I read this as an admission that modern academic philosophy has nothing whatever to do with the search for truth and everything to do with status-seeking, signalling, and affiliation games.
Hansonian cynics may be inclined to argue that one could just as well substitute almost any other discipline for “philosophy” in that sentence.
Hansonian cynics may be inclined to argue that one could just as well substitute almost any other discipline for “philosophy” in that sentence.