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#Post#: 190--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas
By: Mackie Messer Date: July 7, 2020, 11:58 am
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Not just Christian philosophy, but a specific tradition of it.
It's not like we would stop people from talking about other
philosophy or theology related subjects (or in off topic other
subjects entirely), but the official focus of the forum would be
on scholastic philosophy, or scholastic and patristic philosophy
(patristic to include e.g. the Church Fathers).
#Post#: 191--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas
By: MightyFool Date: July 8, 2020, 9:42 am
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>Well, what you do is up to you.
I'm the new guy here so I think we have to decide
democratically.
I agree somewhat. I didn't know about 'Classical Theism' too,
but I also didn't know about the terms you're talking about. But
that might also be because English is my second language.
After reading
HTML https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/scholastic-philosophy<br
/>, I'm more convinced and you're right.
I hope you keep posting on this forum :)
I'll add the options to the list in the OP, and if possible make
a poll out of it.
If nobody responds, I'll go with scholastic-philosophy.com or
scholasticphilosophy.org
#Post#: 192--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas
By: Mackie Messer Date: July 8, 2020, 11:26 am
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Yeah. I think a lot of people know "scholastic". "Patristic"
might be a bit unusual.
#Post#: 193--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: Mackie Messer Date: July 10, 2020, 2:44 am
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Your biggest challenge, whatever you choose, is going to be
giving people a reason to come here instead of going to the
rather large groups on Facebook. I've discovered over the last
few years that most people don't actually care that much about
freedom of expression.
By the way, do you have a first name I can call you? It doesn't
have to be your actual one. I just get tired of calling people
"Mighty", "Flying", and things like that. It's so uncivilized.
#Post#: 194--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: MightyFool Date: July 10, 2020, 2:59 am
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Yes, that's going to be a challenge. I hope I don't have to do
that alone. I'm not really that active on Facebook, so for me, a
forum helps out.
Haha well you can call me Gerlof, that's my real first name.
#Post#: 195--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: Mackie Messer Date: July 10, 2020, 4:39 am
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Thank you, Gerlof. Are English and Dutch the only languages you
speak?
We will have to look for more new administrators and moderators
to help you out. (N.B. readers: We're recruiting. Send Mackie
Messer a message if you want to help.) I've built this place
twice. The first time I did so almost single-handedly, after
Scott died. The second, I had help from Brian and a little help
from the others. I also almost single-handedly kept the place
running the first time, and kept it running with Brian's help
the second time. So, I've dedicated huge swathes of the last
five years to this forum (or, rather, it's previous two
incarnations). I simply don't have the time or desire anymore.
(I'm also arguably not a classical theist (or, at least, have a
complicated relationship with it), so am poorly motivated.) I
promise, though, that I'm dedicating the time to things most
people here would, at least, respect.
If you're willing to do the leg work, I have a lot of ideas,
which I'm happy to share. I even have some letter templates I
wrote up that I never got to use for some of them. I think it
has become very clear to a lot of people that Facebook and
Twitter censor in recent weeks, and there is a hunger for
independent discussion groups that don't have to worry about
getting censured by Facebook, or Twitter, right now. (I've
literally watched it happen to a good friend of mine, who also
happens to be a professional philosopher, and even his abstruse
philosophical articles were getting censored, even though they
had nothing to do with his politics. So, it's no longer possible
to deny that people are censored on major platforms. Add to that
the fact that most people here are conservatives in virtue of
most being classical theists and most classical theists being
serious members of traditional religions, and you have a reason
why people might want an independent classical theist discussion
forum or group.)
#Post#: 197--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: jd3 Date: July 10, 2020, 10:21 pm
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I'm happy to help out and would love to hear some of those
ideas. Could you say more about what specifically it takes to
build a forum and keep it running (what does it cost, what is
the time commitment, what technical skills are necessary etc.)
I also agree that we need to decide what the purpose of the
forum is. How broad should the focus be? It could be very
specific (e.g. Thomistic scholarship), somewhat specific (e.g.
classical theism), less specific (e.g. Christian philosophy), or
very general (e.g. philosophy of religion). My vote would be
classical theism, since the more general forums already exist
and going more specific could limit membership (we are already
having trouble getting people to post as it is).
