I welcome private and public nominations for my weekly, most-underrated philosopher of the week post! Here are the rules: 1. no dead people; 2. no people currently or about to be employed in a Leiter top 50 (or equivalent) department (even thought these are also filled with underrated folk); 3. no former dissertation advisors, or other teachers from graduate school; 4. no former students; 5. No untenured folk. 6a: Excellence in more than one AOS, or 6b: noticeable public impact. (That is I want to recognize *interesting* philosophers, not just hyperspecialized ones!)
One of the great joys of writing this weekly post is discovering new and interesting facts about folk that are interesting. For example, I already knew that this week's most underrated philosopher, Saul Fisher (and interim provost at Mercy College), wrote a splendid book on Gassendi (surely one of the most underrated philosophers in history). I admire the book because while Saul clearly knows his sources and intellectual context, he is not afraid to engage Gassendi with (and compare him to) recent philosophic theories. Rather than creating anachronism, Fisher animates Gassendi's philosophic and scientific projects. Saul has also been an early contributor to the now 'very hot' field of early modern life sciences (see here, and here).
I also knew that he had published about issues dealing with recent trends in higher education. He is, after all, an accomplished administrator moving in and out of foundations and university jobs. (Quite amazing that he can keep up a research profile at all.) But I was only dimly aware of his interest in the philosophy of architecture. So, this week-end I read some of his work in the area. My favorite piece is this one, although this draft paper might impress more. And, while here at NEWAPPS we want to overcome the analytic vs continental dichotomy, this paper just charmed me.
PS It's possible that Saul is not tenured. Even so, his nomination does not violate the spirit of the rules.
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