5 ms·

I can easily imagine an Earth with no philosophers after say Aristotle that is functionally identical to our current one.

TuringTest 4y ago
Minus evidence-based science, free markets, government of the people, freedom of religion and the end of slavery. Yep, exactly the same.
- LudwigNagasena 4y ago
  Might as well attribute all of that to Christianity. That claim probably holds as much water.
  - andrepd 4y ago
    Attributing science and freedom of religion to Christianity? That's a bold thought.
    - dublin 4y ago
      And a correct one. There is a reason these things did not develop until when and where they did...
      - woodruffw 4y ago
        Pinning concepts like "science" and "freedom" to a specific era is a silly endeavor. But if you had to, neither would originate in Christian Europe: science as a concept predates Christianity by at least 800 years; the thing we call "freedom" today didn't take shape until 1600 years into Christian Europe's development. Christianity, like just about every religion, has made invaluable contributions to philosophy. But it's ahistorical, to an embarrassing degree, to attribute such broad concepts and bodies of inquiry to it.
ConceptJunkie 4y ago
Wow. I guess you're not familiar with any philosophers other than Aristotle, otherwise you could never make such a statement.
- unsupp0rted 4y ago
  Please elaborate
  - whatshisface 4y ago
    There should be a rule where you're not allowed to phrase a question as a false statement that insults a lot of people...
Tainnor 4y ago
Without philosophy, there is no Hegel, without Hegel there is no Marx, without Marx there is no Lenin, without Lenin, there is no Stalin, without Stalin there is no Cold War, without the Cold War there's probably not a war in Ukraine right now, and without a war in Ukraine I wouldn't be worried about my gas bill. I think that's pretty concrete. (Just a single, rather obvious example. Easy enough to find others.)

TuringTest 4y ago

Minus evidence-based science, free markets, government of the people, freedom of religion and the end of slavery. Yep, exactly the same.

LudwigNagasena 4y ago
Might as well attribute all of that to Christianity. That claim probably holds as much water.
- andrepd 4y ago
  Attributing science and freedom of religion to Christianity? That's a bold thought.
  - dublin 4y ago
    And a correct one. There is a reason these things did not develop until when and where they did...
    - woodruffw 4y ago
      Pinning concepts like "science" and "freedom" to a specific era is a silly endeavor. But if you had to, neither would originate in Christian Europe: science as a concept predates Christianity by at least 800 years; the thing we call "freedom" today didn't take shape until 1600 years into Christian Europe's development. Christianity, like just about every religion, has made invaluable contributions to philosophy. But it's ahistorical, to an embarrassing degree, to attribute such broad concepts and bodies of inquiry to it.

ConceptJunkie 4y ago

Wow. I guess you're not familiar with any philosophers other than Aristotle, otherwise you could never make such a statement.

unsupp0rted 4y ago
Please elaborate
- whatshisface 4y ago
  There should be a rule where you're not allowed to phrase a question as a false statement that insults a lot of people...

Tainnor 4y ago

Without philosophy, there is no Hegel, without Hegel there is no Marx, without Marx there is no Lenin, without Lenin, there is no Stalin, without Stalin there is no Cold War, without the Cold War there's probably not a war in Ukraine right now, and without a war in Ukraine I wouldn't be worried about my gas bill. I think that's pretty concrete. (Just a single, rather obvious example. Easy enough to find others.)