As you may have noticed, I added a "donate" button that allows people to contribute money to me (via Paypal) for running the blog. I did so with some reticence as I don't want to appear to be cyber-panhandling. So, let me explain my decision--which grew out of a recent conversation I had with Michael McKenna. It turns out that I have been paying out of pocket to run Flickers of Freedom, Experimental Philosophy, and Discrimination and Disadvantage. Before I merged the blogs under one account, this was costing me $300 per year. Given my measly research funding, I barely have money to do one conference during the academic year (and I usually use the money instead to pay for my studies). So, I have just continued paying for the blogs on my own dime. And while I could solicit ads, I have preferred not to do so. Instead, I have run a handful of ads over the years for grants and I have also run several ads for free as favors to friends in the field. When I told Michael this, he found it completely unacceptable, being the good bloke he is. So, he suggested I make it possible for people to donate. Obviously, this means that I may end up making money rather than merely breaking even--which was never one of my goals. But given how much time and energy I spend organizing and facilitating the Featured Author series, I thought perhaps Michael was right that it was time to give people the chance to contribute. So, feel free to do so if you're willing and able. If not, no worries!
But this got me thinking that perhaps I could do more to give back to the community here at Flickers in the event that people do in fact contribute financially. So, here is my first offer: If you are a junior philosopher who publishes a book on agency, free will, responsibility, moral psychology, intentionality, etc., I hereby volunteer to run an ad for your book free of charge here on Flickers. Hopefully, this will help junior philosophers who work in our area gain some additional exposure. Here is my second offer: Each December, I will ask the community here to nominate the best articles published during the year on agency-related issues by graduate students or junior philosophers. The community will then vote and the winning paper will be announced. I will start a list in the sidebar that highlights the winning paper for each year moving forward. If someone wanted to donate money to make this an endowed/named award, that would be just fine by me. But it's not necessary. This is just one more way I can give back to the community in exchange for their giving back to me. Of course, if this entire thing seems too self-serving to people, then I will simply remove the donate button next year and things will return to normal. But if people are willing and able to chip in, I am willing and able to do more for the community in exchange. Either way, I thank Michael for encouraging me to be more proactive in this regard. I have been running blogs since 2004. Perhaps it's time to get something back above and beyond the pleasure of creating a community where we can all share our ideas!
OK, that's it for now. I am closing the comments on this post. If you have suggestions or concerns, please email me directly.
p.s. Thanks very much to the folks who have already donated. I greatly appreciate your contributions!
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