Abstract:
In the 1980s, my family went on expensive vacations funded by Big Pharma. Extravagant gifts were later banned by guidelines introduced by national medical associations in response to mounting evidence that funding from pharmaceutical companies biases prescription practices. Could corporate donations be exerting the same influence in academia? This essay examines the impact of billionaire philanthropy—particularly funding from the Koch Foundation—on my field of professional philosophy. I show that this funding has undermined democratic procedures and wreaked havoc on receiving departments. I then argue that specific Koch-funded research projects evince an ideological, right-wing bias, even as they purport to be nonpartisan. Finally, I respond to an objection from a libertarian philosopher.
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