Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writing and philosophy

What is an extended abstract?

JoshSmith — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:04:39 -0800

What should an extended abstract (in the humanities) look like? This is for philosophy in particular, though I assume it might be a similar style for other disciplines. I'm responding to a CFP which asks for both an abstract and an "extended abstract." I'm unfamiliar with extended abstracts in the humanities, and most resources online are directed towards science writers.

To be clear, the CFP requests that applicants submit both an abstract (< 100 words) and an extended abstract (1,000-1,500 words). The papers themselves are expected to be under 7,000 words.

What all should be included within an extended abstract? References? What level of detail is usually expected? 1,200 words comes to about 2-1/2 typed single-spaced pages, and I'm well aware this is not a lot of space to go into extensive argumentation.

Any direction anyone can provide would be fantastic. Thanks in advance!

New theories of Mimesis (in digital/hypertextual/hypermedial cultures)

0bvious — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 07:09:48 -0800

I am looking for writings on mimesis in regards new, digital, hypertext and hypermedial technologies and cultures. I am following the redefinition of mimesis. From Plato's disregard of oral culture, through his mimesis of Socrates' dialogues in writing. Following Plato, Aristotle's theory was always a written mimesis, thus the order and processes of representation and mimicry were fundamentally written.

In essence, I am interested in how the artefacts of oral culture differed in their mimesis to written culture, and thus, how our modern move from a written to a digital/hypertextual culture will similarly impact on mimetic embodiment.

(I am also concerned with the terms 'digital' and 'hypertextual' - perhaps they are too narrow. Oral, written cultures and then XXXXX? The terms 'Cybertext' and 'Ergodic' do not seem to cover the ground wide enough.)

I have been reading Marshall McLuhan, Jacques Derrida, Paul de Man and Gunter Gebauer's and Christoph Wulf's Mimesis: Culture--Art--Society. I am looking for writings on digital, hypertextual mimesis, and how it differs, how it has altered, the theoretical embodiment of representation in thought, artefacts, language and culture.

Your help, ideas and advice are much appreciated, as always

The phenomenology of text

0bvious — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:21:33 -0800

The phenomenology / ontology of text: has anyone examined this issue directly in philosophical, literary and/or critical terms? I am interested in the experience and perception of text, both within readership and on an abstract (more holistic level perhaps) as the archetypical mediator and virtual-archive of human culture. I wish to explore it via its mediums (e.g. book, computer screen), its modes (e.g. semiotics, translation) and its means (e.g. poetry, fiction, encryption).

I came at this problem through Heidegger (most specifically in his re-appropriation of the term 'techné'), looking at text as a technology.

I have since come upon the writings of D.C. Greetham and a couple of other bits and pieces.

I feel that this is an area not much covered by the critical fields, especially in these times of ever encompassing digital/web-based mediums. I'm interested in following through some of this to a PhD proposal.

What paths should I be taking?

Your help, as always, is much appreciated.

What should I do with my life?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:12:06 -0800

20-something INTP, bored to death in his corporate gig, asks: What should I do with my life? I'm in my mid-20's. I studied philosophy at a very good school. I'm now working in a corporate job that would probably be a great job if I didn't completely hate it. It's well-paying, humane, and I'm surrounded by smart people. I think the problem is just me. I find I'm unable to work hard on stuff that I don't find intrinsically interesting. I get bored quickly, and I'm not motivated enough by money or approval to overcome it. Some people are able to profitably rent out their minds; I'm not.

I spend most of my time reading papers on the Internet, dwelling on philosophical, social, and scientific problems, and writing lengthy emails to friends and acquaintances about Big Ideas. I don't purport to claim any of this is productive or valuable. But what's clear is I'm not a good fit for my employers, my employer isn't a good fit for me, and I'm just wasting everyone's time and money. It's been this way in my last two or three jobs as well. The stuff I'm good at -- deep thinking, complicated problem solving, coming up with new ideas and working out their implications -- just doesn't seem to overlap much with the job requirements of most jobs.

