/r/philosophy
/r/philosophy: the portal for public philosophy
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Posting Rules
All posts must be about philosophy.
To learn more about what is and is not considered philosophy for the purposes of this subreddit, see our FAQ. Posts must be about philosophy proper, rather than only tangentially connected to philosophy. Exceptions are made only for posts about philosophers with substantive content, e.g. news about the profession or interviews with philosophers.
All posts must develop and defend a substantive philosophical thesis.
Posts must not only have a philosophical subject matter, but must also present this subject matter in a developed manner. At a minimum, this includes: stating the problem being addressed; stating the thesis; stating how the thesis contributes to the problem; outlining some alternative answers to the same problem; saying something about why the stated thesis is preferable to the alternatives; anticipating some objections to the stated thesis and giving responses to them. These are just the minimum requirements. Posts about well-trod issues (e.g. free will) require more development.
Questions belong in /r/askphilosophy.
/r/philosophy is intended for philosophical material and discussion. Please direct all questions to /r/askphilosophy. Please be sure to read their rules before posting your question on /r/askphilosophy.
Post titles cannot be questions and must describe the philosophical content of the posted material.
Post titles cannot contain questions, even if the title of the linked material is a question. This helps keep discussion in the comments on topic and relevant to the linked material. Post titles must describe the philosophical content of the posted material, cannot be unduly provocative, click-baity, unnecessarily long or in all caps.
Audio/video links require abstracts.
All links to either audio or video content require abstracts of the posted material, posted as a comment in the thread. Abstracts should make clear what the linked material is about and what its thesis is. Users are also strongly encouraged to post abstracts for other linked material. See here for an example of a suitable abstract.
All posts must be in English.
All posts must be in English. Links to Google Translated versions of posts, translations done via AI or LLM, or posts only containing English subtitles are not allowed.
Links behind paywalls or registration walls are not allowed.
Posts must not be behind any sort of paywall or registration wall. If the linked material requires signing up to view, even if the account is free, it is not allowed. Google Drive links and link shorteners are not allowed.
Meta-posts, products, services, surveys, cross-posts and AMAs require moderator pre-approval.
The following (not exhaustive) list of items require moderator pre-approval: meta-posts, posts to products, services or surveys, cross-posts to other areas of reddit, AMAs. Please contact the moderators for pre-approval.
Users may submit only one post per day.
Users must follow all reddit-wide spam guidelines, and in addition must not submit more than one post per day on /r/philosophy.
Discussion of suicide is only allowed in the abstract here. If you or a friend is feeling suicidal please visit /r/suicidewatch.
If you are feeling suicidal, please get help by visiting /r/suicidewatch or using other resources. See also our discussion of philosophy and mental health issues here. Encouraging other users to commit suicide, even in the abstract, is strictly forbidden.
Commenting Rules
Read/Listen/Watch the Posted Content Before You Reply
Read the posted content, understand and identify the philosophical arguments given, and respond to these substantively. If you have unrelated thoughts or don't wish to read the content, please post your own thread or simply refrain from commenting. Comments which are clearly not in direct response to the posted content may be removed.
Argue your Position
Opinions are not valuable here, arguments are! Comments that solely express musings, opinions, beliefs, or assertions without argument may be removed.
Be Respectful
Comments which blatantly do not contribute to the discussion may be removed, particularly if they consist of personal attacks. Users with a history of such comments may be banned. Slurs, racism, and bigotry are absolutely not permitted.
Wiki
- Introduction
- FAQ
- Self-Promotion Policies
- A Guide to Arguments
- Recommended Reading
- Other Philosophy Sub-Reddits
- Reddit 101
Philosophy AMAs
Reading Group
Weekly Discussion
/r/philosophy
18,100,458 Subscribers
/r/philosophy Open Discussion Thread | November 04, 2024
Welcome to this week's Open Discussion Thread. This thread is a place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but wouldn't necessarily meet our posting rules (especially posting rule 2). For example, these threads are great places for:
Arguments that aren't substantive enough to meet PR2.
Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. who your favourite philosopher is, what you are currently reading
Philosophical questions. Please note that /r/askphilosophy is a great resource for questions and if you are looking for moderated answers we suggest you ask there.
This thread is not a completely open discussion! Any posts not relating to philosophy will be removed. Please keep comments related to philosophy, and expect low-effort comments to be removed. All of our normal commenting rules are still in place for these threads, although we will be more lenient with regards to commenting rule 2.
Previous Open Discussion Threads can be found here.
14:00 UTC
In “Ethics”, Spinoza explores the nature of negative emotions, offering mental frameworks to help us understand and transform them. By redefining virtue, Spinoza focuses on what is good and useful for us, encouraging a life aligned with reason.
23:03 UTC
Discussing Consciousness with Professor Richard Brown
09:35 UTC
"He who fights with monsters, should see to it that he does not become a monster himself. And if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you also." One of Nietzsche's most famous quotes is actually full of meaning, above all calling for a new philosophy
18:01 UTC
/r/philosophy Open Discussion Thread | October 28, 2024
Welcome to this week's Open Discussion Thread. This thread is a place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but wouldn't necessarily meet our posting rules (especially posting rule 2). For example, these threads are great places for:
Arguments that aren't substantive enough to meet PR2.
Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. who your favourite philosopher is, what you are currently reading
Philosophical questions. Please note that /r/askphilosophy is a great resource for questions and if you are looking for moderated answers we suggest you ask there.
This thread is not a completely open discussion! Any posts not relating to philosophy will be removed. Please keep comments related to philosophy, and expect low-effort comments to be removed. All of our normal commenting rules are still in place for these threads, although we will be more lenient with regards to commenting rule 2.
Previous Open Discussion Threads can be found here.
14:00 UTC
Cannibalism is unethical for many reasons with the most enduring reason seeming to be a lack of respect for bodily dignity.
15:03 UTC
/r/philosophy Open Discussion Thread | October 21, 2024
Welcome to this week's Open Discussion Thread. This thread is a place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but wouldn't necessarily meet our posting rules (especially posting rule 2). For example, these threads are great places for:
Arguments that aren't substantive enough to meet PR2.
Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. who your favourite philosopher is, what you are currently reading
Philosophical questions. Please note that /r/askphilosophy is a great resource for questions and if you are looking for moderated answers we suggest you ask there.
This thread is not a completely open discussion! Any posts not relating to philosophy will be removed. Please keep comments related to philosophy, and expect low-effort comments to be removed. All of our normal commenting rules are still in place for these threads, although we will be more lenient with regards to commenting rule 2.
Previous Open Discussion Threads can be found here.
14:00 UTC