It also gives some wiggle room on all sides: if you are really
into Thomas or Scotus, or Feser or Hart, you're in the right
place. But even if you are an "open theist" or just someone
interested in theism in general, you are still close enough to
the subject matter to join in.
Let's keep the discussion going.
#Post#: 198--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: Mackie Messer Date: July 11, 2020, 1:28 am
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[quote author=jd3 link=topic=39.msg197#msg197 date=1594437705]
I'm happy to help out and would love to hear some of those
ideas. Could you say more about what specifically it takes to
build a forum and keep it running (what does it cost, what is
the time commitment, what technical skills are necessary
etc.)[/Quote]
You need advertisement, you need knowledgeable, active people,
and after you reach a certain size you don't need, but should
have, someone with technological skills. The first is so that
people know you exist and where to find you. The second is so
that people will stay after they find you. The third helps with
aesthetics, security, and things like that. The second takes the
most time. I was probably burning at least five hours a day on
here after Scott died. It got better after a while, but the fact
is that most people aren't interested in contributing to forums.
They ask questions, get what they want, and leave.
Administrator-wise, be careful not to recruit all "idea people".
That is part of what happened with the first forum. Between our
emails and moderator forum conversations, you can find the
classical theism podcast, the classical theist YouTube channel,
and the classical theism Facebook group, and more, all there. (A
moderator suggested the first two, but never acted on them -- in
both cases within a few months other people filled those niches.
We discussed and veto'd moving to Facebook partly for the
reasons I've mentioned, partly because some people felt it would
lower the overall level of conversation. (I supported moving to
Facebook at the time, but in retrospect I think the decision to
not move was right.))
[Quote]I also agree that we need to decide what the purpose of
the forum is. How broad should the focus be? It could be very
specific (e.g. Thomistic scholarship), somewhat specific (e.g.
classical theism), less specific (e.g. Christian philosophy), or
very general (e.g. philosophy of religion). My vote would be
classical theism, since the more general forums already exist
and going more specific could limit membership (we are already
having trouble getting people to post as it is).[/Quote]
I'm inclined to think that classical theism sites succeed in
spite of their names. It's too much of a philosophical term of
art. Nobody outside certain narrow parts of philosophy even
knows what "classical theism" is. It also doesn't give you much
to work with in terms of specific aesthetics (if you ever want
to, e.g., build a website, or make the forum look a bit nicer).
If you're going to go broad, I recommend theism, not classical
theism. Everybody knows what theism is, and you might get some
interesting internecine disputes with neo-theists on a theism
forum.
If you're going to go a bit more specific, go with scholastic.
If you go with "Thomistic scholarship", you're going to have to
compete with the Thomism Discussion Group on Facebook, and that
is a competition you'll lose. (Most of the professional
philosophers who are also Thomists are active on the Thomism
Discussion Group, and it has thousands of members.) Besides,
other scholastics (e.g. Scotus and Bonaventure) are at least as
interesting as Thomas. As far as I'm concerned, some of them are
also right about more (e.g. Scotus).
[Quote]It also gives some wiggle room on all sides: if you are
really into Thomas or Scotus, or Feser or Hart, you're in the
right place. But even if you are an "open theist" or just
someone interested in theism in general, you are still close
enough to the subject matter to join in.[/quote]
Too much wiggle room, I think, and too much of the wrong kind.
Relevant comments in this thread:
HTML https://classicaltheism.createaforum.com/philosophy/the-necessity-of-creation-revisited/msg72/#msg72
Sorry for the slapdash reply. No time for proper writing!
#Post#: 199--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: Mackie Messer Date: July 11, 2020, 1:37 am
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By the way, jd. Mind if I call you John?
#Post#: 200--------------------------------------------------
Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
By: jd3 Date: July 13, 2020, 11:22 pm
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Sure, if you want. But my first name isn't John.
I think the main issue is the lack of interest. I browse reddit
as well, and none of the theism forums have much action, unless
they are Catholic, Atheist, or dedicated to debates about
religion. The forums dedicated to discussing Thomas, Scotus,
philosophical theism etc. are pretty dead. I wonder if most of
the interested folks have some other place already besides here
and reddit (facebook, Feser's blog etc.) and maybe this forum
isn't really necessary. What do you all think?
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