Here is the start of a list and review of some of the philosophy chat discussion Bulletin Board Systems on the Internet. Feel free to add to the list with philosophy discussion sites or comments.


Dissident Philosophy Forum

http://dissidentphilosophy.lifediscussion.net

"This is where you are now. We are a small niche or boutique on-line philosophy discussion group; a little more personal than some of the big philosophy BBSs. Our mission is especially to provide to philosophers with new or misunderstood ideas a place to post and discuss their work in a warm and comfortable group. dissidentphilosophy is a volatile assemblage, ranging from academic professionals to teens; we welcome anyone with with an interest or passion in ideas. Creativity of both medium and message are encouraged.

- Niki"


Philosophy Forums

http://forums.philosophyforums.com/

This will probably be the first site that comes up if you are searching the 'net for philosophy discussion boards. This is Paul's group. You may not at first enjoy the regulated atmosphere. But philosophy is about care and details too, don't forget to dot your is and cross your ts. Give it a join!


ilovephilosophy

http://ilovephilosophy.com/phpbb/index.php

This may be the second place you'll find searching for φ-sites. Everyone will love this BBS. There is a friendly moderating team and administration; and plenty of beer and good times to go around. Those new to philosophy will appreciate the casual approach to the awesome problems of life and existence. Ben then now Carleas administrate this group; everyone who is anyone in ephilosophy is or was here. Join today!



Philosophy Now

http://forum.philosophynow.org/index.php

This is a pretty good site. Has all the usual indexes you'd expect of a philosophy site. They seem to be compasionate and good hearted, wise and intelligent. There is a strong UK bias. It is obviously important too for it's local meeting groups. Not to mention, their magazine, Philosophy Now, available in magazine-shops; look for it and get involved now!

Philosophy Forums

http://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums/

This is a popular name for philosophy sites -- understandably. This is Scott's group. No cuss-words allowed, but an intimate board with several interesting thinkers here. Get involved!


Philosophy Forum

http://www.philosophyforum.com/forum/

No 's' like Philosophy Forums. This board is organized by philosophical movement and philosophers. This might be a nice site for those with a great love of detail. 48 different indexes and counting! Justin sold this site in November '09 for $ 5,100. Don't miss this one!


Philosophy Chat Forum

http://www.philosophychatforum.com/

This site comes up third on Google. There is a nice art index with some members taking the time to make interesting posts; though this forum is dedicated by-in-large to the science side of philosophy, so maybe look at a few science journals before posting. The academic standard is high on this board. Join up!


ephilosopher

http://www.ephilosopher.com/news.php

Always wondered what this was about; but I can't register? Can you?

EDIT: I'm in!


Philospohy Discussion

http://members2.boardhost.com/wbaker2/

They spelt philospohy wrong. But looks interesting. Join!

iloveopinions

http://iloveopinions.com/

This site is I think a splinter group of ilovephilosophy. There are some very kind souls and brilliant thinkers here, and also some conspiracy-theorist cranks. Definitely worth registering!

Darwin Awards Philosophy Forum

http://forum.darwinawards.com/index.php?act=idx

Looks like a small but welcoming philosophy forum, Register now! Here is the inside-scoop,

"Wendy Northcutt wrote a series of books celebrating the lives and deaths of a variety of people who'd been so good as to remove themselves from the gene-pool, in ways that were generally spectacularly stupid. On the strength of income from the first book she set up a web-site to collect and verify such stories, and then expanded it to have a discussion forum.

The discussion forum soon became rather interesting..., and is a fairly friendly discussion of philosophical issues, usually. There is rather more to it than is visible to new members - and once you've made 13 posts or more you get to be able to start topics, and join in with the rest."

Thoughts.com

http://www.thoughts.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64

This is a very large BBS, the site includes indexes such as USA News and Weight Loss... the index just above Philosophy is Numerology -- so be warned about that... Join now!


Freethought Forum

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/

This looks like a fairly nice BBS, there is an active philosophy index with more than a few interesting discussions, and a few names you may recognize from around ephilosophy are there too. Join today!


Filosofiforum

http://www.filosofiforum.com/phpBB2/index.php

Filosofi is spelt with ån F in Swedish. I cän't understånd a thing on this site, but it looks pretty intense. Register; ås they såy, leårn somethng new everyday!


