4 ms·
"It’s not enough to sit down and read through the textbooks here once [...] I’ve learned a pretty foolproof method for studying philosophy: read everything four
by stewbrew 5y ago
"It’s not enough to sit down and read through the textbooks here once [...] I’ve learned a pretty foolproof method for studying philosophy: read everything four times."
While I enjoy a close read as the next guy, I really have difficulties not to get sarcastic.
That said: philosophy was cool when public intellectuals had some importance. But that's a thing of the past. Philosophy is done. It still can be a nice hobby but you should look for ways to find people you can discuss things with. This becomes even better if you disagree.
- beaconstudios 5y agoPhilosophy is far from done; especially as it applies to every individual's understanding of the world. We're only just now starting to see the impact that a few strands of postmodernism could have on the world, and I can't imagine how interesting an application of Deleuze or Baudrillard's ideas would be to our politics. Everybody has a philosophy they live by in the ethical, social, scientific (epistemological) etc spheres. If you haven't studied philosophy, it's very possible that there are other ideas that could better inform your thoughts and decisions, or your current ideas might be inconsistent.
- stewbrew 5y agoYou are arrogant and I am old, too old to waste my time. That's a pleasure of the youth.
- beaconstudios 5y agothat's pretty rude. The "you" in my statement is not you personally, but the general "you" - I'm already British enough without using the word "one" in its place for disambiguation. I'm far from well read in philosophy myself, but I've already learned a lot from what I have read and look forward to learning more in future.
- stewbrew 5y agoSorry for that. I said it's a nice hobby. But its heydays are over. Words don't have the magical feeling anymore they once had unless it comes to manipulation and betrayal.