XPost: news.config 
 From: don-aitken@freeuk.com 
  
 On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 22:40:30 GMT, Steven O. 
  wrote: 
  
 >In the newsgroup humanities.philosophy.objectivism (which is dedicated 
 >to the philosophy of the late author Ayn Rand), some recently pointed 
 >out that there are no other newsgroups in the humanities.philsophy 
 >hierarchy.  This seems a glaring omission to me, so I am wondering 
 >what would be involved in creating the following newsgroups: 
 > 
 >humanities.philosophy.existentialism 
 >humanities.philosophy.phenomenology 
 >humanities.philosophy.ancientgreek 
 >humanities.philosophy.rennaissance 
 >humanities.philosophy.enlightenment 
 >humanities.philosophy.USAFoundingFathers 
 >humanities.philosophy.theology 
 >humanities.philosophy.eastasian 
 >humanities.philosophy.20thcentury 
 >humanities.philosophy.moralissues 
 >humanities.philosophy.moralissues.contemporary 
 >humanities.philosophy.politicaleconomy 
 >humanities.philosophy.war 
 >humanities.philosophy.scienceandsociety 
 >humanities.philosophy.AnalyticPhilosophyIsCrap 
 > (Okay, maybe my biases show with that last one  :-)  ) 
 > 
 >I suppose one might want to add humanities.philsophy.socialism or 
 >.marxism, although I'm reluctant, because it's so transparently clear 
 >to me that socialism/Marxism is pure garbage (even more so than 
 >analytic philosophy as a methodology).  But maybe that would be a good 
 >refuge for people who like to discuss pure garbage, and keep it out of 
 >the other newsgroups. 
 > 
 >The point is, we really should have these other types of newsgroups 
 >for discussing philosophy.  I have neither the time nor expertise to 
 >write a FAQ for all of them, though I'd be happy to take a crack at it 
 >for: 
 >humanities.philosophy.phenomenology 
 >humanities.philosophy.USAFoundingFathers 
 >humanities.philosophy.theology 
 >humanities.philosophy.moralissues 
 >humanities.philosophy.moralissues.contemporary 
 >humanities.philosophy.theology 
 >Of course, I could use some help with some of these -- any volunteers? 
 > 
 >Can someone tell me what I'm supposed to do next? 
 > 
 Find some evidence that there is actually a demand for them. 
 Newsgroups are not created because somebody thinks they will make the 
 namespace look neater or more systematic. They are created because 
 there are people who actually want to use them. The process involves a 
 vote; you need about 120 YES votes to get a group created. If you 
 think you have them, go to news.groups, read a few week's postings 
 there with some care, read the FAQs and other documents they direct 
 you to, then, if still you think it worthwhile, make your suggestion. 
 Don't bother suggesting 15 groups at once, though; that will just get 
 you laughed at. And be aware that the process typically takes several 
 months and involves quite a lot of work. 
  
 -- 
 Don Aitken 
  
 Mail to the addresses given in the headers is no longer being 
 read. To mail me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com". 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)