Macedonia Forum

http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/philosophy-forum/

Really interesting discussion group here, mostly in English, but a few threads are in Greek too. Here is what this forum is all about,

"Macedonia On The Web" (MOTW) is a site hosting discusions and accurate articles about Macedonian History (Ancient , Medieval and Modern) in an attempt to inform about the disambiguation of the term "Macedonia" and "Macedonian" :

That is there is a Historical Macedonia consisting today in Greece's most northern province ..with a historical depth that goes back to antiquity and Alexander the Great...and the neighboring newily established state FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) laying on what was ancient Paeonia and today inhabitited by a Slav-speaking population that. We've been witnessing from FYROM a massive propagandistic attempt to "steal" & "appropriate" the History of Greek ("aka Real") Macedonia.

Register today!


Open Philosophy

http://phil110.bb2.org/

This is a small but interesting discussion forum. There are quite a few indexes, one devoted just to anarchism, so that's a good sign, unless it's a form of ghettoizing anarchists. The atmosphere seems warm but also quite academic. Why not bring a little zip into this group by registering!


Malicious Intellect

http://fora.maliciousintellect.com/

This is a semi-private board. It is made up of the ones who walked alway from ILP. Started about two years ago, this is Mastriani and JT's group. Best to let those who made this BBS what it is explain,

"It's a cross between somewhere to hang out and somewhere to think. It works, mainly, as well as these places can."

"A much smaller group of people here but
much more of a family atmosphere. Well, not the
material, that often gets an hard R rating."

"A review... and perhaps an orientation?

MI is composed mainly of ILP drop-outs. Most of us have known each other for a number of years. It functions much like a neighborhood pub where the "regulars" come to cuss and discuss anything and everything. Newcomers are welcome.

There is one unique feature in all of our goings on. We all recognize that not one person here is "special" We're just a bunch of people with insatiable curiosity trying to find a pleasant way to get through the day. If anything is required, be REAL. We play games, laugh and giggle, but the game playing is seen as game playing. We relax here. Hair down and all the rest.

You'll pick up on it quickly. No one here is out to conquer the intellectual world."

A close and comfortable philosophy discussion group with good academic credentials and welcoming of respectful new members, good color scheme too. Join now!

ephilosopher is a site that works at trying to be
an Anglo-American academic Philosophy centered site.
Mostly it wobbles between low-grade fights and
arcane formal dicussons. Less burned than
most forums. The scope is limited by the
Ang/Am/Acad. insistence.

The Couch

http://www.thecouchforum.com/

This is another of the elusive retreats of the head leaders of online-philosophy. This group is allegedly the result of the defection of schizophrenic advocate Susan Lien Whigham, libertygrl, in 2005, from the pioneering and now "unfortunately" defunct board Mad Philosophers, together with the boss of PF; onlinephilosophyclub's is here too. The photo above the couch is taken by Paul. It is said that there is a "cordial atmosphere"; here is how insiders describe this group,

"I don't think as this forum as a philosophyforum pur sang. There's at least as much value in the artistic input on this forum. But most of the time, we try to combine both, which is the way I like it best."

If you can keep up with the cutting-edge architects of philosophy as it is on the 'net today, join!


Tilted Forum Project

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-philosophy/

Here is an ideas site, that grew out of a soft-core porn site. Though a little more mainstream than the name "tilted" might suggest, there is none-the-less an okay philosophy index. This is what the creator had to say about the history of the board, and it's objectives,

"Time went on, and more and more people kept visiting... so many in fact that we ended up busting into the top 25 boobies links page.

Ok, all coming for free boobies. That's great, but I knew I wanted more than that. I had no more online community to hang out with.... I figured I'd create one for myself.

What do I want out of a community? Well, after seeing first hand what happens when you let people run rampant, I came to realize that I really didn't enjoy being caught in all that animosity. I wanted to feel safe enough to share my feelings and have people share theirs with me. With that idea in mind, I created a few rules that I sought to enforce, and I started using some tactics to siphon people away from the Titty Board, into the general discussion area."

From humble soft-core beginnings, to an in interesting ideas discussion group. This is a site worth getting involved in!


Intelligent Community

http://www.lifeisadisease.com/

This site has a catchy and easy to remember address. Which makes you wonder why it fell asleep back in 2007. Looks like someone is still spam-busting; probably a few active members would bring this group back to life. Maybe you?


SPSW

http://www.someplacesomewhere.com/

Somewhere Someplace is a small but active philosophy discussion group. It looks to have relatively high academic standards. There is also a small technology index; if tech-stuff appeals to you, this might be a good group to get involved with! (Semi-private; registration is turned off at the time of writing this review.)


Religious Education Forum

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/philosophy/

Strictly, this is a religion discussion group. It is large scale, serious, and professional. The very best philosophical talk and ideas are to be found elsewhere on the board, but there is an index particularly for philosophy. Note the framing of most of the indexes: "These forums are for learning and fellowship and NO DEBATING!" Join up, and learn something new!


