Between 2018 and 2020, I regularly posted questions on Twitter, asking for recommendations, advice, and ideas on philosophy-related themes. The replies were fascinating, and I have preserved links to the most popular question threads here as an archive (grouped by month, starting with the most recent). Click on a question to open the thread on X.
May 2020
- The Oracle knows everything and always answers truthfully. If you could ask it just one question, what would it be?
- What are the best books on the experience of being black in America?
April 2020
- What are your favourite works (novels, essays, poems, paintings, etc) on theme of sickness and recovery?
- I think it’s time for a new philosophy TV programme (ideally, hosted by @philosophybites) in the spirit of Bryan Magee’s The Great Philosophers. But what format should it take?
- What have you learned while in lockdown?
- OK, here’s a question. My talents, such as they are, lie in the area of thinking and writing. From a humanitarian point of view, what are the most useful topics I could devote them to?
March 2020
- Who are the best amateur philosophers, past and present — people who do important philosophical work outside an academic setting?
- If you knew that your next tweet would be your last one ever, what would you say in it?
- Let’s compile a list of essential reading for these strange and scary times. What books and articles should we stock up on to give us hope and wisdom and purpose?
- What philosophical reading do you recommend for a time of self-isolation?
- What would be good comfort viewing in these anxious times?
- Which philosophers are doing the best work on evolutionary psychology right now?
- What are your favourite artistic representations of compassion?
February 2020
- Why do we not find the smell of our own bodily odours and waste disgusting?
- Were there any idealists before the rise of modern science?
- Isaiah Berlin said that Plato was a hedgehog and Aristotle a fox. What animals might other philosophers be?
- What lesser-known philosophy articles do you think should be better known?
- Have any panpsychists speculated about supercomposition?
- What are your favourite philosophy-related songs?
- Can anyone recommend fiction that explores how alien the psychology of advanced AI might be?
- Vision dominates philosophical discussion of consciousness. Is there any data on whether people who are blind have different intuitions on the topic?
January 2020
- How do you understand the distinction between science and metaphysics?
- Question for academics: Do you think that academic activity is more central to your identity and self-esteem than other people’s work is to theirs?
December 2019
- What are the most convincing magic tricks/illusions you’ve ever seen?
- How have your philosophical views changed over the past decade?
- Give me some good advice, please.
- What are the best examples of genuine progress in philosophy?
- Which theological works (if any) should atheists read and why?
- Are any of you making any philosophical New Year’s resolutions?
November 2019
- Do you regard your philosophical views as important to you identity?
- Who would say is the most important living philosopher of mind?
- Can anyone point me to artworks that in some way represent consciousness, please?
- What would Disney’s Philosophy World contain?
- Who are the most interesting fictional philosophers?
October 2019
- Who is the greatest novelist that hardly anyone reads?
- Has any philosopher ever seriously argued that they are God?
September 2019
- What books do you recommend to lift the spirits and make one feel positive about life, despite all its sadnesses?
- As a child, did you wonder about consciousness/subjective experience?
August 2019
- What works (literary, scholarly, artistic, etc) have best helped you understand mental illness?
- What are your favourite books about Greece and Greek culture?
- What are the best philosophy lectures available free online?
- What are your favourite novels and poems about summer?
July 2019
- What are your favourite books about cricket?
- What would be your eight Desert Island Philosophy Books?
- I’m watching the Tour de France. What are the best books on cycling — and perhaps the philosophy of cycling?
- What is the most enjoyable book you’ve read?
- Who’s the unluckiest person in history?
June 2019
- What annoys you most about philosophy and philosophers?
- What do you love about philosophy and philosophers?
- To what extent does the analytic/continental divide in philosophy reflect the Protestant/Catholic divide in religion?
- Partridge philosophy question: Which cars would famous philosophers drive and why?
- If your life were a novel, who would its author be?
- If you could give Boris Johnson just one book, which he would be compelled to read, what would it be?
- What work has been done on the notion of identifying as something?
- What’s the best question you’ve ever been asked?
- Suppose you could earn money by selling days of your life. How much would you charge per day?
- Suppose that you can save lives by giving up days of your life. How many days would you give up?
May 2019
- Who’s your favourite philosophical or political enemy?
- What are your favourite philosophy-related images?
- How do you imagine God? Please add whether you’re a theist or atheist.
- What’s the best thing you’ve ever done?
- What are some handy universal Q&A questions?
- If a young person resembling yourself asked whether they should go into academia, what would you say?
- If there were a Hippocratic Oath for philosophers, what principles should it include?
- What are your favourite biographies of philosophers?
- Despite being a confirmed sceptic, I enjoy reports of paranormal experiences, UFO sightings, and general weirdness. What are your favourite reports of this kind?
- What are the most exciting recent books on AI and A-life?
- If famous philosophers of the past were living today, which views would they advocate?
April 2019
- What unpopular, unorthodox, or just strange philosophical views do you hold?
- Which writer (in any genre) do you turn to most often for inspiration?
- What should the philosophy profession’s mission statement be?
- What do you read to cheer yourself up?
- What are your favourite philosophical writings on illness and disability?
- What have you changed your mind about in the past year?
March 2019
- What is the most misused philosophical concept?
- Most philosophers are middle class. Have there been any attempts to develop working-class perspectives on philosophical issues?
- What are your favourite philosophy-related poems?
- If you could reinvent academia, how would you do it?
- What works of Islamic philosophy deserve to be more widely known and read?
- Trans rights activists: What should I read to understand your position better?
- Gender-critical feminists: What should I read to understand your position better?
February 2019
- What do you think is the silliest, or most outrageous, claim to have been seriously defended by a philosopher?
- Who is the wisest person you know (either personally or through their work)?
- I’m looking for good, impartial overviews of the replication crisis in social psychology. Any recommendations?
- Are there any claims you treat as true (assert, defend, assume) but don’t really believe?
- You can put one question to one philosopher, living or dead. What is your question and to whom?
- What’s the best music to do philosophy to?
January 2019
- Who is doing the best philosophical work on emotion and emotional cognition?
- I think we need cheering up. Please share your best philosophy-related jokes, anecdotes, and tall stories.
- Twitter can be mean. Let’s list some our favourite tweeps — people who are thoughtful, wise, funny, or just plain nice.
- I’m looking for good assessments of the cognitive benefits of bilingualism.
- If you could suggest just one book or article to a layperson curious about philosophy, what would it be?
- What are the most convincing fictional representations of genuinely good people?
December 2018
- What are your favourite readings on philosophy of education and educational theory?
- Suggestions, please, for festive philosophy books and articles to read over the holiday period.
- What was your favourite philosophy article or book published in 2018?
November 2018
- What works of modern continental philosophy should analytic philosophers read?
- What works of non-Western philosophy deserve to be more widely read?
- What are your tips for writing good philosophy?
- What philosophy-related books would you recommend for children to read?
October 2018
- Which philosophy book or article has had the biggest effect on you?
- If you were condemned to death and could have just one book to read while you waited for execution, what would it be and why?
- What is the worst book or article ever written by a professional philosopher?
- What are good books to read at a time when neo-fascism is on the rise?
