Steve3007 wrote: ↑January 16th, 2020, 3:13 pm
viewtopic.php?p=346157#p346157
creation wrote:But where do you suggest we go instead?
If this is a question that you are asking me, I suggest this:
We both, symbolically, hit the "reset" button. We both agree to start again from this point, and try to follow a set of mutually agreeable guidelines for constructive conversation. Fortunately, the website has been setup with guidelines and rules designed to promote civil, rational discussion. They're discussed here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12
and here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1977
Below is my interpretation of the spirit of some of those rules/guidelines. I aspire to follow them but am happy to admit that I don't always succeed. I sometimes "fall off the wagon".
1. Take other posters' words at face value. Do not assume that they have an agenda. Do not speculate about an ulterior motive for their words, such as a religious devotion to what they say. Simply address what they say. If they say something, they are simply giving their view. They are not implying anything by it, such as that you are stupid not to know what they have said, or that they believe what they say as an article of faith without question. If you disagree with them, you're free to challenge them fairly. That's why we're all here.
2. Do not conflate one poster's words with another. Do not fall into thinking that there is a group of like-minded posters forming a clique and ganging up. Don't assume that any poster either supports or doesn't support another poster's words unless they explicitly say so. We are all individuals with individual views. None of us is responsible for, or has any control over, what anyone else says. None of us has a monopoly on truth or wisdom, and the simple act of expressing our views does not imply that we think we do. We can all learn from each other.
3. Do not make remarks about another poster's character. Don't tell other posters that they are stupid or arrogant, or that they are blinded by their upbringing, nationality, ethnicity, education or religion. These are irrelevant ad hominem speculations about a person that you know almost nothing about, except for what they explicitly say here.
4. Attempt to communicate your arguments as clearly and succinctly as you can. Don't play games and expect other people to constantly guess what you mean. Be as clear and unambiguous as you can, from the outset.
5. Attempt to make rational arguments. Think about what it means to make a logical argument. Try to read your own arguments from another person's perspective to see if they might make sense to others. Try not to get bogged down in trivia, irrelevance and flame wars. As this is a philosophy site, generally try to see the broad overarching principles that are being discussed rather than the technical details.
6. Try to stay broadly on topic, but be reasonable. Don't use accusations of going off topic or going away from a strictly philosophical discussion to simply shut down debate. All conversations drift, over time, to some extent. Be reasonably sympathetic to that. If you really think another poster has drifted way off topic, ask them to briefly explain the philosophical relevance of the direction in which they've gone.
7. If you jump into the middle of a conversation, there's nothing wrong with that, but bear in mind that you may have somewhat misunderstood the nature of the discussion. So try to see things in context.
8. Don't misrepresent other posters' words. If you want to reply to somebody, quote them, but quote the relevant parts while being mindful of the context from which those parts were taken.
9. Don't block-quote very large tracts of text and then make general comments which appear to be about what was quoted but can't be tied down to anything specific.
That's all I can think of for now. Obviously there's probably more, and obviously I could have expressed the above better. I've done the best I can.
Do you agree with the above?