[Serious] Generally speaking, is philosophy a worthwhile subject of study?

[polymath257]

I strongly disagree here. Scientists also do this. 

Yes, scientists also do this, and the 'this"... is philosophy.  Not all philosophers do science, all scientists do philosophy.  

Frankly, that's silly. it is an over-reach of philosophy into subjects it really isn't about.

Philosophy, on the other hand, tends to ignore the objective evidence and use premises that may or may not be sound.

This is what we might think philosophy does, but it may not be based on any actual state of affairs in contemporary philosophy.  There is no form of any objectivist philosophy that does this, for example, and...again, realism is the majority position of contemporary philosophy.  Not just in ethics, everywhere.  

No, Science is far more than simply inductive inference. it is the commitment to *test* all ideas with observation. That is the crucial step that helps reduce the effect of confirmation bias.

The step of doing inductive inference is the stage of generating *hypotheses*. That is not the end. it is the beginning. Those hypotheses need to be tested and retested and pushed to their breaking point in a determined way. That is where the confidence that they are valid comes from.

-and philosophy is also more than inductive inference.  Thing is, there's no territorial dispute here.  There's no knowledge peen measuring contest.  Philosophy alone is incapable of providing us with sound premises.  That's not what it's good at, but that's already baked in.  GIGO, right?  On the other hand, a person cannot do science, cannot even describe what science is...without explicating some philosophy.  There's nothing wrong with that.  The philosophical underpinnings of science have proven themselves over and over again.  The ability of science, in it's own right, to sharpen our philosophy is..likewise, not in doubt.

I saw a book with that title by a journalist, K. C. Cole. Google scholar gives some articles by someone with the same name on polymers. Not particularly relevant material, I think.

My mistake, I think the edition I read might have had a forward by druyan and wires crossed - but, yeah.  I enjoyed that one.  It's certainly not the thing you want if (as I suspect you might) you were looking for something like hardcore analytic philosophy.  There are peer reviewed journal for that - but - flat out, physics and the metaphysics of contemporary physics quickly spirals out of my ao and I spend alot more time on things that are relevant to me in ag and marketing.

Even a pointer to a name would be helpful.