RE: Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study?
February 16, 2022 at 9:15 am
People seem to have a strange image of what philosophy is.
It's just an attempt to think really clearly about certain subjects. Things that can't be demonstrated by science. When we attempt to think about those things, we are doing philosophy, whether we like it or not.
Thinking clearly is good.
Standard American anti-intellectualism maybe recoils from this. An idea that things have to have some immediate practical aim is just a hold-over from the Protestant morality that dominated America for a long time -- as would be obvious to people if they studied the genealogy of their beliefs.
Since we don't conduct scientific experiments on this forum, much of what we do is philosophy. When you say that philosophy is not worthwhile you are doing philosophy.
Doing it well is not easy, and we are right to respect those few people who manage it.
It's just an attempt to think really clearly about certain subjects. Things that can't be demonstrated by science. When we attempt to think about those things, we are doing philosophy, whether we like it or not.
Thinking clearly is good.
Standard American anti-intellectualism maybe recoils from this. An idea that things have to have some immediate practical aim is just a hold-over from the Protestant morality that dominated America for a long time -- as would be obvious to people if they studied the genealogy of their beliefs.
Since we don't conduct scientific experiments on this forum, much of what we do is philosophy. When you say that philosophy is not worthwhile you are doing philosophy.
Doing it well is not easy, and we are right to respect those few people who manage it.
