Covers a large number of philosophical topics that I’m particularly interested in from a semi-professional point of view.
It also covers others that are of more general interest, for which I’ve read papers as they crop up but don’t really have much time to comment on.
Finally, there are others – and particularly videos – which are not as relevant, and which I usually ignore.
As with all papers, I categorise them by subject, topic and sub-topic: up to three of each. As such, it is possible to cross-refer the subjects under discussion. But as I have about 23,000 papers2 of one sort or another, this cross-categorisation leads to something of a morass.
Consequently, for Aeon, I decided to list the main topics that I’m interested in that have come up (an on-going job, requiring occasional refinement), and to list the papers that fall under them. That way, it would be easier to see how the various authors address the same topics, and in particular how they disagree.
The topics appear in the table above, with links to the lists. The topic of Personal Identity is further broken down in the list.
Unfortunately, there is some need for cross-categorisation, but I’ll have to resist this and live with the deficiency. Multiple-listings will make the lists too long and confusing. Connections will need to be made between the papers themselves in such cases.
Progress to Date
This Note includes links to all the Aeon papers I accessed in 2017, with a few from 2018. I have now logged by category all the papers I’ve accessed since joining the list at the beginning of 2017 – hence developing the categories.
In 2017 there were relatively few papers that I ignored (though in general I skipped all the videos). Occasionally I’ve read or viewed a paper or video, but not incurred the overhead of logging them in my database.
In most cases I still need to add – usually brief – comments, making use of a disclaimer as necessary.
Stimulating though this exercise is, I found such heroic efforts as exemplified in this Note took up too much time away from my research, so I had to put it mostly on hold. What I decided to do in 4Q17 was just to categorise and read those items that really relate to my research. The others could not be categorised or added to my database, but – as a weekly exercise –the authors, titles, dates and links were added to an uncategorised list at the end.
In 2018, I decided that a further refocussing of effort was required, and thereafter only added those papers that were strictly associated with my research, or were particularly interesting. I had hoped to comment on those papers already logged, but will probably never find the time to do so.
I must also note here that I treat a few other articles I come across that are of similar standard to Aeon, and treat them as though they were Aeon, listing them in the cross-reference and filing them with the Aeon articles proper, for want of a better home. I note this against the individual papers.
The Future
Aeon is a very valuable resource and a stimulating source of ideas. Too good to miss, but not worth spending the whole day on. So, from now on I’ve decided just to list the articles of interest that turn up, and only log them and comment on them in my databases if they are exceptionally relevant.
These links are recorded against this Note, which now also contains the uncategorised list noted above.