Keeping up with philosophy

PolloDiablo

I know we've got some other philosophy geeks around here, so I figure it couldn't hurt to ask.

So, as an undergrad I was a Philosophy/English major. At my school at least, we studied the classical philosophers extensively, and I only had a handful of courses on contemporary philosophy. Since I graduated I kind of stopped exploring new philosophers. I'm tired of feeling like I'm missing out. What's the best way to keep on top of new philosophers and theories? Do any of you subscribe to the various journals? Which would you recommend? I'm mostly looking for developments in analytics and such, not necessarily debates on older systems of philosophy.

So, how do you guys keep up on current trends in philosophy?

Burnage

If you've still got access to a campus library or a uni internet account, www.philpapers.org has an incredible number of papers in any aspect of the subject you care to name. Even if you're not on a campus, there's still a fair few you can look at.

PolloDiablo

That's a cool looking site, thanks.

cooljammer00

I would have thought there'd be no new philosophies, since people are still adhering to the old ones.

PolloDiablo

There's always more philosophy to think up.

Sharp10r

Cooljammer does bring up a point though: one philosopher once said that all philosophy boils down to Aristotle and Plato. In addition to hearing "the new," perhaps a more in-depth study of the classic can benefit you just as much if not more?

TychoCelchuuu

You might want to start with all the stuff between the classics and right now before you move on to right now. Like, say, Hobbes, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, etc.

Hedgethorn

Some of the best philosophers in the world blog regularly. Many of those blogs can be found here.

I especially recommend Thoughts, Arguments and Rants by Brian Weatherson, Certain Doubts by Jon Kvanvig and others.

And, of course, there is always Brian Leiter's blog if you're interested in philosopher-related gossip more than philosophy.

Edit: Oh, and be sure to check out the Philosophers' Carnival every month, which highlights some of the best philosophical blogging.

LoveIsUnity

The next step will likely be researching and reading contemporary critical theory. People like Derrida, Barthes, Foucault, and the like will keep you busy for a while. I can provide way more people to read if you're interested in philosophy and critical theory in the 20th century, but those are the names that came to mind right away. Of course, a lot of these folks wrote in response to other folks, so you'll likely be looking up structuralist stuff, which Derrida was a response to, and a lot of Foucault's work is a response to Deconstruction. It's not a bad idea to just jump in and follow citations as necessary as long as you realize it will be a pretty involved process.

Burnage

If the OP is primarily interested in developments in analytic philosophy (although I might be mis-reading his post), then Derrida and Foucault probably aren't a great option. That said, most phil/english double majors I've known do have a passion for Derrida, so he should probably read some of his work anyways.

PolloDiablo

Hedgethorn wrote: »

Some of the best philosophers in the world blog regularly. Many of those blogs can be found here.

I especially recommend Thoughts, Arguments and Rants by Brian Weatherson, Certain Doubts by Jon Kvanvig and others.

And, of course, there is always Brian Leiter's blog if you're interested in philosopher-related gossip more than philosophy.

Edit: Oh, and be sure to check out the Philosophers' Carnival every month, which highlights some of the best philosophical blogging.

Thanks a lot. This is the kind of thing I'm looking for.

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

You might want to start with all the stuff between the classics and right now before you move on to right now. Like, say, Hobbes, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, etc.

I guess I was a little unclear in my OP. I didn't mean to imply that I had only learned classical philosophy. I've studied each of those philosophers extensively. I've also read a lot of Derrida and Foucault, in response to the last few posts.

I was mostly wondering where people read the newest developments. I mean, papers and theories written in 2009. I'm well grounded in philosophy up until about the 1990's. It's the stuff coming out right now that I'm looking to expose myself to more.