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I have the impression that people don't take philosophy very serious, and I would venture that that is because philosophy has such a meagre empirical record, no

by tgv 3y ago

I have the impression that people don't take philosophy very serious, and I would venture that that is because philosophy has such a meagre empirical record, nor a solid formal base outside of mathematics and logic. This makes it practically impossible to judge the merits of a particular idea. A somewhat extreme example: does it matter what Heidegger has said about a certain topic for any discussion? Or Žižek, for that matter.

thebooktocome 3y ago
Heidegger, no. Žižek said some faintly reasonable things during his pandemic period, and semi-recently published an okay introduction to Hegel in the context of contemporary life. Also the man is very hot when he takes his shirt off.
goatlover 3y ago
Philosophy provides rigorous arguments for and against various ideas, and assumptions behind those ideas. These ideas usually aren't empirical, but they are ideas many people have or questions people ask. Ethics, aesthetics, the nature of knowledge, truth, what exists, how to live, etc. People who don't take philosophy very seriously still engage in those topics. They just ignore that the topics have a history of being discussed seriously and often put forth their own unexamined assumptions. Scientists aren't immune to this.
tekla 3y ago
What? Heidegger is one of the most influential philosphers of the 20th century. Dasein directly relates to the conversation about if an "intelligent" AI could exist and if it could/would have a sense of self similar to that of humans
- tgv 3y ago
  Heidegger requires so much willing interpretation, it’s preposterous. Would people be impressed by Chatgpt if its output were in similar style?
mr_toad 3y ago
> philosophy has such a meagre empirical record So they re-hash the same arguments with an equal lack of data and come to the same conclusions with equally dubious applications. It’s not so bad when it’s just randos posting in internet forums, but now we’re seeing people with real influence leaping from unfounded premises to untestable conclusions with unswerving confidence.

by tgv 3y ago

thebooktocome 3y ago

Heidegger, no. Žižek said some faintly reasonable things during his pandemic period, and semi-recently published an okay introduction to Hegel in the context of contemporary life. Also the man is very hot when he takes his shirt off.

goatlover 3y ago

Philosophy provides rigorous arguments for and against various ideas, and assumptions behind those ideas. These ideas usually aren't empirical, but they are ideas many people have or questions people ask. Ethics, aesthetics, the nature of knowledge, truth, what exists, how to live, etc. People who don't take philosophy very seriously still engage in those topics. They just ignore that the topics have a history of being discussed seriously and often put forth their own unexamined assumptions. Scientists aren't immune to this.

tekla 3y ago

What? Heidegger is one of the most influential philosphers of the 20th century. Dasein directly relates to the conversation about if an "intelligent" AI could exist and if it could/would have a sense of self similar to that of humans

tgv 3y ago
Heidegger requires so much willing interpretation, it’s preposterous. Would people be impressed by Chatgpt if its output were in similar style?

mr_toad 3y ago

> philosophy has such a meagre empirical record So they re-hash the same arguments with an equal lack of data and come to the same conclusions with equally dubious applications. It’s not so bad when it’s just randos posting in internet forums, but now we’re seeing people with real influence leaping from unfounded premises to untestable conclusions with unswerving confidence.