The Philosophical Perfection Forum

http://perfection.niceboard.net/

This is a very fine little group. They have all the usual indexes, and a section devoted to Bible study and especially Christian topics. There is a poetry index and art index, and a few lighter ones like cooking. This board is fun and light and has a warm feel all around it. This is definitely a philosophy group too look into!

great list. thank you.

Wrong Planet

http://www.wrongplanet.net/forum20.html

This is a very interesting discussion group dedicated to people with Autism and Asperger syndrome; there is an excellent philosophy index. This community gained some notoriety when it was discovered that double-murderer William Freund was a contributing member. At least one more homicide may also have been committed by a member, see, "Appointment for Murder", Dateline NBC, 2008-03-16. Get involved!


Flag

http://flag.blackened.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=21

"FBI investigating incidents on subdomains hosted by flag.blackened.net", this is an interesting read on an all around great discussion board; it is focused on anarchism. The whole board is quite philosophical, and there is also an index directed just towards the study of philosophy, the section is described, "Philosophy: You need it." Revolt today!


Nietzsche Forum

http://www.nietzscheforum.com/index.php

This board is definitely worth having a look at for anyone interested in discussing the work of the late great philosopher F.W. Nietzsche. The board has a unique lay-out, one index is devoted to each of his books from The Birth of Tragedy on to The Will to Power. For all your Nietzsche needs, register now!


The Galilean Library

http://academy.galilean-library.org/forumdisplay.php?f=58

This is a fairly serious minded discussion group focused broadly on arts and humanities. If you would like some very learned and thorough interlocuteurs, you will find them here. The group describes it's objectives and organization like this,

"The aim of TGL is to provide a venue for people interested in the sciences and humanities and the possibility of learning more about them in community with others. ...TGL's philosophical basis is derived from the notion of learning webs, found in Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society. Illich was a former Jesuit, philosopher and anarchist social critic who authored critiques of formal institutions, professional authority and power structures of any form."

Liberating Minds

http://liberatingminds.forumotion.com/forum.htm

This is a great ideas discussion group, lots of intelligent inquiry in an informal environment. This group is linked to FreeDomain Radio, which in-itself has quite a few shows on philosophy. The board has an intellectual part, and also a personal part, which to see you will have to register. Do that now.

Sein Wahrheit und Wirklichkeit

http://www.philosophie-forum-wirklich.de.vu

Here is a very nice philosophy forum. Looks to be a good discussion group, the German language may be daunting at first, but since most great philosophers have been Germans, it's wrong not to get involved a little. Registrieren!


the big view

http://thebigview.com/forum/

This discussion group is part of an online encyclopedia of philosophy put together by Thomas Knierim. In his interview with Ian MacKenzie, Thomas, who has been living in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the past seventeen years, explains that the site deals with both Western and Eastern philosophy.

"thebigview.com was established in October 1999 with the idea of rendering a bird's eye perspective on various philosophical topics, hence, the name. ... This website is about philosophy in the widest sense. It includes science, religion, mythology and other fields of thought that are not within the traditional scope of philosophy. However, it makes not much sense to treat these fields separately. Everything is connected. If one views anything from any possible angle, it can only increase understanding."

AVEN

http://www.asexuality.org/en/index.php?s=b4c372938b4854bfab0036b27c1548d1&showforum=4

The Asexual Visibility and Education Network hosts an ideas discussion group which has an index devoted to the subject of philosophy. For those who wish to learn more about the world through encountering a wide spectrum of discussion partners with new and different ideas, this is a great site to get involved with! Here is how they describe their mission,

"AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) was created with the goals of providing a virtual home for asexuals and their allies and educating those interested in learning more about asexuality. ... Whether you're asexual, sexual or merely curious you're welcome to join in the discussions, as new opinions are always valued. Though we are quite tolerant we are also protective of our cyberspace haven and abusive language and graphic depictions of sexuality are discouraged without some sort of prior disclaimer."

Skeptics Society

http://www.skepticforum.com/viewforum.php?f=30

This discussion group was created under the direction of the psychologist, author, and cycling enthusiast Dr. Michael Shermer, it is affiliated with the magazine... SKEPTIC. This group has a very large number of members; the philosophy index is maybe a bit analytical or conservative. They describe their work this way,

"The Skeptics Society is a scientific and educational organization of scholars, scientists, historians, magicians, professors and teachers, and anyone curious about controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas, and the promotion of science. Our mission is to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on those controversial ideas and claims."