I read somewhere that, in her professional lifetime, Martha Nussbaum has averaged 3-5 published pages per day. This raises two questions: 1) Wouldn't that make her a great panelist candidate for this site (not exactly a philosophical question, I admit)? And 2) what is the relationship between prodigious output of thought and quality/clarity of thought? In trying to read Nussbaum on my own, I find that she has some really great nuggets, but there is a lot of sifting before I find them (_Upheavals_of_Thought_ as a case in point). This seems problematic. Moreover, does the process of publishing sometimes work to diminish originality of thought (generally) and/or dilute the acuminity of thought? I suppose this melds into a third question: how has philosophy changed in relation to the changing dynamic of publishing (from an emphasis on treatises like books to shorter journal articles - and THIS as an effect of 'publish or perish')? And what may we say of this change - is it a 'good' change; what does it say about the current state of philosophy; what does it mean for the wider access to philosophy? People talk about the death of the novel and I guess I also wonder the death of the treatise (of all types) and even the death of the Philosopher - despite (in my opinion) the inarguable relevance of philosophy. I studied philosophy as an undergrad. Thank you for this great site (and hopefully taking my question(s))!

I have stumbled across the “Guidelines for Non-Sexist Use of Language” in the American Philosophical Association. It recommends changing, “For Aristotle, man is, above all, Political Man." to “Aristotle regarded human beings as inherently political.” Now, I could be convinced that many texts are sexually biased, but is it important to change the formulation of such propositions? In the first quote, "Man" is a metonym, standing for all humanity in a manner similar to how the word "bread" stands for Jesus' flesh when it appears in parts of the New Testament, whereas in the second, the term with the same referent, "human beings" is used. If one were translating a book into English, and it featured a similar use of a metonym, an important question then would be whether to maintain that formulation, even though it contravenes these guidlines, or to change it. Is it important to replace "Man" with "Humanity" even though they have both been used to stand for the same thing for a long time?

I am a master's student in philosophy and my marks at least, show that I'm doing quite well. I'm also very interested in the subject even if it can get really difficult. My university is offering me a teaching post, but lately, I find myself contemplating on shifting to social work (and doing it full time) because I have this feeling that it's my "calling". How do you know that you are for professional philosophy? Do you think one can meaningfully practice philosophy outside the academe? Thank you very much.

Do you think philosophical counseling is a legitimate form of philosophizing? Are there indeed situations, cases or problems better addressed or answered by philosophers (rather than psychologists)?

There was a case in the U.K. (I believe) involving the murder of a seaman on a liferaft. Apparently, there were not enough provisions to allow everyone to live, so they drew names/straws in order to see who would have to sacrifice for the entire boat. The men on the boat faced murder charges when they arrived on land and I believe were convicted. What is the name of this case/story? I remember reading it in an Intro. to Philosophy class and I was hoping to use it for my high school class. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. Michael Sterling

Is there some kind of award for philosophical "discoveries" like the Nobel prizes for the sciences? Or do you philosophers disagree too much to call anything a definitive discovery?

Are there any websites that accurately rank (as far as that is possible) philosophy departments in non-English speaking countries with strong philosophy programs?

I'm applying to very competitive doctoral programs in philosophy. Everything in my application package is stellar except for my GRE scores. How much do admissions committees at competitive programs weigh GRE scores? Does Math matter more than Verbal? Is there a general baseline score I should try to aim at getting over?

I have a little dilemma that I need serious advice on. I started studying philosophy for 2 years at a small college in California. However, I chose to put my education on hold after I got married and had a child. Now I am seriously debating on going back to school and finishing up my BA degree in philosophy and then applying for graduate school. Do you know of any school where one could finish a degree up as a working adult? That is, is there an accredited school out there where one could attend a long distance program for a BA degree in Philosophy? Furthermore, after one enters into a graduate program at a University, can one get paid for teaching graduate courses to undergrads? How do graduate student who are pursuing a PhD make money during the 4-7 years that they spend at a University? Your answer will be much appreciated.

Is it true that the professional academic philosopher is a relatively new phenomenon? If so, what have been the benefits and shortcomings of professionalising philosophy? I ask this because someone told me recently that the most significant contributions to philosophy have been made by people who never considered themselves to be philosophers as such, but who got philosophical about their primary area of interest - mathematics, science, politics or whatever.