An Essay
Dear Prof. McGinn,
I hope you are well.
I saw that you recently posted an open call to dialogue on your blog, which reminded me that last year I wrote an essay in reply to one of your posts. You may find it interesting.
https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/on-cancelling-and-repair
Kind regards,
Mary
Dear Mary Peterson,
To be honest with you, I thought your essay was rubbish, though not badly written. Of course it’s bad for women to be sexually harassed and driven from the profession—when have I ever said otherwise? But it is also bad for men to be unjustly punished and driven from the profession. This is painfully obvious. Of course my work has value, which is why it has been valued (have you read any of it?). You seem to assume that I am guilty as charged, but that is the point in contention. I can’t talk about the facts of the case for legal reasons, but it would be easy for you to find these out for yourself by consulting publicly available legal documents. You obviously haven’t and gone by newspaper reports. The rest of what you say about me is also wrong, but I can’t be bothered to go into it. The idea that the cancellation has not materially affected my ability to publish and perform is factually false. Etc.
Yours sincerely,
Colin McGinn
PS. Your statement that my list of philosophy greats shows my bias is ridiculous. Just look at the curriculum in any philosophy department. Would you like to suggest a woman to go on the list?
One of the worst things about this essay is the complete lack of concern for any man who might be falsely accused and unjustly treated. It is as if this thought never entered the author’s head. She seems to find it inconceivable.
If you choose to publicly attack the moral character of a person, expect a firm rebuttal from them. Or: if you bite the ankles of the big boys, expect a kick in the teeth.
Let me also add, for the record, that I have been married to three women philosophers in my life (Marie McGinn, Anita Avramides, and Consuelo Preti), all now professional philosophers. I am extremely familiar with the problems (sexism, etc.) faced by women trying to become philosophers; I really don’t need to be schooled in it. I have always been a strong supporter of women in philosophy. So this kind of rubbish is very galling.
If Ms. Peterson, maybe your most formidable critic to date, took issue with you merely representing yourself as having an innate talent for philosophy, I believe she would enjoy reading your essay “Best Philosopher Ever”, in which you conclude that the rightful bearer of that title is none other than yourself. And she would take perverse pleasure in reading the sequel to that essay where you swallow your pride and admit that you were quite wrong in saying you’re the best philosopher ever; you’re the best philosopher ever *by far*.
I aspire to possess the breathtaking chutzpah that moved Ms. Peterson to fling such a lump of literary excrement at a great philosopher.
She will no doubt take those papers to be evidence of my male hubris-narcissism-insanity. And who am I to disagree? But it’s better than the excrement she so boldly and confidently served up. So far we see no response from her.
I read that article some time back. I doubt you seriously want to aspire to the level of cynicism in it.
One wonders what kind of intellectual atmosphere could lead to such a thing.
I’m so pleased to see Mary has referred to me, and my excellent 2018 talk (International Conference on Men’s Issues, organized by Mike Buchanan). This is about
– being the victim of a Cluster B stalker who assaulted me (there was a witness there too, Matthew)
– being hunted out of our home, with harassment and fabrications by batshit vigilantes,
– then reinstated (by Sir Robin Auld, a famous UK judge) after I proved in detail it was pure fabrication.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5a0Rcb4rlc
They are impervious to facts and woefully ignorant (yet oddly confident).
I have heard nothing back from Peterson so I assume she has nothing to say in reply to my rather obvious points. She evidently doesn’t mind defaming people and then declining to back it up when called on it. This is a pattern I’ve seen quite a lot of.
The pattern is exemplified also by Kerry McKenzie and Nina Strohminger: they launch their ridiculous attacks but when responded to they shrink away. I wonder what game they think they are playing. I replied to each of them, but their courage evaporated under fire.
The ethics of book reviewing is as follows: if you write a critical review of someone’s book and they choose to respond to it, always have the decency to respond to them. I have written dozens of book reviews, many critical, but I have always responded to the author’s response, generally in print (e.g., in the New York Review of Books). It is the right thing to do.
It’s really quite contemptible of you to fail to reply to my comments on your wretched essay. You bring feminism into disrepute.
Colin McGinn
I sent this to Peterson and got no reply.