If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
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Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#2Coincidentally, I recently had lunch with the department chair of CMU's Philosophy department. Like many people, I assumed philosophy was all about (in his words) "the dead white men". What I was calling philosophy was really the "history of philosophy".
I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that what CMU's philosophy department _actually_ teaches is logic, and philosophy of scientific research and math, and that the majority of professors in the department are jointly appointed at other departments within the university.
I told him I think we just need to ditch the name "philosophy", and he said "you know, my department offers five majors... only one of them is called philosophy."
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#3SOAS one of the few elite colleges that offered a large and diverse range of such courses was forced to end quite a few of them due budget cuts.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#4Let's replace philosophy with medicine and the BS becomes apparent. So called Non-western philosophy is often a misnomer - it's actually religion.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#5Daily 'kill whitey' post.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#6Coincidentally, I recently had lunch with the department chair of CMU's Philosophy department. Like many people, I assumed philosophy was all about (in his words) "the dead white men". What I was calling philosophy was really the "history of philosophy". I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that what CMU's philosophy department _actually_ teaches is logic, and philosophy of scientific research and math, and that…
At my university philosophy was only offered joint with another topic, such as Maths and Philosophy or Politics and Philosophy. The idea being, I think, to make sure the thinking had an object to study.
What surprised me was, as it seems for you, that they basically only studied philosophy from the last fifty or hundred years. It's not really about Plato or Aristotle.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#7This seems quite ridiculous. The Bhagavad Gita is not a philosophical treatise like the Republic, it's a narrative scripture. Why would it be treated like the Republic for philosophical purposes.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#8I'm not sure this logic makes any sense.
Science is also very euro-centric, yet most of us here would argue that science is among the most objective disciplines out there.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#9It feels like the author has missed the point of philosophy entirely. If some Chinese philosophical paper is very good, it should be evaluated on its merits and folded in to an appropriate course for that topic.
Philosophers believe at least, that they are doing work more along the lines of mathematics than underwater dance (that is, searching for truth). Nobody would ever dream of arguing against eurocentrism in number theory - and the concept of "cultural worth" would be equally out of place in any good institution of philosophy.
If you think an idea is worth teaching just because it came from a certain culture, you must not care if it's right. That mindset works well in the purely creative disciplines but should have no place outside.
Re: If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is
#10Isn't it demand driven to an extent?