Some Thoughts on Raising the Sanity Waterline
[I am happy to share this guest post from Professor Seth Barrett Tillman, which addresses some discourse on legal academia, including a recent post by Will Baude.]
There has been much back-and-forth on social media and blogs lately about what constitutes good behaviour for academics. Having been in academic affrays from time to time—mostly unsought by me—I thought I would add my thoughts on that and some closely related issues.
1. E-mail.
For academia to work, we have to be free to talk to one another. And that means contacting one another, without fear of sanctions. From time to time, I have sent or offered to send other academics, in law and other fields, courtesy copies of my drafts and published articles. I often make such offers to people whom I have cited or people who have written about one of the topics discussed in my paper. Usually, I will receive one of two pro forma responses. Many will write back: “Thank you very much, I am sure I will benefit from reading your contribution to the literature, as time allows.” Alternatively, I will sometimes receive: “Really—no need for e-mail contact in the future—I stay abreast of developments in the literature.” The virtue of these two responses is their directness, clarity, and guidance: they leave you no doubt about whether future contacts are desired. Yes to the former; no to the latter.
Still, on other occasions, I have not received any response at all. And that produces a quandary: Do you contact that person again? So, a year or two or three later, I might have another paper, and I might e-mail a non-responding recipient a second time or third time or fourth time. At that juncture, I might receive a pro forma response. But I might not. At that juncture, I might get a (pleasant) response along these lines:
Professor A: Dear Professor Tillman—thank you so much for writing me. Your article comes timely as I am writing/teaching on this topic currently, and I will be sure to cite/discuss your new perspective. (Albeit, I am not saying, I agree with it!) I now see also that you wrote me on several prior occasions. My mistake—your e-mails went to my spam folder, or perhaps, I just did not recognize your name and mistakenly ignored your e-mail. I won’t do so again.
This has happened to me more than once, and it has led to fruitful contacts, intellectual exchanges, and occasionally, friendships.
On other occasions, you get another sort of response.
Professor B: Mr Tillman, I have received your recent e-mail, as well as several prior e-mails. I chose not to respond to your prior e-mails. But you still persist in contacting me. You should have taken the hint. But seeing that you have not: stop now.
In situations involving a non
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