RE: Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study?
February 16, 2022 at 3:35 am
(February 15, 2022 at 9:57 pm)Foxaire Wrote: Some people consider philosophy a weak science. I just consider it weak sans the science affiliation. It can be a fun and interesting study if not taken too seriously.
One of the oldest themes in philosophy is: What is a good life?
Currently there are many intelligent, highly paid people churning out capitalist propaganda every day to tell you what kind of life you should want. According to them, the life you should want is the life that makes them the most money.
Two independent research groups concluded that Facebook's algorithms make people more angry and more extreme in their views. They make us less happy, but they make money for Facebook. When told the results of these studies, Zuckerberg said that's fine, we'll continue. He wants the money.
Whenever we think about what a good life is, we are doing philosophy. We may be doing it well or badly. If we don't think about it seriously, however, we will certainly be accepting the propaganda that is being fed to us all the time, since we were old enough to be conscious.
Barthes, Baudrillard, and many other philosophers have identified how the propaganda exists as subtext in every commercial production there is -- TV, movies, pop fiction, etc. It's all working to shape our views.
Should serious discussion of what constitutes a good life be taken seriously? If people don't want to take seriously the only method we have of thinking independently, and working against commercial brainwashing, then their thoughts will be determined for them.
