APA Governance

What Keeps Going Wrong With The APA

The APA has recently posted on its website the comments of four of its past Executive Directors , which were delivered in a session held at the 2005 Eastern APA. The session, titled "What Keeps Going Wrong With The APA?" was organized by John Lach, and included David A. Hoekema, Eric Hoffman, Elizabeth S. Radcliffe, Michael Kelly, and Richard Bett (who declined to post his comments on the APA website).  William Mann, the current Acting Director, has posted his response to his four predecessors. Also of relevance to this session is John Lach's posted letter from May 17, 2005, on The Future of Philosophy.

The APA and Social Responsibility

At the Eastern APA meeting in December 1948, according to Bruce Kuklick, the philosopher William Fontaine was prohibited from using the convention hotel in Charlottesville, VA. Fontaine, who taught philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania from the 1940s to the 60s, was Black, and racial segregation was the social and legal norm at the time in Charlottesville. The following year, the APA resolved not to hold meetings in segregated cities. Looking back, I think most of us would say (and be proud) that the APA did the right thing.

Why Bother?

In discussing with colleagues the current efforts to initiate change in the Pacific APA, the question “why bother” inevitably surfaces.  What’s to be gained and what could be lost?  Well, even if there’s nothing to be gained, there are some principles involved worth defending.  Given that the APA is an organization that exists for and is funded by its members, its members have the right to participate in setting the policies and goals of the organization.  One way we do this is by having elections, through which members elect others whose views, interests, or philosophical approaches are compatible with their own.  As members of this organization, we have the right to participate in this way, and when this right has been taken away from us by other members, we should stand up for our rights.