tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post7025068060118607296..comments2024-03-14T04:16:20.472-07:00Comments on In Socrates' Wake: Philosophers and ink stained wretchesMichael Cholbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-20936786643426750782009-12-03T20:41:50.139-08:002009-12-03T20:41:50.139-08:00Hi I am from Australia.
Perhaps we do need a &quo...Hi I am from Australia.<br /><br />Perhaps we do need a "philosophy" of journalism--especially as most journalists are just apologists for the powers that be.<br /><br />This reference describes in stark terms how conventional media works--especially right wing media (no real questions--let alone Real answers allowed)<br /><br />www.dabase.org/popdisgu.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-23494491316084145242009-11-21T11:59:58.478-08:002009-11-21T11:59:58.478-08:00Do we need courses in the philosophy of journalism...Do we need courses in the philosophy of journalism? I think to answer this question we need to consider who the "we" is. Presumably, it is either journalism departments (as Romano seems to argue at the end of the article) or it is philosophy departments (as he seems to argue at the beginning), though he could be considering the universal "we" (in which case I think the answer is obvious: no).<br /><br />I will leave it to journalism departments to decide if they think they would benefit from such a course. A lot of departments (engineering, accounting, etc.) already have their own ethics courses taught in their departments, usually not taught by philosophers. There is no reason journalism departments couldn't add a "Philosophy of Journalism" class to their requirements, just as most social science departments have their own statistics classes taught (usually) by professors in their department rather than professors in the statistics department. I certainly can't fail to agree with Romano that such a course would attract exactly those students who would benefit, those interested in both philosophy and journalism.<br /><br />But, like Mike above, I don't think philosophy needs philosophy of journalism classes. I don't think it is a central enough focus of philosophers to significantly benefit a philosophy major (at least compared to alternatives), while at the same time it won't be popular enough that seats will be filled by those who aren't philosophy majors (unlike Business Ethics, for example).<br /><br />Finally, if what really is needed are "philosophers who understand how epistemology and the establishment of truth claims function in the real world outside seminars and journals—the role of recognized authorities, of decision, of conscious intersubjective setting of standards", why should we think journalism would be the subject to best provide us that understanding? Don't many professional departments, including accounting and medicine, also work on exactly these same things? If philosophers do need these skills, maybe rather than a course specifically in Philosophy of Journalism, they need a course in "Practical Epistemology" that examines how each of many different professions establishes and recognizes truth claims. I would take that class!Kevin Schuttehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04562007179161022792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-18793382573122144002009-11-20T11:36:32.357-08:002009-11-20T11:36:32.357-08:00I don't think we need philosophy of journalism...I don't think we need philosophy of journalism in the way we need philosophy of law, religion, or science, for many of the same reasons as you give. I do think it can be profitable in the philosophy classroom to attend to journalism for examples of good and bad argumentation, which many informal logic and critical thinking courses do. And it would be good for philosophers who want to be public philosophers to learn how to write for a newspaper or magazine in an effective manner, which is of course very different than writing for a journal.Mike Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02489700864050607425noreply@blogger.com