tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post3416257516317549213..comments2023-11-02T02:14:31.901-06:00Comments on ReadMoreWriteMoreThinkMoreBeMore: Speaking of PhilosophyDoctor Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13189506916480012553noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post-56841240525964532112009-02-11T06:20:00.000-06:002009-02-11T06:20:00.000-06:00While I do think it's true there's something valua...While I do think it's true there's something valuable about philosophical conversation, about thinking as a public activity, I'm not sure it's best displayed at the big conferences, where careers and reputations are made or broken. As you rightly point out, it seems to flourish at the bar afterwards, generally provoked by the one truly great (or truly terrible) paper of the day. <BR/><BR/>I think the difference has to do with the status of digression: at a conference, a fifteen minute side-argument is a clear violation of communal norms, but at the bar afterwards it can lead to a richer conversation. The best small conferences do provoke this kind of thinking out loud, and in my experience, at least, it's because of a continuity between paper-reading and bar attendance: the group is cohesive enough that the round tables generally star the same crew that stayed up until 1 AM the night before talking about music, and they're less stuffy about acknowledging the overlap and putting it to philosophical work.<BR/><BR/>In other words, I'm all for thinking out loud with friends, but when it comes to professional colleagues and rivals for paid work, I'd rather keep my thinking to myself and just share the results.anotherpanaceahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08170804573665745672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post-67652909827970408832009-02-10T12:49:00.000-06:002009-02-10T12:49:00.000-06:00i slightly blushed at "always-provocative" and the...i slightly blushed at "always-provocative" and then quickly tried to hide it with a frown - sad but true. you make great points, i think i agree with you here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com