

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took 21 years to complete A Theory of Justice, so, these members of staff imply,

workload/28688)

although it may be a similar span of time before their magnum opus will transpire,

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the result will be a similar masterpiece. Well maybe.

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But let me be clear. Any university leader worth their salt needs to think about when
the balance between legitimate oversight and making room for inspiration becomes
oppressive and leaves people like Part out in the cold.
There is no easy solution.
Some academics have found a way which is to stitch together fellowships and
periods at institutes of advanced study and the like into a continuous thread of
opportunity which gives them the time and space to think and with no distractions
over a concerted period of time. Other academics are able to keep an intellectual
problem on the boil because they have the ability to switch on and off, almost at will.
So distractions do not so much pass them by as belong to a parallel stream of life.
And, of course, many academics still have the privilege of sabbaticals. But for the
vast bulk of academics, clever use of time will become an even greater imperative.
That is a real skill and some academics are clearly better able to capitalize on the
opportunities than others think only of the gender dimension.
But there is one more thing. Some academics are clearly better atorganizing their
time than others. This is something that more and more universities are now trying
to teach. Some will say that increasing workloads and other pressures make the
situation more and more difcult and that such courses and workshops on efcient
time management are simply a form of camouage that masks malign management
intentions but, in my experience, being able to manage their time effectively is
something that very often distinguishes the best academics.
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iris4115yearsago

Timemanagementisnottheonlything.Thekeyishowtocombinedifferentkindsofworks
together.Concentratingononesingleworkforalongtimeissimplyboring,notthewayourbrain
isbuilt.Lecturingonehour,writingonehour,advisingstudentsforsometime,readingforanother
hour,etc.Ifyoujugglethemtogether,workdoesnotfeellikeworkanymore,itfeelsmorelike
relaxation.Ofcourse,forthoseofyouwhocanworkathome,there'smorevarietiesofworkyou
canuse.Ifindcookingdinnerveryrelaxingafterawholeday'sresearchandteaching(but
cookingisrealwork!)Dosomegardeningafterhrsofreadingisveryrewarding(butgardeningis
realwork,Igetmyveggiesandfruitsfrommygarden).Evenfoldinglaundryfeelslikeabreak
(meditativerepetetivekindofrelaxation)afterhoursofgrading.
3

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JohnParkinson5yearsago

Assomeonewhohadacareer"outside"beforereturningtoacademia,Iagreethatgoodtime
managementisanincreasinglyimportantskill,butitcanhaveperniciouseffectsifnotalsotiedto
otherskillsandattributes:communicationskills,teamworkingskills,projectmanagementskills,
andsoon.Thereareofftheshelftrainingprogrammesandselfhelpbooksthataddressthis
well,butmanythatdoitextremelypoorly.Theresultcanbea"mefirst"culture,exemplifiedin
oneofmyfavouriteDilbertcartoonsacharactercomesbackfromatimemanagementcourse,
andrejectsallrequestsforhelpandinputonthegroundsthat"you'renotoneofmytopthousand
prioritiesrightnow."Timemanagementisimportant,butitdoesn'tmagicallydoawaywithallthe
usualproblemsofmanagingtensionsbetweenindividual,departmental,organisationalandsocial
goals.
7

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suujaan5yearsago

Hivisitor,I'vecreateablogaboutbirds.
Youwillgetallaboutbirds.Youalsoget
onlineangrybirds,birdspictures,birds
forumsandsomany.
http://thebirdss.weebly.com/in...

Share
sand64325yearsago

JohnRawlsmayhavetaken21yearstocompletehis"TheoryofJustice,"buthepublisheda

steadystreamofseminalarticlesalongtheway,suchas"JusticeasFairness."Iknowbecause
(/account/login?goto=/blogs/worldwise/derek-part-and-the-future-of-the-academicasajunioracquiringeditoratPrincetonUniversityPressinthelate1960s,IapproachedRawls
aboutcollectingthesepapersintoavolume.Ipersuadedsomeotherdistinguishedphilosophers
workload/28688)
withaPrincetonconnectiontodothis,amongthemJoelFeinberg,StuartHampshire,and
GregoryVlastos.ButRawlsdemurred,sayinghedidn'twanttotakeanytimeawayfrom
(/)
completinghismagnumopus.Bytheway,afewyearsearlier,inthefallof1965,Iwasafellow
SUBSCRIBE TODAY (/subscribe/?PK=M1224&cid=MH1WH1)
gradstudentwithDerekParfitinacoursethatFeinbergtaughtatColumbiaUniversityonthe
theoryofresponsibility.ItwasamarveltobeholdFeinbergandParfitdebatingfinepointsof
moralityinthisseminar,andIcouldpredictthenthatParfitwouldhaveabrilliantcareer.Sandy
Thatcher
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Posts on WorldWise present the views of their authors. They do not represent the position of the editors, nor
does posting here imply any endorsement by The Chronicle.

WorldWise Bloggers
Ellen Hazelkorn (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/author/ehazelkorn)
Ellen Hazelkorn is head of the Higher Education Policy Research Unit at the Dublin Institute of Technology and
policyadviser to Ireland's Higher EducationAuthority. She is the author ofRankings and the Reshaping of Higher
Education: The Battle for World-Class Excellence.

Jason Lane and Kevin Kinser (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/author/jlane)

Jason Lane is director of education studies at the Rockefeller Institute of Government and associate professor and codirector of the Cross Border Education Research Team at the State University of New York at Albany. His latest book
is Multinational Colleges and Universities. Kevin Kinser is an associate professor and co-director of the Cross Border
Education Research Team at the State University of New York at Albany, and a fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of
Government. He is also a senior fellow for internationalization at Nafsa: Association of International Educators.

Marion Lloyd (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/author/mlloyd)

Marion Lloyd is chief project coordinator at the General Directorate for Institutional Evaluation at the National
Autonomous University of Mexico. She spent 15 years as a foreign correspondent in South Asia and Latin America for
The Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Nigel Thri (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/author/nthri)

Nigel Thrift is vice-chancellor and president of the University of Warwick, in England.

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