Philosophical Speculations

Given some concerns about the moderation of this sub-forum, and the way some recent discussions have tended to tangentially veer off into discussions within the main discussion, which I also have been prone to engaging in, I've decided some clarifying and tightening of the guidelines is necessary here, in order to reel that tendency in. So from here forward, posters initially joining into the discourse, should first directly address the original post and poster with a substantive comment, and not another poster already involved in addressing the OP, just to interject with some critique, objection, elaboration, link, or whatever. If there is a pertinent critique to be made of some other poster's response to the OP, it should also be first addressed to the original poster, while making clear the reason for the critique. After that, a response to that critique from the one whose replies to the OP are in question, is fair game, as long as that discussion within the discussion stays focused on addressing the original topic. If participants want to carry on with discussions within the main discussion, so as to specifically address aspects that evolve or devolve out if it that are no longer focused on the OP, then it should be moved to a separate topic thread, along with any relevant attendant comments. Feel free to offer any further suggestions or seek clarification here, in the effort to maintain the intention of this sub-forum.