Text 892, 68 rader
Skriven 2012-07-19 09:38:22 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
    Kommentar till text 882 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: Why?
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Dale Shipp wrote to Robert Bashe on Thursday July 19 2012 at 00:11:

RB>> Michiel, in Germany, people call me "Dr. Robert Bashe", which is my
RB>> official name in my passport and personal ID card.

DS> I thought that I had once read, perhaps from you, that the only people
DS> in Germany who were allowed to use the "Dr." title were MDs?  Is that
DS> true or not?

No, the situation is a bit more complex. In the States, a medical doctor is
called "doctor", but people with a doctorate in other areas are not called
"doctor" by the general public - strangely enough, people with a doctorate in
areas other than medicine DO generally address each other as "doctor" (at least
formally). I believe that's supposed to be a sign of respect, and is one that's
also practiced here in Germany (usually when a younger and/or subordinate
colleague addresses a superior or older person), where people with a doctorate
don't generally call each other "Dr."

In Germany, medical practicioners don't necessarily have a doctorate, but are
often still called "doctor" by the general public. People with a doctorate that
is legally recognized (this goes through the ministry of education of the
German state they're living in) are called "doctor" by the general public, but
NOT by other people with a doctoral degree.

To make things even a bit more complicated, the doctoral degree (title) "Dr."
is legally a part of your name and is specified on your identity documents.
However, people with a doctorate at a foreign university must have their title
approved by the state ministry of education, and often are required to use an
added abreviation to indicate where their doctorate was acquired, such as
"Dr.(USA)" in my case or "Dr.(Tr)" in the case of someone who acquired the
doctorate in Turkey or "Dr.(Syr)" in the case of someone who got his doctorate
in Syria.

The only people who really insist on such fine points are those in the
bureaucracy, however.

Personally, as I mentioned to Michiel, I don't use the "Dr." title unless in
formal communications, particularly with government offices. But according to
German law, I DO have the _right_ to use it, and have an official certificate
from the North Rhein-Westfalen ministry of education to that effect.

As you see, people here in Germany are quite sensitive about such things - our
former defence minister resigned in disgrace after it was determined that he
had plagerized some of the content of his doctoral thesis (and the university
revoked his doctorate). This has happened several times since it became "chic"
to look for plagerism in adademic theses (particularly those of the political
opposition) in Germany several years ago.

 RB>> I - and most people with a doctorate in German, as well as
 RB>> the "von"s and "zu"s - simply don't consider ourselves
 RB>> above all others because of the title, and in most cases
 RB>> just ignore it.

 DS> Similar here in the US, especially in a discussion area where our
 DS> profession and/or degree level is irrelevant.

However, it IS common in the States for people with a doctorate to address each
other as "Dr.". This is exactly the reverse of the situation in Germany, where
only people without a doctorate do that.

That's why I think it better to simply do without such formalities in a private
environment. I don't even like to be called "Robert", since that's an
unnecessary formality in my eyes.

Cheers, Bob

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