Farewell to certain folks

[RickLewis]

Hi guys

I've noticed some pretty disturbing threads here recently - full of crass four letter words, hate-filled imagery and vitriolic personal attacks that have no place on a philosophy forum. I've wondered again about simply closing the whole place down and saving the money that Philosophy Now spends on it, or else on changing the set-up so that use of the forum becomes restricted to logged-in Philosophy Now subscribers. I believe that many here would welcome that change.

The mods and I are going to be deleting some threads over the next few days, and a few well known local characters will also be disappearing either temporarily or permanently for overstepping the mark a few times too often.

Best wishes,
Rick

[henry quirk]

uh-oh

[Skepdick]

uh-oh

Is that your farewell post?

[Harbal]

uh-oh

But surely you have a right to be here, henry.

[henry quirk]

uh-oh

Is that your farewell post?

Nope.

[henry quirk]

uh-oh

But surely you have a right to be here, henry.

Nope.

[Immanuel Can]

uh-oh

But surely you have a right to be here, henry.

Nope.

I don't suppose that "overstepping the mark" is any indictment of ordinary wit, irony and humour. I would think it pertains more to off-topic, mean-spirited sniping, or something more of that order.

[henry quirk]

I don't suppose that "overstepping the mark" is any indictment of ordinary wit, irony and humour. I would think it pertains more to off-topic, mean-spirited sniping, or something more of that order.

I think the tipping point was atto, declaring he was gonna rub out muslims.

Sometime back, I got a handslap for sayin' the State ought be rubbed out. TPTB apparently don't like violent sentiment.

[Immanuel Can]

I don't suppose that "overstepping the mark" is any indictment of ordinary wit, irony and humour. I would think it pertains more to off-topic, mean-spirited sniping, or something more of that order.

I think the tipping point was atto, declaring he was gonna rub out muslims.

Sometime back, I got a handslap for sayin' the State ought be rubbed out. TPTB apparently don't like violent sentiment.

Well, the State is an institution, not a person. And if it is "rubbed out," all it really entails is the dismantling of an arrangement. But yes, atto did go postal on that one.

And others need to go, too...but I think more for being incapable of sustaining a reasonable philosophical discourse, rather than for wishing for genocide. It would be great to get all the ad hominem rabbit-trails out of here, and set some guidelines that stipulate we have to talk about the topics, not insult particular people. It would just make things so much more relevant. But there will be limits to what Rick will do, I'm sure: he's been very restrained and patient thus far, but I agree it's time some better guidelines were put in place.

It would be a shame, though, if we lost any sense of humour and play, or if the whole forum were sacked because a couple of people simply did not know how to "play nice."

[henry quirk]

others need to go, too

Meh, I say let the rabble do their thing.

Instead of ousting folks: just encourage using the the ignore (friend/foe) function (put the buttons right out front instead buryin' 'em in the account settings).

Only things TPTB ought not allow are pedos and death threats.

[Immanuel Can]

others need to go, too

Meh, I say let the rabble do their thing.

In an open forum? Sure. Absolutely. In a forum dedicated to philosophy...maybe it's not the place for every spinny thought a person can get in his/her head.

It's also not a mere "chat room," which various here seem to misunderstand. So I'm in favour of some focus: nobody's being censored, because there are a multitude of forums that will put up with absolutely everything. But there should be a space dedicated to serious conversation among folks of goodwill, and I'd like to see this become that.

I wouldn't censor content -- with the sort of exceptions you note, of course -- but I would limit style. Time is precious, and people here are wasting a lot of it. So I'd favour mandating a basic level of politeness and intention to deal with the issues, not merely to "flame" the people. And if people couldn't manage that, I think nobody would miss them anyway.

[henry quirk]

In a forum dedicated to philosophy...maybe it's not the place for every spinny thought a person can get in his/her head.

Define philosophy. Better yet: define philosophy in a way everyone, in-forum & out-, can agree with.

Seriously, give it a shot. I'm not a philosopher so I just think about things and occasionally post those thoughts here (when I'm not shit-posting). I haven't a clue on how to do philosophy. You do, apparently. So: define it.

not tryin' to put you on the spot: absolutely, though, I'm lookin' to see how many folks, philosophers all, pop in to challenge your definition with their own

[Skepdick]

Define philosophy. Better yet: define philosophy in a way everyone, in-forum & out-, can agree with.

Instruction not understood.

Define "define philosophy".

[henry quirk]

Define philosophy. Better yet: define philosophy in a way everyone, in-forum & out-, can agree with.

Instruction not understood.

Define "define philosophy".

See, Mannie? Skep considers himself an (anti) philosopher. Isn't his contribution valid? isn't he, in his own way, philosophizing?

[Immanuel Can]

Define philosophy. Better yet: define philosophy in a way everyone, in-forum & out-, can agree with.

Instruction not understood.

Define "define philosophy".

See, Mannie? Skep considers himself an (anti) philosopher. Isn't his contribution valid? isn't he, in his own way, philosophizing?

No ad hom or irrelevancy to philosophy so far.

So far, so good.