What, exactly, do philosophers do?
the-tls.co.uk
What, exactly, do philosophers do?
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Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#2I know I going to get downvoted but: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgoB2JMEowc
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#3The article starts with a question which asks about the present very clearly, but then answers a different question of what philosophers did (i.e the past) without any reference to modern philosophers.
Modern philosophers analyse older philosophical work and reply to contemporaries; for example there is an ongoing debate about the difference between "letting die" and "killing", and if it is an ethical difference then what significance it holds. Other philosophy seeks to blend together with sociology and psychology to analyse our current life (for example, the work of Karl Marx and the Frankfurt School), for example to ask what is capitalism and to what extent it is desirable. Some other philosophy works with economics to examine classical and modern ideas of the value of commodoties and its ontology. Some philosophers concern themselves with the ethics of killing and eating animals and by extension humans. Other philosophy works through linguistics to formulate theories of what we mean when we speak and the limits of language to describe reality. And other philosophy involves itself with natural science to formulate theories of causation and being. Yet other philosophy does other things.
It's a broad field, and with advances in all related fields it's become a lot broader than it was since the enlightenment, even considering how natural science is no longer considered a philosophy.
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#4Warn of the ever present existential threat, smoke, drink and seduce undergrads.
;)
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#5Philosophy is not like software engineering. There's a lot more reading that needs to be done before you can make a contribution. A lot of it progresses by just reading the works of the established masters, getting ideas, and publishing your thoughts about what they had to say. You don't start from scratch. You build on what is already there. Addition by addition the field progresses and removes bad ideas or clarifies good ideas and long-term that mountain of work has gotten us from plato to the rich field it is today.
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#6Warn of the ever present existential threat, smoke, drink and seduce undergrads. ;)
That doesn't sound any different than me studying CS.
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#7Philosophy is not like software engineering. There's a lot more reading that needs to be done before you can make a contribution. A lot of it progresses by just reading the works of the established masters, getting ideas, and publishing your thoughts about what they had to say. You don't start from scratch. You build on what is already there. Addition by addition the field progresses and removes bad ideas or clarifie…
What is the state of the art in today's philosophy? What's the latest truly novel idea?
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#8Philosophy is not like software engineering. There's a lot more reading that needs to be done before you can make a contribution. A lot of it progresses by just reading the works of the established masters, getting ideas, and publishing your thoughts about what they had to say. You don't start from scratch. You build on what is already there. Addition by addition the field progresses and removes bad ideas or clarifie…
What is the state of the art in today's philosophy? What's the latest truly novel idea?
Maybe Kripke? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Kripke
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#91. Spend an awful lot of time chasing tenure.
2. Spend an awful lot of time trolling each other on Facebook.
3. Occasionally rehash old ideas.
4. Even more occasionally come up with breathtaking insights into the nature of reality and what it means to be human.
5. Get annoyed if you point out any flaws in those insights.
6. Publish more than they used to.
Re: What, exactly, do philosophers do?
#10The article starts with a question which asks about the present very clearly, but then answers a different question of what philosophers did (i.e the past) without any reference to modern philosophers. Modern philosophers analyse older philosophical work and reply to contemporaries; for example there is an ongoing debate about the difference between "letting die" and "killing", and if it is an ethical difference then…
I see the importance of exploring those questions, for they pertain to current movements and political issues, like veganism or euthanasia.
So (from my position of now knowing the work of any modern philosopher) have such philosophical explorations, in the past decades or century, produced answers? In the sense that, have they made a change in the way these important issues developed? What are the biggest ways they have affected other fields?