I just came across quite a big problem for an interpretation my professor puts forward in her recently published book (a book containing original research in the humanities, not a textbook). I am not 100% sure, but I am pretty sure that I am right.
The error is not a factual error, but an error that concerns the logic of her argument. If somebody interprets a text, and I find very strong inconsistencies in this interpretation or a logical error even, this might not be objectively wrong per se, but it can come close to it in certain cases.
How am I to approach this? Shall I send her an email, explaining everything, or shall I try to publish it as a paper (assuming I am right about the severity of the problem)? I am worried that if I tell her, she might publish a paper herself or will tell me it's not so severe. I am bit paranoid here, I know.
I am also concerned with how to tell her - if I do. Shall I be confident and explain that I think I have found a problem for her interpretation or is this too bold? Or shall I formulate it more like a question? In the latter case, I am worried that she will not realise that I did really see the mistake and am only being polite. I don't want her to think that I pointed to something by asking a question, but that then she really came up with it. I have the feeling it would make more of an impression, if I would point straight to the problem as a problem. Of course, there is then also the possibility of her not liking me for this.
By the way, I am a Master student in the humanities. I will not do my PhD with this professor (or even at the same uni).
Answer
The simple answer is that you should do both.
I do not believe you owe a professor just because she is a professor. If she has earned your respect and/or your loyalty through other means, you should certainly demonstrate it, but being a professor doesn't demand it, on its own.
That said, talking through the problem you have found with her will give you a lot of clarity on whether it is the scale of error you believe, and will help sharpen your own argument. It may not be an error at all in your professors mind. I doubt she'll hear your reasoning and slap her head, exclaiming "Oh snap! I was wrong all along!" She may simply believe it is unimportant, which is fine. It then falls to you to justify the importance of your observation.
Then you should publish this idea. The object of academia is to engage in the "Great Debate" and if you have found a doorway into that debate, and you believe in your argument, then you should absolutely walk through that door. If your professor has published the opposite, then all the better because it is something that is already in the "academic consciousness" and will consequently be relevant to both the discipline—assuming your professor is not a marginal figure—and your immediate environment.
I don't understand where the idea comes from among students that most good ideas are 'sprung' on the world through publication, or are kept private until the last minute. I know this is a common idea but the reality is much more complex, and really doesn't vary that much by discipline. Most ideas are talked out, written, then rewritten, sent to conferences, sent to journals and finally published, and that process does and should include the hostile interlocutors. By the time most ideas get published, regardless of article or book, the idea has already been widely discussed. Publication isn't really the revelation of an idea to the community but the codification of an idea, and an attempt to spread it to a wider audience.
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