It is safe to assume that pretty much everybody in philosophy following the Synthese story will have seen Brian Leiter's post on the letter sent in October 2010 to Barbara Forrest, from two of the three Synthese EiC. As Leiter hasn't opened the post for comments, we thought it would be a good idea to open a forum for discussion here, for those who wish to express their opinions. See also the last few comments on this thread for relevant points.
Let me quote a passage from Beckwith's rejoinder:
Forrest’s assessment of my work is a professional embarrassment. So much so that the editors of this journal—not to be confused with the editors of the “special issue” in which Forrest’s article appears—have done something unprecedented: they have included in the front of the issue a disclaimer (Branch and Fetzer 2011, p. 170). They have distanced themselves from her literary misconduct, her article’s personal attacks and bizarre tangents into my religious pilgrimage that surround and embed her case against my work. As much as I do not deserve Forrest’s attempt at character assassination, I surely do not deserve the generosity of the Synthese editors. For in the grand world of academic philosophy, I am a minor figure, who, to be sure, has been blessed to be part of a first-class philosophy department at an outstanding university.
That *this* was deemed appropriate to be published in Synthese, while objections were raised against much milder passages from Forrest's article, is particularly puzzling. So much for the EiC's concern with maintaining a 'professional and dispassionate tone'.
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