First, I want to wish everyone a happy holiday season--which I hope has been safe and relaxing for the members of our community. Second, I wanted to thank all of the readers who come to this blog for the latest posts and information about experimental philosophy. I started this blog 12 years ago as a graduate student. At the time, experimental philosophy was still a fledgling movement. While we had some senior philosophers and psychologists on our side, our work was often openly met with ridicule and consternation. We invited some of this with our "branding"--e.g., theme songs and tee shirts involving burning armchairs! But some of the objections to our work made it clear that people were criticizing what we were doing without actually reading what we were doing.
So, this blog was an attempt to provide a forum for like-minded researchers to share their thoughts and ideas about meta-philosophy, the philosophy of psychology, the psychology of philosophy, and experimental philosophy more generally. Over the years, the blog has waxed and waned when it comes to activity. Sometimes, there are lots of posts and comments. Other times, the blog is moribund for weeks (or even months) at a time. So, for 2017, I have decided it is time to make some changes here in the hopes they will improve the blog and continue to grow the community.
The first change is that I am going to take a step down/back from being the coordinator of the blog to merely being the founder. My hope is that the current and next generation of experimental philosophers will want to step up to help me fashion the blog in their image. I am grateful that Jason Shepard has already agreed to be an editor. Hopefully, others will similarly volunteer some of their time. I would like Jason and other junior philosophers and psychologists to pick up the reigns and move us towards the models adopted by what I take to be the two most successful philosophy blogs on the web: (a) The Brains Blog, and (b) PEA Soup. I am happy to do my part, but Jason and I could really use some help! If you're interested in playing a formal role, please shoot me an email! Either way, stay tuned. Hopefully, 2017 will see some changes and improvements here at Experimental Philosophy!
Thomas, thanks for all the work you've put in on the XPhi blog. I wouldn't have guessed that it has been around for 12 years. It's been a great forum or platform for discussions and announcements in the XPhi community.
Posted by: James Beebe | 12/28/2016 at 12:30 AM
Agreed! What Thomas has done over these past dozen years has really been an extraordinary service to experimental philosophy, and to the philosophical community more broadly.
In any case, a very warm welcome to Jason Shepard. His research as a psychologist has been fantastic, and I am delighted to have him as the coordinator here!
Posted by: Joshua Knobe | 12/29/2016 at 03:06 PM