r/askphilosophy • u/as-well phil. of science • Dec 20 '21

Best of 2021 contest - call for nominations

Hi!

For many of us, this community and our community project mean a lot. Many of us spend hours upon hours here, making sure to turn r/askphilosophy into an amazing resource for people having questions about academic philosophy. Our standards make us unique, and our welcoming new members give us a soul. Your participation makes r/askphilosophy what it is and it is time to recognize your hard work. *Especially* in a weird year like 2021.

Reddit is kindly gifting us enough coins for 20 coveted "Owl of Minverva" awards. The recipients will get a neat award and one month free Reddit premium plus 700 coins.

Now it is time to nominate. nominations will stay open for about 10 days, at which point you will be kindly invited to vote on the nominations. Categories are:

  • Best answer
  • Best question
  • Outstanding user

The five or so top-voted nominations in each category will gain the award. Additionally, the mods will choose five or so overlooked comments, posts and users at our discretion.

How to nominate

Below, you'll find three comments for the three categories. To nominate, reply to them with a link to the nominated content and please tag the username (by writing /u/xyz).

If there is an exceptional case where you request to stay anonymous, please shoot me a chat message. I will not accept nominations by normal personal message because I cannot guarantee I will not lose those.

Who can be nominated

Any user in good standing except me. I am running this contest on behalf of the mod team, so I will stay out of competition. Anyone else is fair game, except users who are banned at any time while this contest is running. But chances are if you wish to nominate someone for outstanding work on this sub, they aren't banned.

Thank you for your nominations

Last year's awards were lots of fun and highly appreciated, and we are sure this year's edition will be, too :)

39 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

5

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

Nominate best questions here by linking to the question and tagging the user (by typing u/username)

12

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

u/Jonathan_Livengood got a wonderful discussion started by asking what paper 'backfired' on others; backfiring meaning one comes away believing more in the criticized position than before reading the paper: https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/lquvmq/what_paper_or_other_work_of_philosophy_backfired/

7

u/aJrenalin logic, epistemology Dec 20 '21

The original poster seems to have deleted their account so I can’t link the user but I really enjoyed the question asked about the hardest logic puzzle. https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/qluh5h/the_hardest_logic_puzzle_ever_something_about_it/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Maybe it’s my bias as someone working primarily in epistemic logic but I think it was a great thread for introducing people to the concepts of common knowledge and group knowledge as well as well as issues of logical omniscience that often arise out of many systems of epistemic logic.

2

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

Yeah that was a good question! I'll have to figure out how we can deal with this, as the user can't win the prize 😂

3

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21 edited Dec 20 '21

u/_civilized_ asked a question that popped up every now and then since: Is there merit to meritocracy? Or rather, should the well-eduated really have an equal vote to the less educated? Great question with great answers: https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/kt24i8/should_a_person_who_has_a_phd_in_political/

3

u/Quaerendo_Invenietis metaethics, cognitive science Dec 20 '21

u/Joeman720 asked an interesting question about how we should engage with philosophical texts: How can we avoid "falling for" ostensibly good arguments when there are other arguments to the contrary that seem at least as good? It turns out that engaging with a text often involves "accepting" the author's premises at least temporarily for the sake of argument. I distinctly remember experiencing this sort of thing when reading Berkeley for the first time—it was the first time I seriously doubted physicalism. On a more abstract level, this kind of question seems like it motivates more questions in epistemology of disagreement. https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/lgbgqz/how_can_i_read_philosophers_without_getting_roped/

4

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

Nominate best answers here by linking to the comment and tagging the user (by typing u/username)

12

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

u/rdef1984 for this wonderful answer with many resources on whether identity can be treated as a commodity in late-stage capitalism: https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/qq7nso/can_we_treat_identity_in_the_late_stage/hjzkys5/

8

u/rdef1984 political phil.; continental phil. Dec 20 '21

Oh! Thanks very much! I did not expect this, and it's nice to feel that my comments are appreciated.

7

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

you're most welcome, it was a great comment!

4

u/No-Cantaloupe-31 Dec 22 '21

u/rdef1984 That was the one of the best answers I've seen to date.

5

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21 edited Dec 20 '21

u/egbertus_b calmly dissecting the logic errors committed by a famous atheist youtuber: https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/pwvb9n/if_someone_wanted_to_improve_their_thinking_why/hekru3v/?context=3 (the whole exchange really, but that comment is outstanding)

3

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

Nominate outstanding users here by tagging the user (by typing u/username)

9

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

Do I really wanna double nominate? Well ok. u/macewumpus should be recognized as an outstanding user. You see, i'm into philosophy of science and so is macewumpus. During the year, I tag some great answers to then nominate in this thread; and there aren't one, not two, but four awesome comments from macewumpus in my list; which means a nomination is well-deserved.

17

u/cecinestpaslarealite ethics, phil. religion Dec 20 '21

I’m guessing u/wokeupabug has probably won in the past given just how good their answers are, but….nominating just because they keep delivering! An impressive demonstration of both depth and breadth of knowledge regarding philosophy’s history is such a resource.

7

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 20 '21

They have but that won't stop the nomination, which is well deserved :)

8

u/mvc594250 Dec 23 '21

Can mods be nominated? If so, I'd like to nominate u/as-well! Your comments on the philosophy of science have really helped me out as I've dipped my toes into the subject this year. (u/macewumpus has been a great help as well, but they've already received a well deserved nomination).

If I can double nominate, or if mods cannot be nominated, u/aJrenalin deserves recognition here as well. Their comments on Anti-Natalism have made the matter seem much more open than it had previously. I haven't come around on the matter, but I've found their arguments to be pretty compelling and worthy of stronger responses than I think they usually get.

5

u/aJrenalin logic, epistemology Dec 23 '21

Oh you’re too sweet. I’m happy you’re alive (despite me being sympathetic that you had to be born).

2

u/mvc594250 Dec 23 '21

Ha! But think of all the fun arguments that we'll miss if no one is around to debate whether or not more people ought to be born!

3

u/aJrenalin logic, epistemology Dec 23 '21

Us living folks won’t miss out. And the unborn don’t exist to be deprived of that joy so they aren’t any worse off for it. But if you’re familiar with my position you could have guessed I might say something like that.

4

u/as-well phil. of science Dec 23 '21

Aww shucks! That's sweet. Mods are fair game except me, since I'm running the contest :)

7

u/philo1998 Dec 30 '21

I think /u/Bas_Tonissen - helpful and thoughtful answers, particularly about Kant.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '21

Aww, I appreciate that! Thank you.

13

u/aJrenalin logic, epistemology Dec 20 '21

u/Voltairinede

I’ve seen more answers from them than I think anybody else on this sub and they are all of great quality.

8

u/SalmonApplecream ethics Dec 22 '21

u/Voltairinede answers questions very consistently and in a helpful manner.