Philosophy Needs a New Definition • Hacker News Board

Re: Philosophy Needs a New Definition

#71

Post by igravious » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 4:22 PM UTC

mattmanser wrote: post #62

igravious wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So what? In the UK we have a bunch of old farts who get made Knights of the Realm. Doesn't make them great fighters. It's just a name. blatant non-sequitur > Philosophy today is a joke, it's all the bits which real, disciplined, thinkers can't be bothered with yet. a recent study shows that “Physics, Mathematical Sciences and Philosophy are among the majors with the highest IQs in America, according to research.” h…

> blatant non-sequitur 1. Grandparent claims there's something meaningful behind the name of a degree being prefixed with "Doctor of Philosophy in...". 2. I draw parallels between a "Knight of the realm" bearing no relevance to the martial prowess of the recipients today. It's just a name, a tradition, it's meaningless.

I see what you mean, that is an interesting parallel. An oversight on my part.

Re: Philosophy Needs a New Definition

#72

Post by rotrux » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 6:41 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #63

grive wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about logic is a discipline of philosophy. Applied logic is math.

I'm referring to philosophy as the study of matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Applied logic feels like discrete math to me.

Semantic discussions (such as debating a definition) tend to make us intellerrrrlectuals argue about things we agree on, as appears to be the case here.

It's helpful to split Philosophy into two over-arching conceptual umbrellas:

- Epistemology - "how do we know what is real/true?"

- Ontology - "what is reality/truth?"

Epistemology is the portion of philosophy that likely rubs you the wrong way: theology is founded on epistemology. That said, so are linguistics & Political Science. In addition, mathematical NOTATION is a subset of linguistics, albeit an especially strict one.

Logic, Algebra, &, not least of all, statistical-modeling are the spawn of ontology. Without the ontological sub-dicipline of metaphysics, there would be no mathematical innovation. Whether you think calculus was discovered or invented, it would never come about if Newton(/that-German-Guy) hadn't been considering metaphysics.

Metaphysics rests on the theory that our epistemological-mathematical-notation provides a linguistic analog sufficient to describe the items & phenomena we have thus-far discovered as a species.

Re: Philosophy Needs a New Definition

#73

Post by davidhakendel » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 10:45 PM UTC

_h_o_d_ wrote: post #64

davidhakendel wrote: post #10

The cresting of a wave is but its fall; the flash of a bolt of lightning is but its fading. Likewise, knowledge, drinking up the water of ignorance, grows so large that it completely annihilates itself. This absolute knowledge is like the intrinsic fullness of the moon, which is unaffected by its apparent waxing and waning. ~Jnaneshwar Knowledge that is acquired is not like this. Those who have it worry if audiences…

Robert Pirsig differentiated philosophy in a similar way: between Philosophy, the knowledge of the world; and Philosophology, the kind of organising things they do in Anglo-American Philosophy departments, in his classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Thank you.