What's going on with the Philosophy Now website?

[daniel_j_lavender]

@GaryChildress

Does anyone know what’s going on with the Philosophy Now website? It’s been down for a couple of days and there’s no option in the menu bar of the main screen for “forums” anymore. Did Rick do away with the forums?

Thanks.

Did you notice the large influx of users the last two days the forum was functional? Did you happen to check the current user count? At points there were upwards of 5,000 users visiting the board simultaneously. The forums were being flooded by bots. Did you notice any lag when visiting?

Additionally did you notice the Taylor Swift discussions on the forum? They were posted two days before the forums went down. Here is a summary:

@daniel_j_lavender

Ms. Swift doubles as a political agent. Hence her positions concerning various social and political issues.

A wave of philosophical propaganda was disseminated, including in Philosophy Now magazine, soon after my comments referenced in the video. I addressed this directly on the Philosophy Now forum February 13, 2025, approximately two days ago. Here is the post in full:

“Ms. Swift has incorporated Philosophy Now forum comments, particularly comments concerning abortion, into her recent work. I have produced a Youtube video illustrating the details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIooxLwSDRs

Ms. Swift’s official video (January 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8DLofLM7No

The referenced forum comments:

May 2022

https://forum.philosophynow.org/viewtopic.php?p=571513#p571513

May 2022

https://forum.philosophynow.org/viewtopic.php?p=571244#p571244

A sudden wave of Taylor Swift philosophy propaganda recently hit the press:

Taylor Swift: A Philosopher For Our Times, October 2024

Taylor Swift: A Philosopher For Our Times | Issue 164 | Philosophy Now

Taylor Swift and Philosophy: Essays from the Tortured Philosophers Department, September 2024

Taylor Swift and Philosophy: Essays from the Tortured Philosophers Department (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) : Robb, Catherine M., Mills, Georgie, Irwin, William: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Know thyself − all too well: Why Taylor Swift’s songs are philosophy, April 2024

Know thyself − all too well: Why Taylor Swift’s songs are philosophy

Does it seem organic? Or more like a reaction, perhaps a financially engineered response? The timing of these publications, post referenced forum comments, indicates the latter. There was no mention of Taylor Swift as philosopher prior to this.

The sudden association of Ms. Swift with philosophy should now make sense.

Is Ms. Swift truly a philosopher?

Genuine philosophers embrace philosophy for philosophy’s sake. Not merely as an instrument for revenue and revenge.”

Last night Philosophy Now forum was hacked, overloaded with bot activity, and now the forum is gone. Suspicious?

This was one of the final thread conversations before the close. It is archived here: Taylor Swift: A Philosopher For Our Times - Philosophy Now Forum

Someone was trying to bury the thread: