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.

Post titles cannot be questions and must describe the philosophical content of the posted material.

Post titles cannot consist only in 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 or click-baity and cannot be 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 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, AMAs and links to other areas of reddit require moderator pre-approval.

The following (not exhaustive) list of items require moderator pre-approval: meta-posts, posts to products, services or surveys, links 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 the Post 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.