Humans have philosophised for thousands of years. Has it benefited humanity? Has ANY knowledge been added to our understanding? Are we just killing time until we die?
Great philosophers died understanding little more about the universe than a stillborn baby.
What is the point? Why not just wait for death and then see how it goes – if at all.
Philosophical thought underpins a lot of science and scientific interpretation, but also stuff like politics, computing, law and ethics (such as medical ethics).
No. Maths, Physics, Chemistry and simple logic do. Ethics - just a subset of what is possible and desirable to attain personal goals.
Why not realise that some things can not be understood and accept it - why bother to pretend that Philosophy can lead to greater understanding - never has & never will.
I think philosophy is very interesting…what isnt a waist of time.
I was thinking along the lines of neuroscience, evolution, theoretical physics etc. Philosophy journals are always filled with contributions to this stuff. And what about the other stuff I mention? Philosophy is not just metaphysics, you know.
The most important thing about philosophy is that it can change your entire way you live life. For example read some Jiddu Krishnamurti and try not to think to yourself…“fuck…this could really change my life” or Nietzsche…
Philosophy is just a religion. It’s full of people who pretend to have a greater understanding than the great “unwashed†(as smug micheal calls them).
You have your gods and your priests who pretend to have an understanding. Then there are smug members of the congregation who feel they really understood the priest’s sermon better than anyone else. Truth is the priest knows that he knows nothing special - he’s just making a living - and the gods were just a bunch of people who asked simple questions that had been asked for thousands of years before.
Maybe not, but alot of understanding has been added to our knowledge.
it’ll be that if you want it to. but taken to the logical conclusion LIFE ITSELF is a waste of time. why not call it investing time, or spending time, or playing with time or just dancing and making jokes about things people take way too seriously.
philosophy is not a waste of time.
Granted, some people do view it as such but there are others who actually think that life isn’t just “is” That there’s a lot more to what we are exposed to. What philosophers are striving for is to examine life and see if it in itself is worthwhile. In such an inbvestigation we discover that life is so full of meaning then it may be worthwhile(philosophy, that is) because it didn’t condemn you to ignorance or at least it leads you to escape from that ignorance. If life is on the other hand useless, then at least you knew through philosophizing right? Either way you’ve got nothing to lose but more to gain in the process.
It seems to me that Maths, Physics, Chemistry, simple logic, and studies of ethics are all wastes of time if Philosophy is. Have to spend our time somehow. If people feel rewarded or fulfilled by Philosophy, who are you to shoot them down? Before you go condemning, look in the mirror.