The question is what to do instead. I've applied to law school for the fall and have gotten into some great programs. I think I'd be good at law. I'm an analytical thinker and I actually take pleasure in working through dense thickets of language. But I'm afraid if I wind up in law, I'll run into the same problems I face in my current job, only worse: I'll be stuck in an office all day (and all night), working on problems I don't find interesting, wishing I could just write and think and work on interesting problems instead. I don't know though -- if I totally hate the practice of law (I'm pretty sure I'll like law school), I could always practice for a few years, pay off my loans, then get out, with a lot more "options" available to me than I have now.

Alternatively, writing/journalism and academia both seem like decent choices. At least with those, I could write, think, and have a lot more control over my work day and the projects I pursue. But they both have their drawbacks: while I'm not out to get rich, I don't look forward to a life of instability, unease, and relative penury that seem to await many people in those fields. I do value security and comfort.

As you can see, I also tend to talk myself out of things. I'm a thinker and an over-thinker. In the process of trying to figure everything out, I just wind up taking the path of least resistance. Hence my current situation. So, before I plunge $180k into debt, please advise me: what should I do with my life?

I want to write for interesting online magazines

0bvious — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:16:42 -0800

I am looking for online magazines to submit art/literature/experimental/fun articles to. I think 'The Believer' magazine is a good example of the type I crave. UK based would be best, but not completely necessary. Any ideas?

Help me persuade a small philosopher's 'circle' to use the Philosopher's Research Network to distribute papers given at our annual meeting.

anotherpanacea — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:14:06 -0800

Help me persuade a small philosopher's 'circle' to use the Philosopher's Research Network to distribute papers given at our annual meeting. Objections include:
1. Young scholars cannot risk the loss of reputation associated with a flawed article appearing publicly. (Possible answer: papers are vetted by older scholars at the acceptance phase, the circle as a whole during their reading, and anyway, need not be posted until they are judged ready by the author and the circle.)
2. Online publication of drafts will decrease the likelihood of publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
3. Online access promotes plagiarism.

Anyone who has used any part of the SSRN or other online draft repositories successfully, I'd appreciate your anecdotes and advice on swaying the group. I'm especially hoping for refutations of the above points, and anyone who can say that SSRN-like sites have helped their careers or scholarship.

How Things 'Become': The Infinity of Definition

0bvious — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:18:41 -0800

I am looking for writings on the infinity of definition. I am interested in the exponentially divergent curve that is definition.

We create writings and art to better define the world, yet true definition is infinite.

We mediate the universe by erecting borders of definition, i.e. all striped, four-legged, hooved mammals are probably zebras. We categorise the universe into hierarchies, but the more we examine the more pronounced and expansive these hierarchies become.

Language is our greatest defining tool. Yet, the metaphors we evolve to expand the potential of language can themselves only be made to refer back to the language which created them. An infinite loop emerges in most definition.

As new technology emerges we use it to 'add' meaning to artifacts which are already partly defined. By looking at the world with ever more refined microscopes we bring reality into greater clarity. This metaphor can be expanded to refer to texts, art, archaeology, culture etc.

Who has written on the problem of definition? What critical theory has been written on the emergence of infinity?

This question adds on to past questions I have asked at MeFi including (in reverse order):

- Art and artifacts experienced through technology
- The mimetic and narrative capacities of artefacts
- Examples of 'The Infinite' in Myth and Their Effect on Conditions of Truth

Here's hoping you have some ideas...

The mimetic and narrative capacities of artefacts

0bvious — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:58:58 -0800

I am interested in the mimetic and narrative capacities of artefacts, how cultural remnants transmit information through time and how meaning is translated once an artefact is re-appropriated or examined from a new perspective. I have several avenues of study at the moment (a list in extended explanation), but would like some more ideas. Areas of critical theory, linguistics, evolutionary psychology and poetics are all relevant. I want to show that the narratives and metaphors which can be understood as the architecture of our brains are somehow mimetically present in the physical, cultural and linguistic artefacts which surround us.

