So how do you stay...

[Ohheythere]

So how do you guys stay "up to date" with all of the current debates going on in the areas of philosophy that you're interested in?

I'm somewhat of a total philosophy newbie and I would love to start getting on top of all this and be "in the know," but I have absolutely no idea where to even begin. I guess this is part of the reason I'm not even sure who is churning out "cutting edge" research in disciplines I'm interested in, such as ethics and practical reason. I'm also trying to dabble in philosophy of mind and philosophy of action, but, once again, I don't really know how to get started.

If anyone could provide some tips, well, that would be awfully kind of you.

[philosophe]

I read the Daily Nous: http://dailynous.com/

[frege-bombs]

You can sign up to get weekly emails from PhilPapers telling you about recent articles in journals of your choice (I try and look at some of the more reputable ones -- JPhil, Mind, Nous, P&PR, others) and in your area of interest. Also, just spending a lot of time on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy can get be really helpful in getting a sense of the terrain of a particular issue. Hope that's at least somewhat helpful! 

[dgswaim]

For philosophy of biology/philosophy of science/HPS stuff, I try to at least skim the abstracts of the papers in recent volumes of the relevant journals (Phil. Sci., BJPS, Studies C, HOPOS, etc.).

Edited March 15, 2016 by dgswaim

[ABrown]

RSS feed aggregators are useful for staying up to date on philosophy blogs and philosophy related sites.  I used to use the now defunct Google Reader.  I now use Digg Reader to follow blogs, such as the daily nous, leiter reports, the splintered mind, pea soup, flickers of freedom, experimental philosophy, and a number of other philosophy related sites.

I also occasionally peruse new issues of specialty journals in my area of interest (e.g., Ethics, Utilitas, Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy).  However, most of this content is behind a paywall, so you usually need to be academically affiliated (i.e., current college student or employee) to have access to this content.

[Ohheythere]

Just wanted to thank all of those who took the time to reply. Virtual hugs and cookies for all of you budding philosophers

[maxhgns]

A combination of PhilPapers (it always results in way more papers than I have time to actually read, though), NDPR and subdisciplinary book reviews (e.g. in specialist journals), conferences (where I attend all kinds of talks, even those that seem kind of dull), and the usual blogs (Leiter, Philosophy Smoker, Daily Nous, Feminist Philosophers, Crooked Timber, Digressions & Impressions, Blog of the APA, occasionally PhilPercs, etc.). Also through teaching and TAing (if you can design your own classes, include some material that's new to you and captures your interest). Absolutely everyone should sign up to PhilPapers and PhilEvents in their first year of graduate school, though. Those alerts are amazing.

The most important thing I do, however, is write. When I have an idea for a paper, I jot it down in a Word file. When I feel like writing something new, or when I have to (e.g. to send/deliver on a conference abstract), or when I have time to kill, I go through that file, pick an idea, and start writing. As the paper progresses, I do more and more research on the topic. Ultimately, that's how I end up doing most of my reading.