(November 15, 2023 at 7:02 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: I agree that there's probably some esoteric, impractical value to philosophy, but vulcan's original point seems unassailable. What value is there in an engineering student being forced to study philosophy in order to get her engineering degree? How is three credit-hours of Introduction to Metaphysics going to make her a more competent, more employable engineer?
I can't imagine than any of her job interviews will include being asked, 'On the issue of free will vs determinism, would you place yourself more in the camp of Spinoza or Bergson?'
Boru
In many ways I'd agree. At that level, for that subject, generic philosophy would seem largely useless. Like getting credit for sport or religion or a great books series, or mandating certain weird rules or ethical requirements and so on. None have much to do with engineering.
I guess a lot, though, depends upon the ethos of that particular institution - maybe they are trying to form well-rounded adults as well as engineers. Dunno. A lot of institutions have wider goals than just getting students the highest grade in a particular subject.
To play devil's advocate, though, I could imagine a philosophy course specifically designed to make someone a better engineer: maybe some work on critical thinking and logic; some work on the ethics of materials and environmental concerns; some work on ethics of employment and business; some work on aesthetics and the nature of beauty; and the such like.
