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That PhD means "Doctor of Philosophy" is just an artifact of the fact that all doctoral degrees were once subcategories of "Philosophy". Philosophy today is pr
by dgut 9y ago
That PhD means "Doctor of Philosophy" is just an artifact of the fact that all doctoral degrees were once subcategories of "Philosophy".
Philosophy today is pretty useless.
- pmoriarty 9y ago"Philosophy today is pretty useless." Studying philosophy teaches you how to think. If you consider that useless...
- waqf 9y agoHow do you know it doesn't just draw out a capacity to think that you already have, and that you could equally well have drawn out by studying or working at something else?
- pmoriarty 9y agoMaybe you could, but that still doesn't make philosophy useless.
- webnrrd2k 9y agoIf philosophy (and only philosophy) teaches people how to think, then who taught the first philosopher?
- pmoriarty 9y agoNo one claimed only philosophy taught people how to think.
- dgut 9y agoYou claim that. Yet none of the most mentally demanding tasks were done by philosophers. Today philosophy is mostly meaningless intellectual posturing. In the past, it was the act of thinking without applying the scientific method. As Feynman said of Spinoza "meaningless chewing around".
- muninn_ 9y agoI think it's sad that your view that philosophy is worthless has become more of a mainstream feeling than it ought to be. Not everything needs to be measured in terms of usefulness. Interestingly enough, I think you find many developers have a natural affinity for philosophy. All this talk about AI, for example, is just philosophy.
- pcmaffey 9y agoMost philosophers throughout history would laugh at their body of knowledge being measured in terms of utility. And then would become saddened that economics has become the dominant global value system.
- notduncansmith 9y agoEconomics is the word for the dominant global value system. I think a sad philosopher has more work to do.
- pjmorris 9y agoI'd argue that philosophy may become more important than ever as we contemplate the ethics of handing decisions like who's going to die in a trolley-problem type self-driving car accident over to machines.
- maxerickson 9y agoIt'll be easier to (metaphorically) untie people from the tracks. Program slow speed limits in dangerous areas, install sensor augmentation in areas where vehicle located sensors don't work well, rebuild roads to work better, etc.
- Ixiaus 9y agoA bit parochial to say that Philosophy--as it is taught or studied today--is useless, in my opinion. You're entitled to that thought but you might be surprised by the utility Philosophy has to offer. I think Philosophy studied with other disciplines is a particularly potent combination. Of my friends who have done this (they are very few) they are perhaps the most inspiring and trenchant thinkers I know.