4 ms·
Interesting to read all the responses in this thread observing incidental correlations between intellectual or practical accomplishments and philosophy. Famous
by sevenfive 9y ago
Interesting to read all the responses in this thread observing incidental correlations between intellectual or practical accomplishments and philosophy. Famous scientists are sometimes interested in philosophy, philosophy majors score high on the GRE, etc.
It does not follow at all that studying philosophy helped cause those accomplishments.
The situation is similar to brain training games like Lumosity. They do not make you smarter in general, just better at that particular game. People who are already smart will do better.
Personally, my argument for philosophy is that I enjoy it.
- nbulka 9y agoMany famous scientists were interested in philosophical questions like the nature of reality or "is God real?" and are only known as scientists because they had these ultimately philosophical concerns.
- sevenfive 9y agoThis is such a lame argument. Nobody is going to cure cancer or build a better tokamak because they attended a fancy wood-paneled lecture on God at Johns Hopkins.
- nbulka 9y agoWell ... The Institute for Advanced Study is perhaps best known as the academic home of Albert Einstein, Hermann Weyl, John von Neumann and Kurt Gödel, after their immigration to the United States. ... founded in 1930 by American educator Abraham Flexner, together with philanthropists Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld. Why not Johns Hopkins?