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Why read new philosophy? The old stuff has had the weak ideas weeded out and has a proven track record. "The Yale Report of 1828" -- an influential document wr
by forapurpose 8y ago
Why read new philosophy? The old stuff has had the weak ideas weeded out and has a proven track record.
"The Yale Report of 1828" -- an influential document written by Jeremiah Day (who was at the time president of Yale), one of his trustees, and a committee of faculty -- distinguished between "the discipline" and "the furniture" of the mind. Mastering a specific body of knowledge -- acquiring "the furniture" -- is of little permanent value in a rapidly changing world. Students who aspire to be leaders in business. medicine, law, government, or academia need "the discipline" of mind -- the ability to adapt to constantly changing circumstances, confront new facts, and find creative ways to solve problems.
- Richard C. Levin, President of Yale, in "Top of the Class: The Rise of Asia's Universities", Foreign Affairs, May/June 2010
- Symmetry 8y agoI think it's rather the opposite, where modern philosophy benefits from centuries of argument and having had all the weak points removed but they're clearly there for any to see in old philosophy. Reading The Republic recently made me appreciate that there can be such a thing as progress in philosophy.
- nsomaru 8y agoSchopenhauer contends that works of genius will scarcely be recognised by the creator's contemporaries simply because understanding genius takes significant intellect, with which the majority of 'living' humanity is not endowed. But over time enough people will exist who can understand a work to raise it to the stature it deserves. This makes time a good filter (but obviously not the only criterion). I tend to agree with Schopenhauer.