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Current time: July 27, 2025, 8:17 pm

Poll: Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study?
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Yes
50.00%
9 50.00%
No
27.78%
5 27.78%
Neither
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0 0%
Both
22.22%
4 22.22%
Total 18 vote(s) 100%
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[Serious] Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study?
RE: Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study?
(February 22, 2022 at 8:44 pm)brewer Wrote: carpentry, medical/pharmacy (don't give me the do no harm), brick laying/concrete, internal combustion engines, transportation, farming/ranching, electric, plumbing/sewage....

[...]

I'm convinced you believe they are beneath you.

(Just walked to the train station and back to blow the cobwebs off.)

What you say is interesting to me because it suggests (please correct me if I'm wrong) that a dislike of philosophy may contain an element of class consciousness. Perhaps philosophy is perceived as being an elite thing, and people who do it are assumed to look down on others. 

I think social class is a huge issue that Americans tend to overlook. (Japanese people too.) Pierre Bourdieu has written about how certain kinds of knowledge constitute "cultural capital," that people can accumulate and spend for social distinction. This is well played in the recent movie House of Gucci, where the Lady Gaga character is instantly recognizable as an outsider because she confuses Klimt with Picasso, and enjoys touristy stuff in Paris. 

For what it's worth, I admit to looking down on some things, and I hope that I look down on bad philosophy every bit as much as I look down on any other bad thing. I haven't talked about it on this forum, but my own adventures in cabinetmaking over the years have given me enormous respect for people who do it well. This or any other craft.

@John 6IX Breezy:

Pinker is obviously in ultra-elite circles (Harvard prof who flew with Epstein), yet I wonder how much of the dislike for philosophers he perceives is related to this classist impression. Do philosophers, even to other academics, seem like elite tweed-wearers who snidely question the assumptions of hard-working real people?
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Messages In This Thread
RE: Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study? - by Belacqua - February 22, 2022 at 10:43 pm

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