I ask replies refrain from being argumentative with other people unless something said is just outright wrong (i.e. Al Gore is NOT the president,) or expressly deals with your reasoning in answering the poll question.
For myself:
I took a philosophy class last year, and offended the professor when I told him that I did not believe philosophy was a serious study.
In my humble opinion, it is the most flawed science that anyone could come up with. It requires humans to study humanity, and then express their thoughts using nothing other than what is most human, notably through language. All this combines to make philosophy not a study of humanity, but rather a study of word games.
So, yes it is interesting, yes it is important for characterizing the ages of man, but it is not necessary to leading a fulfilling life. As such, it is no greater than a good book or fun video game.
Though this is exactly the argumentative sort of thing I was trying to avoid, I’ll answer it anyways.
I study meteorolgy. It is the study, and interpretation of weather to make the lives of everyone a little better by letting them know when to carry an umbrella versus when to take cover in the cellar.
wdmc:
“I study meteorology. It is the study, and interpretation of weather to make the lives of everyone a little better by letting them know when to carry an umbrella versus when to take cover in the cellar.”
K: I have worked outdoors for years and Kropotkin rule
about meteorologist is simple, if they say rain assume sun,
if they say sun assume rain, if they say hot dress cold, and
if they say cold wear shorts, Just do the opposite of whatever
they say and you will closer to what really happens then they are.
Now the second point is also simple. Philosophy is interested in
the study of people. the study of who you are. What is more
interesting then studying yourself? All philosophy does is tell
you who you are. When I study philosophy, I am looking
for information about who I am, and my role in society,
and what is truth and whats truth got to do with me,
ethics is simply the study of how am I suppose to act
in society, theology is simply, is there a god and what does
that have to do with me? Political science is what is my role
in the government and what is the government, because you
certainly want to know what your function in the dance
between yourself and society? Philosophy is really just simply
question asking about what is my role in all of this,
in this existence I find myself. And what is this existence?
To look deeper in philosophy is find deeper questions.
Its like baseball… Baseball looks very simply and no big
deal. But the more you know about it, the more interesting
it becomes, because the more you know what is really
happening. And soon baseball is a metaphor for life.
Philosophy is just studying the human animal.
And the deeper you look, the more interesting it gets.
And the questions change, and then one day everything
changes and you become something new and you don’t
even know how it happens.
Philosophy is not a hard science. In fact, neither is meteorology. Let’s thinnk about it. Meteorology gives a percentage based on the chance that it will rain in a given sector, 20 mi x 20 mi, correct? The probability that it is accurate for a given 1 mi x 1 mi sector, then, is about 5%. Even those “FutureCast” (or whatever the station’s equivalent is) are good for a very small period (even though they are more accurate at the smaller level). So, no, meteorology doesn’t really tell me with certainty that it will or will not rain, or that it will or will not get really cold suddenly. Do you know what the record is for most radical change in temperature is? IIRC, it was a weather station in the Badlands while a front was passing through. It recorded a drop of 30 degrees, followed by an increase of 30 degrees (as the front moved back), followed by another drop in 30 degrees. All of this occured in less than a day. Did meteorologists predict this? No, because it was beyond the scope of the science. They were able to give an overview (i.e. the temperature tonight will be 30 degrees lower than it was yesterday night), but the precision is lacking. BTW, i know all of this because my step-father is a Geography professor and has taught basic meteorology courses.
Likewise, it is fallacious to expect one field to behave like another. One doesn’t study nuclear physics if one wants to learn the differences of the F scale. Nor does one criticise nuclear physics because it is unable to de-scribe the differences of the F scale or even mention Grey’s tropical storm predictions.
Additionally, it is interesting to see you use the term “language games” as that is very Wittgensteinian of you. And, yes, i am a philosophy graduate.
Philosophy is mind candy, but, it is not food, It can’t pay my bills (unless you all want to pay me for my wit and advice), It does not help my family. I see it more as entertainment and personal education.
It is less important then say, keeping the litter boxes clean. If I don’t clean the litter boxes everyday, smelly, messy problems occur. If I don’t philosophize everyday there are no problems.
Philosophy is as important as you allow it to be. It is not neccessary for survival but very little is really in these terms.
My point is that, if you take the most that you can from philosophy, discuss it with other minds it can help you in a miriad of differnt ways. It does not seem practical in any conventional sense but it is practical in the most important things…There is a fine line between trivia and things of great importance. The important can seem trivial…the trivial can seem important, thats pretty obvious i think.
So philosophy is arguably one of the most important subjects in the world!
Metaphysics = important = these are the things that define our long term future
ethics = are ethics not important??? ofcourse they fucking are…
if you are sitting there thinking philosophy is some pointless little distraction that holds no relevence like many do then you are not making the most use of “it”.
Philosophizing is the most important thing any philosopher could do!
We do it, because we want to know. We do it because there are so many questions that need sufficiant answers. We do it because we find, at least, some of those questions and we keep going because we find even more.
Philosophy is not only important to us; it is more then that - we love philosophy.
Mother Earth is pregnant… for y’all have knocked her up.
Rivers shall dry in their beds, thickets and citadels shall come into existence on the cross of their sepulchre, and a random star shall evanesce in the distance, whilst the mealy soil we are standing on is gathering all its essences in a gracile reed, capable of withstanding the heavy winds.
So you must ask yourself, “Why am I here (at a philosophy forum)?”
Are you here to convert the poor misguided souls here?
Or are you convincing yourself that philosophy is useless?
Or do you have another reason?
Think it over. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Take your time.
Now, did you use any philosophy while you were thinking it over?
If so, then try doing it without philosophy.
I think Socrates said something about this right at the start, he was studying the stars and the bodies in the sky, but noticed something different about the new line of thought he started to take.
So far as absurdity goes, philosophy is entertainment, sure. The main branch of the Vancouver Public Library is styled after the Collusem, that’s some sort of statement on the post-modern conception of the value of knowledge.
the value of philosophy (if you believe there is one) has to be looked at from its own perspective. Meterology has to be looked at from its own value judgement.
philosophy helps us to (depending on the flexibility of our minds) to understand different perspectives. You cannot do this without philosophizing and using abstract thought. Understanding different perspectives helps us to kill each other less, and maybe even “tolerate” each other more, instead of branding each other as bad or good, and then justifying violence, hate or oppression. philosphizing helps debunk old religious, politcal etc thoughts, which may be oppressive or dangerous.
Meterology is good for other things.
I don’t think it is a good idea to contrast them so sharply, philosophy is bad, meterology is good. one team vs. the other.
and again why are you on this “philosophy” forum? Do you see philosphy as a threat to you in some way? If so, why?
I take issue with equating a good book with a video game. A really good book can have much more importance. Both literature and philosophy are ways of deepening our experiences of life…as can the other arts which I personally appreciate less. They can help you examine whether you are a good person, or whether life is worth living and how, or whether the way to treat another person, or whether better ways exist to think about life. So as the arts are more about life itself, and not just the practicality that we thankfully have in addition, I would say they are important.
We all philosophize in our life, just not that well, that’s where philosophers come in. Everyone has their own philosophy as well, what is right what is wrong, what to believe and what not to believe.
Why you should do something and why you shouldn’t.
What is the meaning of X, X being anything really.
When we philosophize, we try to examine and figure out something about life, this “thinking” is philosophy. The mere fact that you are questioning the value of philosophy proves that you are philosophizing, and merits it’s worth
