Carrier defends philosophy and makes several points I found very interesting. — Art48
There is much here that I agree with, but his criticism is guided by a questionable assumption, that the goal of philosophy is to address and solve problems, to contribute "new knowledge", to be useful in the narrow sense of problem solving. — Fooloso4
I too have been disappointed with much of Modern Philosophical Posturing, as compared to Ancient Wisdom Seeking. Especially the linguistic nit-picking of Postmodern academia. Fortunately for me, I have no formal training in philosophy, except for Logic, as a math requirement. Regarding the "intellectual engines of modern civilization", most of my amateur philosophizing is based on the paradoxes dug-up by scientists on the cutting-edge of understanding, such as Quantum & Information theories.Bunge’s ten criticisms of philosophy, — Art48
1. Tenure-Chasing Supplants Substantive Contributions — Art48
Carrier is an atheist and a materialist. I felt similar to you at times. But, overall, I liked what he said and found it interesting.His understanding of metaphysics is much different from mine. Since that is the aspect of philosophy that is the most important to me, it made the rest of is points unconvincing. — T Clark
Massimo Pigliucci "considers the usefulness of philosophy". As opposed to the study of "esoteric matters", he proposes that Philosophy should be "the study and practice of the art of living". — Gnomon
There is much here that I agree with, but his criticism is guided by a questionable assumption, that the goal of philosophy is to address and solve problems, to contribute "new knowledge", to be useful in the narrow sense of problem solving. — Fooloso4
-Its not an assumption. It is defined by the etymology of the term "philosophy" (love of sophia(wisdom). — Nickolasgaspar
Carrier is an atheist and a materialist. I felt similar to you at times. But, overall, I liked what he said and found it interesting. — Art48
I think his view of Metaphysics is the only meaningful one. After all Philosophy's goal is nothing more than our efforts to produce wise claims about our world(etymology). In order for any claim to be wise it needs to interpret verified knowledge and reflect on the consequences of it. So by default Metaphysics provide solutions to questions and problems.
The best example of how good philosophy can be in problem solving can be found in Scientific Frameworks (Theories). — Nickolasgaspar
Yes, I believe you're correct.Carrier is an atheist and a Methodological Naturalist (NOT a materialist) — Nickolasgaspar
Mary Midgley: Philosophical Plumbing — Banno
Bunge’s ten criticisms of philosophy — Art48
No new broad and deep philosophies have been proposed in recent times, and none of the extant ideas has been of much help to understand the sea changes that have signed the twentieth century. — Bunge
My third maxim was to try always to master myself rather than fortune, and to change my desires rather than the order of the world.
The basic question of ‘What should we do?’ then became more about societal means of education to make people’s lives ‘better’ and/or how to ‘rule’ people and generally improve life for yourself and others. — I like sushi
Daniel Dennett updated the quote 50 years later with - "90% of everything is crap. That is true, whether you are talking about physics, chemistry, evolutionary psychology, sociology, medicine – you name it – rock music, country western. 90% of everything is crap." — Tom Storm
This is just wrong. Much work has been done in reshaping man's relation to the world and conception of himself from the point of view of the environment as a whole. This gives rise to an entirely new value system which is necessarily in conflict with capitalism and scientism. It is very little discussed on this site, because it has been successfully marginalised, sidelined and ridiculed to a great extent. But there is a philosophy of ecology, that is even called Deep Ecology, and much related material on the concept of wilderness, and Ecosophy, and all sorts of interesting stuff that the Man does not want us to talk about. — unenlightened
Yes. Philosophy shouldn't be pinned-down to a narrow job description. Socrates may have hoped to fix the political problems of Athens, but he focused on one-man-at-a-time. His teachings were more like self-development than political or scientific problem-solving. However, Aristotle added the quest for practical knowledge of the physical world (Science) to Socrates' metaphysical admonition to "know thyself". And other philosophers, through the years, have focused their "problem seeking"*1 on particular aspects of the quest for General Wisdom (know-that) and Practical Knowledge (know-how).There is much here that I agree with, but his criticism is guided by a questionable assumption, that the goal of philosophy is to address and solve problems, to contribute "new knowledge", to be useful in the narrow sense of problem solving. — Fooloso4
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