[Textop-en-phil] FW: Need editor and participants: "collating" Russell's Problems of Philosophy

Tue Jun 27 18:04:48 PDT 2006

All, please see below and offer your opinion as to what we should do.

--Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Sanger [mailto:larry.sanger at dufoundation.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 6:04 PM
To: 'russell-l at informer2.cis.mcmaster.ca'
Subject: RE: Need editor and participants: "collating" Russell's Problems of
Philosophy

Ken,

Thanks for the reply.  I can't answer any of your questions.  We haven't
made any decisions as to the edition, but we would not think of collating a
version that is not in the public domain (we're not about to infringe
copyrights).  You make an excellent point, that Russell last edited PoP in
1967.  I didn't know that; I knew of a 1912 edition and didn't even think of
the possibility of later versions.

This is a pilot project.  So we do not, for current purposes, care so much
about getting the text *exactly* right.  When and if we start the project in
earnest, we will definitely want to use an excellent edition, by scholarly
standards.  If that means that we cannot use the best edition of PoP,
because its most recent revisions (by Russell himself) are not in the public
domain, then so be it.

I'm going to post this to textop-en-phil (Textop's mailing list for
philosophy in English).  Perhaps we'll choose another text instead.  We
might just proceed with the (a) 1912 text, and wait until more recent
editions come into the public domain.

Are you aware of any good reason to think that the 1912 text is not in the
public domain?  Its existence online for free is (only) prima facie reason
to think it is.

--Larry

> -----Original Message-----
> From: russell-l-admin at mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA
> [mailto:russell-l-admin at mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA] On Behalf 
> Of Kenneth Blackwell
> Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 4:12 PM
> To: russell-l at informer2.cis.mcmaster.ca
> Subject: Re: Need editor and participants: "collating" 
> Russell's Problems of Philosophy
> 
> 
> Larry,
> 
> Not to disparage your project -- which reminds me a little
> of Mortimer Adler's approach to analyzing the great books,
> culminating in the Syntopicon -- but I do have a couple of questions.
> 
> Is _The Problems of Philosophy_ in the world public domain
> or just the American public domain? In either case, since
> BR made revisions to his book right up until 1967, which
> text of PP are we discussing? So far as I know, no one has
> collated the various versions of the text in the usual sense 
> of "collation" that results in a variorum text with scholarly 
> apparatus.
> 
> Just this month two more reprints of PP arrived in BRA, one
> from Barnes & Noble with an intro by Hye-Kyung Kim, and one 
> from Dover. The texts are not identical. I believe there are 
> now 3 different intros now, and more reprints than that. As 
> well, there is more than one free online edition.
> 
> Ken Blackwell
> 
> On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 13:10:18 -0700
>  "Larry Sanger" <larry.sanger at dufoundation.org> wrote:
> > Dear all,
> > 
> > I'll try to make this as efficient as possible.  The purpose of this 
> > mail is to try to find an editor and (more) participants for our
> treatment of
> > Russell's *Problems of Philosophy*, as part of a pilot project for 
> > something called the Collation Project.  This is a subproject of
> > the Text Outline
> > Project (http://www.textop.org), which is itself
> > affiliated with the Digital
> > Universe (http://www.dufoundation.org).
> > 
> > The Collation Project involves, essentially, "collating" chunks of
> > classic works into a single outline.  Imagine a library shelf
> > full of public domain
> > works, snipping out each paragraph and putting it on an
> > index card, and then
> > arranging the index cards into a single giant outline.
> >  The idea is that, in
> > time, the outline will become increasingly detailed and
> > specialized, and
> > scholars will be able, with unusual ease, to find
> > discussions from multiple
> > eras and fields and languages all talking about the
> > precise same subject.
> > This is ambitious but, with our rapidly-developing
> > understanding and
> > acceptance of collaborative processes and software, it is
> > probably now
> > possible for the first time.
> > 
> > We're starting a pilot project involving, to begin with
> > at least, Hobbes'
> > *Leviathan*, Locke's *Essay*, and Russell's *Problems of
> Philosophy*.
> > We chose these works because they're in English (we'll be chunking 
> > works in their original languages, and we want the pilot to use
> > just one language)
> > and they're in one discipline (philosophy), and a
> > discipline full of people
> > who will quickly grasp a lot of the niceties involved in
> > this project.
> > 
> > Anyway, we are looking for (1) a Russell expert, i.e.,
> someone who has
> > published about Russell, and who is thoroughly familiar with the 
> > *Problems*, mostly to serve an oversight role, which need not be
> > terribly
> > time-consuming; and (2) people who are very familiar with
> > the *Problems* and
> > who have an amount of study in philosophy at least the
> > equivalent to a B.A.,
> > actually to serve as "collators."
> > 
> > To get involved, you'll want to look at the documents available on 
> > http://www.textop.org, but it's absolutely essential that you 
> > subscribe to at least one mailing list:
> > 
> >
> http://lists.dufoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/textop-en-phil
> > 
> > It might also prove essential to join the general project list, 
> > here:
> > 
> > http://lists.dufoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/textop
> > 
> > Russell experts interested in serving as editors should write me 
> > directly (larry.sanger [at] dufoundation.org).
> > 
> > We're also still looking for a Locke editor (we've got Hobbes
> > covered)--please forward this to any Locke experts you
> > know who might be
> > interested!
> > 
> > Best,
> > Larry Sanger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sanger)
> > 
> > ----------------
> > Dr. Larry Sanger
> > Director of Collaborative Projects, Digital Universe Foundation
> > 100 Enterprise Way, Suite G370, Scotts Valley, CA 95066
> > larry.sanger at dufoundation.org
> > http://www.dufoundation.org/
> > Office: 831-227-2602  Cell: 831-359-0582  Home:
> > 831-335-3521 
> > 
> > 
> > _____________________________________________________
> > http://mailman.McMaster.CA/mailman/listinfo/russell-l
> > Russell-l is managed by The Bertrand Russell Research Centre, 
> > McMaster University
> 
> 	    		  KENNETH BLACKWELL
> Editor, _Russell_ http://russell.mcmaster.ca/journal
> Hon. Russell Archivist http://bracers.mcmaster.ca 
> http://www.mcmaster.ca/russdocs/russell.htm
> Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, McMaster University 
> _____________________________________________________
> http://mailman.McMaster.CA/mailman/listinfo/russell-l
> Russell-l is managed by The Bertrand Russell Research Centre,
> McMaster University
> 