Talk:University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin)

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Contents

[edit] Disputed Starting Date

Something needs to be said about the different incarnations of the society, and why it has two foundation dates in the College Calendar. I might add a NPOV tag if no one with authorative information does that. User:Henry Williams 11 Jan, 2005, 11:15 (UTC)

I just made a small change, correcting the name of the 1731 society. I have noticed that some more significant changes have been made in the last few days, but I think that the current version is fair and accurate, and I don't think that any further changes should be made without some form of justification being given in the discussion section.

Certainly the inflated age should not be reentered until some evidence can be given of a connection between the Dublin Philosophical Society and the DSIHMOUA/DS/RDS, and also between these societies and the University Philosophical Society of 1843 to the present. -Toropets 17:01, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Societies Age

Despite the fact that it is fair to say that a fair proportion of the socities members in 1731 were presumably dead by the time 1843 came around, the society is widely acknowledged to maintain links with the previous incarnation. The list of previous presidents, for example, which hangs proudly on the wall of the chamber is dated back to the very first president in the 17th century. Despite the fact that we in the College Historical Society are often dismissive of the 'other society', even we begrudgingly admit that the Phil is the oldest and greatest debating society in the world.

Cathal McCann, auditor, the hist.

I emailed the Auditor of the Hist to confirm that he didn't post the comment above, as you might guess from the fact that whoever did write it misspelled his name and failed to capitalise those of his position and society. There are also some other things in there that you wouldn't expect someone in his position to believe, which there's no point going into now.

-Toropets 11:20, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed changes

1: Delete the Oscar Wilde references. As any Trinity historians worth their salt know, Wilde didn't care one iota about the traditional societies. The most that could be said about a Wilde-Phil link is his relationship with Mahaffy, which should be on the Mahaffy or Wilde page, if it deserves mention at all.

2: Controversial one here: The society's claim to be dated from 1684 should be at the heading of the page. Otherwise the claim that it is the oldest society of its kind loses context. It is a salient issue, so it should be there, as it has been in all the edits previously - even the most biased ones mention that it claims to be dated from way back. I think evidence for or against should be put in the History section.

Oh, and obviously signing my comments would be a Good Thing. Article6 19:16, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Deleting the members of the Dublin Philosophical Society is just childish, since nobody disputes its being included. I'm restoring the list of members, since this is the article where people will come to see them. 195.7.55.146 14:45, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

I changed "most" to "some" sources in the dating section, because the only reputable historical source that acknowledges the claim is the University Calendar, which at the moment publishes both dates. If there are others, please cite them. I also deleted a repeated phrase in that section. Toropets 10:00, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Removed reference to feminist groups, as the group cited at the time does not and did not exist, and no protest was made. Toropets 15:28, 7 September 2005 (UTC)


Modified references to visits by Irving and Haider: there were factual errors in both. Desertcircus 20.05, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Reference to Dublin Philosophical Society

The second paragraph is now about the Dublin Philosophical Society (1863~1708). There is a reasonable and factual comment that it was quite different from the society that currently exists, but this was altered. If anyone believes that it is inaccurate to state that "that society was very different, not being an undergraduate society or connected in any substantial way with Trinity College" he or she should make their case, but with evidence. It's all very well to pretend within College that a society is older than it is, but Wikipedia is meant to be factual and unbiased. William Quill 11:11, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

There is also no evidence that I can find of the supposed feud and death of the Junior Dean. I've read RB McDowell's Academic History and there is a reference to the death of a Fellow in 1735 from a feud. This was four years after the foundation of what became the RDS and 27 years after the Dublin Philosophical Society last met, which was in 1708. William Quill 11:48, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Section in Controversies

Removed paragraph asserting that the removal of Bram Stoker memorabilia was due to an anti-Semitic campaign on the part of Council members. To the best of my understanding, said memorabilia was removed as a result of a failure on the part of the society to adhere to the agreement signed with the Stoker estate, not as a result of anti-Semitic abuse on the part of society members. Such an accusation, if it is to be made, requires stronger evidence than an unsubstantiated claim without a signature, any supporting evidence or the name of the contributor. - Luke Ryder, Registrar 321st Session, University Philosophical Society. Desertcircus 21.29, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Recent edit

Justification or explanation should be given for the fact that the article has been rewritten considerably and the warnings removed.

That was James apparently. 1) Signed comments are helpful on a confusing page like this. 2) If there's a clearly silly edit, revert it. I just did. Article6 20:17, 22 May 2006 (UTC)


this was deleted:

Recently the Phil has also been rocked by constant accusations of anti-Semitism on the part of its Members. The society’s President was on the Gerry Ryan Show in October of 2007, to explain a seemingly anti-semetic joke in the society's annual publication, and an accusation was made against one of the council members

. .. why???

Bogger (talk) 12:51, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

"Rocked by accusation of anti-semitimism" seems a bit strong. There is a factual description of the incident in the article.AleXd (talk) 22:50, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Agreed -Bogger (talk) 13:14, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Honourary Patrons

anyone wanna pimp this

Main article: list of Patrons of the University Philosophical Society
The Society can award an Honourary Patronage to Public figures on the basis of excellence or fame ... This award dates back to ?? and has been awarded to David Hasselhoff in 2006 and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2007, amongst others

Bogger (talk) 20:26, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] list of Patrons of the University Philosophical Society

[1]



Bogger (talk) 16:30, 5 April 2008 (UTC)