----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Dear Colleagues, As we all know, there once was text book entitled the Evolution of Economic Thought . I believe it is still published and may be in its 5th edition. The early editions stated that it was written by Jacob Oser and others. Indeed, at one point 3rd edition, William C. Blanchfield's name was on the cover. At some point Jacob Oser passed away and S. Bruce continued the enterprise of revising and reissuing the book---hence it is now in its 5th edition. I have not seen the 5th edition myself. Rumor has it that Oser's name was dropped by the publisher so that the book is no longer written by Oser. The rumor continues that this is "good practice" and that the decision to delete Oser's name was made by the publisher for "good reasons" as explained in the front matter to the book. Is it possible that the author of a book can stop being the author of a book because he/she is dead? Can it be done while he/she is alive? (This reminds me of my socks that have so many patches over time that at some point I have trouble deciding if they are still the same pair of socks? How about the family car with its collisions and fender replacements, etc.) Now, finally I come to a related but important query. Assuming that there are circumstances under which a coauthor's name may be dropped from a text-book that is undergoing evolutionary changes, what are those circumstances? Is this a matter that we feel should be left to the publishers? . . . the coauthors? . . . the family representative? Other questions that come to mind are: Under what circumstances can an coauthor's name be dropped from a scholarly book? Consider any famous book in the history of thought that has been coauthored. Several come to mind but let us assume we have a book written by A and B and then 10 years later, A passes away and B takes on a coauthor C. Can B and C claim that the changes that they have made in the most recent edition are so extensive that it is accepted academic practice to delete's A's name from the title page? (Should some of us reissue Marshall's Principles, make extensive changes and then delete his name? In what sense would it remain a subsequent edition of that same work?) I am motivated by a situation in which I am considering reviewing a non-text book work in which an original coauthor's name was dropped for "good reasons." As a reviewer I feel morally compelled to review what those "good reasons" were since I am quite certain that the deleted coauthor-- the A in my example above --- would have balked had he been alive to see this happen. I am having trouble deciding the propriety of just such a situation as the A, B and C abstraction laid out above. Under what conditions should I feel comfortable in my role as a book reviewer with the practice of the original author's name being dropped in a revised edition of that "same" work? Should a distinction be made between text-book and scholarly book when deciding the propriety of such a delection? When is it unethical to delete a coauthor's name after he/she is dead? Suppose the administrator of the estate of deceased Mr. A, accepts $250 dollars and (therefore) decides that A's name can be deleted from all subsequent editions of that work, shouldn't we (the self-proclaimed archivists) put the name back on the work? Shouldn't historians of the discipline have some special knowledge and insight that might help us actually set standards for this practice? Can we learn from how the deletion practice has been done in the past? Any other examples besides the Oser text example? Any thoughts from the group would be greatly appreciated. Anyone wishing to communicate with me off the list about this issue is welcomed to do so as well. Back to grading the midterms. . . . Laurence Moss ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]