Here are a few of the readings I have gathered so far:

- Anthropological and evolutionary studies into the nature and transmission of narrative by Michelle Scalise Sugiyama (in particular her essay 'Reverse-Engineering Narrative' from the book 'The Literary Animal').
- Mikhail Bakhtin's 'Discourse in the Novel' (where he talks about language as having 'genres' or 'tastes' which can transmit as much meaning as the words themselves).
- Michael Shanks and Lynn Hershman Leeson's conversation at Seed Magazine on 'Presence' in art and archaeology and how new technologies affect it.
- Susan A. Stewart's book 'On Longing'.
- Gaston Bachelard's book 'The Poetics of Space'

Thanks in advance!

All Day I Dream About The two-foldedness of the essence of the active concept of free will.

tmcw — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:29:44 -0800

I need to write a paper about Hegel. An eleven-page paper. I have the knowledge, I have the skills, and I sort of have the time. But what about? I've read Lord & Bondsman, Philosophy of Right, and some of Sense-Certainty. I've even understood a bit of it. But I can't seem to find any part of his works that really inspires a paper topic. So, anyone who knows about this area of philosophy, can you lend a hand? I'm also open to linking him to Fichte, Kant, Spinoza...

In short - not looking for anyone to write me a paper, or a thesis, or anything. Just trying to figure out what's interesting and 'arguable' in these intensely tough texts.

Thanks for any help

Should I rewrite my undergraduate thesis?

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 11:20:26 -0800

I studied philosophy in college. By my senior year I had decided that I wanted to pursue a career in academia. I had co-founded a conference. I was writing a thesis. I had intentions of applying to graduate schools. However, during my last semester I experienced a crisis of faith and delayed my thesis for six months, eventually earning a "C". I want to go back and do the job right, but I don't know how. The thesis was a disaster in part because I had not developed the necessary skills to conduct basic academic research independently. My college is exclusively seminar-based and most of the "research" I used in my papers was gleaned from my participation in class. Paper-writing for me was typically an intuitive affair wherein I would try to come up with complex interpretations of the materials provided in class rather than seek out new information from new sources. This approach gave me a false sense of security in my supposed ability to find connections between anything, conveniently ignoring the fact that all of the materials were connected by virtue of their inclusion in the course. Nonetheless I succeeded in my endeavors and held excellent academic standing until my last semester when I crashed on the thesis. Suddenly I wasnt being handed assignments anymore and I began to doubt the relevance and quality of my work. I fell into the rut of deleting chunks of text and rewriting everything until it became dense and esoteric. I was also reading hefty courseloads of Heidegger and Wittgenstein at the time and I precociously felt inclined to emulate their writing styles in combination, which further drove me into protective esotericism. I eventually abandoned my bibliography altogether, instead opting to rely upon the whimsy of my own thoughts as the basis of my research. My advisor was aloof throughout this catastrophe although in hindsight I probably should have been more insistent on demanding his time. When I finally handed in a stack of papers six months after the original due date it was clear that the project was a failure. I immediately moved from NYC to Providence and began an entirely unrelated creative project that is just now, one year later, beginning to wrap up.

Now I want to go back, write the thesis properly and start working towards graduate schools or at least to just write productively in any context, but I don't exactly trust my workflow management, research methods or organizational techniques. I also have less of an advisor than I did the first time. WHERE TO BEGIN?

The Flâneur exposed

0bvious — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:38:54 -0800

'The Flâneur': What fascinating titbits can you add to my knowledge about this concept? Art, history, philosophy and literary theory links all welcome. Walter Benjamin wrote on them; Edgar Allan Poe supposedly utilized the concept in his story 'The Man of the Crowd'; the 19th century Parisians relished them. Art, literary theory, have been altered irrevocably since.

Insights please!

Thanks

Help me find an obscure R.A. Lafferty quote.

rwhe — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 06:53:41 -0800

Help me find an obscure R.A. Lafferty quote. Just saw Little Miss Sunshine and was struck by its message of embracing one's own utter dorkiness. It reminded me of a quotation by SF writer R.A. Lafferty about finding or inventing for yourself a field of knowledge or an art form so unique (excuse me; you know what I mean) that you will be the first to study it and create in it, and since the first, therefore the best. Knowing Lafferty's inclination to use Biblical allusions, Adam may have been mentioned in there as the first to do a lot of things.

Lafferty has always been an inspiration to me. Ghod knows he certainly lived his advice, and didn't just spout it. Can you help me find it?