My thinking is this: whats the value of a fantastic social medium like FB if all we use it for is to pass along videos of guffawing babies and cute kittens (both of which, by the way, I get a big kick out of)? FB can be a marketplace of ideas, a wide forum in which to discuss topics in public policy, ethics, religion, science, metaphysics, and so on. Of course it wont have the rigor of a professional journal. But who cares? Whoever wants that can go to the professional journals. What FB can do is give people the opportunity to reflect and to dialogue (as well as have some fun) as human beings, not as academics. It re-invites philosophy as the examined life shared with others rather than an esoteric exercise open only to the cognoscenti. Surely philosophers have an obligation to encourage the elevation of public discourse and the civil exchange of ideas. J.S. Mill, I think, would pretty much hop on FB as one way to do that. But just in case Im all wet, heres a cute animal video.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 16:23:57 +0000
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