Philosophy and history of ideas in Norway Evaluation of research 2004–2008 Evaluation Division for Science Philosophy and history of ideas in Norway Evaluation of research 2004-2008 Evaluation Division for Science © The Research Council of Norway 2010 The Research Council of Norway P.O.Box 2700 St. Hanshaugen N–0131 OSLO Telephone: +47 22 03 70 00 Telefax: +47 22 03 70 01 [email protected] www.forskningsradet.no/english The report can be ordered at: www.forskningsradet.no/publikasjoner or green number telefax: +47 800 83 001 Design: Design et cetera AS Photo/illustration: Shutterstock Printing: Allkopi Number of copies: 450 Oslo, September 2010 ISBN 978-82-12-02823-4 (printed version) ISBN 978-82-12-02824-1 (pdf) To the Research Council of Norway The evaluation panel for this review of basic research in philosophy and history of ideas in Norway hereby submits the following report. The task of making a fair, adequate and comprehensive review of the research activities during the last five years in the required time frame has been a demanding one. The evaluation panel expects, however, that this review will be a useful instrument for the Research Council of Norway, the Ministry of Education and Research and other relevant ministries, and the departments and research groups concerned. This report represents an agreed account of the assessments, conclusions and recommendations. Folke Tersman (Chair) Hanne Andersen Simo Knuuttila Dag Prawitz Hans-Jørgen Schanz Robin M. Schott Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................ 7 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 11 1.1 The Terms of Reference and the evaluation work ............................................... 12 1.2 Data sources and limitations ................................................................................. 13 2 Overview of Norwegian philosophy and history of ideas....................................... 14 2.1 Overview of the Norwegian research communities and the delimitation of the evaluation ............................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Resources and framework conditions ................................................................... 17 2.2.1 Personnel at selected units .......................................................................... 17 2.2.2 Major funding sources ................................................................................ 23 2.3 Summary of main observations ............................................................................ 29 3 Research, recruitment and collaboration ................................................................ 32 3.1 Research and publication: unit profiles ................................................................ 32 3.1.1 NTNU: Department of Philosophy ............................................................. 32 3.1.2 UiB: Department of Philosophy.................................................................. 33 3.1.3 UiO: Philosophy.......................................................................................... 35 3.1.4 UiO: History of Ideas .................................................................................. 38 3.1.5 UiT: Department of Philosophy .................................................................. 39 3.2 Research training, mobility and recruitment ........................................................ 40 3.2.1 Some overall figures on recruitment and mobility ..................................... 41 3.2.2 The PhD programmes ................................................................................. 44 3.2.3 Career opportunities .................................................................................... 45 3.2.4 Recruitment strategy? ................................................................................. 46 3.3 Collaboration: International, cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary ............... 47 3.4 Main observations and overall structural issues ................................................... 50 4 Scope and quality of the research ............................................................................ 54 4.1 Defining disciplines, sub-fields and major thematic areas in Norwegian philosophy and history of ideas ............................................................................ 54 4.2 Review of Norwegian history of ideas ................................................................. 54 4.3 Review of Norwegian philosophy ........................................................................ 56 4.3.1 Aesthetics .................................................................................................... 56 4.3.2 Epistemology .............................................................................................. 57 4.3.3 Ethics........................................................................................................... 58 4.3.4 Gender studies ............................................................................................. 60 4.3.5 History of philosophy ................................................................................. 60 4.3.6 Logic ........................................................................................................... 62 4.3.7 Metaphysics and the philosophy of mind ................................................... 63 4.3.8 Phenomenology and existential philosophy................................................ 64 5 4.3.9 Philosophy of education .............................................................................. 65 4.3.10 Philosophy of language .......................................................................... 66 4.3.11 Philosophy of science ............................................................................ 67 4.3.12 Social and political philosophy .............................................................. 68 4.3.13 Wittgenstein studies ............................................................................... 69 4.4 Summary of main observations ............................................................................. 70 5 Conclusions and recommendations .......................................................................... 73 References .......................................................................................................................... 79 Appendix 1 Terms of Reference .................................................................................... 80 Appendix 2 Template for the self-evaluations ............................................................. 83 Appendix 3 Publication analysis ................................................................................... 85 6 Executive summary This evaluation of Norwegian research in philosophy and history of ideas was initiated by the Research Council of Norway (RCN). Its main purpose is to provide better insight into the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of Norwegian research in philosophy and history of ideas, and to help develop good research and good research environments in Norway. The evaluation encompasses the key institutions in Norwegian philosophy and history of ideas in the period 2004 to 2008. In other words, all major research units with activity within these two fields are covered, but not all Norwegian research in the fields. The units covered are five departments/parts of departments at Norway’s four oldest universities. Key characteristics of the institutions of Norwegian philosophy and history of ideas The evaluation points to some specific features of the institutions of Norwegian philosophy and history of ideas. Due to the compulsory university introduction course in philosophy (examen philosophicum), Norway has a large total workforce of philosophers employed at its higher education institutions. The scope of ex.phil.-teaching has resulted in a large proportion of the philosophers holding teaching positions and having little time for research. Less than half of the “senior” staff at the evaluated departments hold a doctoral degree (2007 figures). There are, however, large variations between the departments as regards staff with doctoral degrees — differences resulting from variations in the organisation of their ex.phil.-teaching. There is little national collaboration and little mobility between the departments. There is a large proportion of teaching personnel, and there are some very small departments, some of which have a low proportion of female scholars and a high average age. The institutions’ basic funding accounts for most of the research activity, which means that there are few resources for research apart from the staff members’ research time. The number of scholars in the history of ideas is rather limited, and there is only one unit devoted to research in this field (a section of a multidisciplinary department at UiO). An analysis of the publications for which the departments have obtained credits (in the performance-based budgeting for Norwegian universities) indicates that the average publication per researcher is fairly stable for the period 2005 to 2008, at around one “article equivalent” per researcher per year, although there is great variation in publication activity, both between researchers and between departments. Furthermore, there is a low proportion of publications in English and