[Vision2020] On Publications

[Nicholas Gier]

Dear Visionaries:

Perhaps Ed Sebesta did not see the attack on his scholarly bona fides, or chose not to respond, but let me just say that Ed is not a vanity scholar.  I know of at least two publications that have appeared in reputable journals, and Ed needs to tell us of more in order to counter this comparison between him and our Moscow Calvinists.  

Furthermore, in response to what is Ed doing on Vision2020, I welcome his participation, particularly since his expertise is an area that the residents of Moscow continue to debate.  He has been a great source of information for those of us who have challenged Doug Wilson's connections, about which he has still not come clean.

I want to congratulate Doug Jones on the recent national recognition of his Christian writing.  Doug's title at New St. Andrews is Senior Fellow of Philosophy and this rank (presumably equivalent to full professor) normally requires a substantial body of published work in philosophy.  A former colleague of mine wrote three novels but they did not appear on his curriculum vitae (CV) and did not "count" towards promotion and tenure.  Rhetoric itself can sometimes get in the way of the good reasoning and accurate accounting of facts required by any philosophical essay. 

For example, Jones' essays on racism and the Trinity, although nicely written, are riddled with logical fallacies and misrepresentations of facts. (You can read my response to him on the Trinity at www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/trinity.htm.) I've challenged his dean Roy Atwood to submit either essay for publication in any respectable philosophy or theology journal.  My firm belief is that they would be quickly rejected. Jones' facile dismissal of our best social philosophers in the racism essay and his nasty rejection of all non-Trinitarian thinking are typical of the Wilson/Jones rhetorical strategy.  This is not scholarship; rather, it is theological propaganda.

Typically, the CVs of faculty members are available on-line on most college websites.  I’ve just tried the NSA website again and I’ve found no such links.  A few faculty book titles are mentioned but no publisher is mentioned, leading me to believe that the books are published by Canon Press, Wilson’s own creation. At the UI, a faculty member comes up for promotion to full professor after ten years in rank. The review is thorough and requires outside peer letters and peer reviewed books and articles. I would like to see Jones’ full CV, but I’m pretty sure that he is not full professor of philosophy quality.

Please see my next post for accreditation and New St. Andrews College.