Is philosophy useful ?

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Concrete philosophy, is, obviously, tautologically speaking, useful. Abstract philosophy, if it qualifies or precipitates in the concrete, is useful; but if it leads to other abstract ideas, ad infinitum, it's about as useless as Kevin Federline. Unless, of course, you're an *******; *******s like to use abstract philosophy to sound cool, but admiration will never be universal, but always particularly linked to -- other ******* philosophers.

Existentialism, utilitarianism, and pragmatism are some useful philosophies, because they point to man and progress.
 
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I may sound coarse, unless you've experienced the aforementioned nasty philosophers yourself; and technically speaking -- etymologically speaking -- they are as far from philosophers as anything; "philo-sophia" -- the love of wisdom -- wisdom, the concrete application of principles learned, the edification of one's life's way; and the nasty philosophers aforementioned are far from this; they swim in waters of depravity in order to exercise some weak man's will to power.

I've always thought that a philosophical-psychological contemplation of philosophy is just as useful as philosophy itself: a metaphilosophy, the first and last essential question being: the *******'s relation to philosophy -- why there are so many who tie themselves to philosophy and other spheres that involve intelligence. To answer this question could very well answer a fundamental mystery of life.
 
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quatona

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Is there any use of it ?
Depends on what you find useful.
What did philosophy add to the lives of men ?
A lot of thoughts and concepts, which you may or may not find useful. One may assume that thoughts and ideas have a more than subtle influence on humanity and their ability to deal with problems in general. That´s at least my observation.
How did it help us ?
With what?
With what ?
;)
 
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ReluctantProphet

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Is there any use of it ?
What did philosophy add to the lives of men ?
How did it help us ?
With what ?

:)
It would be interesting to know what you are referring to as "philosophy" in these questions. It used to mean "a love of truth", but these days, words mean anything "they" want.
 
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WordForUs

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It would be interesting to know what you are referring to as "philosophy" in these questions. It used to mean "a love of truth", but these days, words mean anything "they" want.
I find it useless.
Even more i think it adds to the confused mind and takes it to a trip in the ost mind of the philosopher who wrote something.
In my opinion philosophy is not legit because we are all unique and no one can say or categorise anything at all and that thing to be valid for no more then the person that wrote it.
Ergo Life is the best philosophical literature to read.
imo ;)
 
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quatona

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I find it useless.
Even more i think it adds to the confused mind and takes it to a trip in the ost mind of the philosopher who wrote something.
In my opinion philosophy is not legit because we are all unique and no one can say or categorise anything at all and that thing to be valid for no more then the person that wrote it.
Ergo Life is the best philosophical literature to read.
imo
The funny thing is that these are, by their nature, philosophical statements. ;)
 
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Eudaimonist

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I find it useless.

Then I suppose it is useless for you, at least until you discover its use.

I find it helpful for sorting through various issues in my life.

Metaphysics and epistemology form the foundation of my view of reality and the means to gain knowledge. This has the direct and personal effect of limiting the sorts of religions and/or philosophical worldviews that will seem plausible to me.

Ethics governs the way I judge values and pursue them. I can't think of anything else that has a more profound effect on the way that I live.

Even political philosophy affects how I live. I was an active member of the Libertarian Party for several years because of this.

In my opinion philosophy is not legit because we are all unique and no one can say or categorise anything at all and that thing to be valid for no more then the person that wrote it.

How... philosophical of you. :)

It is on the basis of philosophy that I disagree with you. While we are indeed unique -- we are unique human beings. There are principles in philosophy that pertain to what we do share and need as human beings, e.g. the advice to be rational or to seek wisdom.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
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WordForUs

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Hmmm :)
true but if you want to give your advice to a friend and your advice is to not listen to any advices from anyone then how will you say it ? ;)

Anyway :)
I was wandering what this picture represent for the Atheist philosophical world...

A man on a cross being pearced with steal ... asks God to forgive the very men that stabed Him.

Please include a real life experiance before answering :)
Like go to a wall spread your arms and try to push something sharp on your left heand for example and try to think about the imaginary person that is doing this to you and try to find what will it take you to ask God to forgive this person.

That's a very intresting thing for me so please share your thoughts :)
 
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Eudaimonist

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I was wandering what this picture represent for the Atheist philosophical world...

A man on a cross being pearced with steal ... asks God to forgive the very men that stabed Him.

For me, such forgiveness represents the idea that ignorant men may do cruel things, but one recognizes that they carry the same potential for growth and wisdom that everyone else has.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
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quatona

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Hmmm :)
true but if you want to give your advice to a friend and your advice is to not listen to any advices from anyone then how will you say it ? ;)

Anyway :)
I was wandering what this picture represent for the Atheist philosophical world...

A man on a cross being pearced with steal ... asks God to forgive the very men that stabed Him.

Please include a real life experiance before answering :)
Like go to a wall spread your arms and try to push something sharp on your left heand for example and try to think about the imaginary person that is doing this to you and try to find what will it take you to ask God to forgive this person.

That's a very intresting thing for me so please share your thoughts :)
I must admit that I might misunderstand completely what you are asking.
We can see images of physical pain inflicted purposely on someone all day long in the media. So I don´t see a particular significance in someone being nailed to a cross. This is not to say that I want to belittle anyones physical pain, though.
I don´t believe in gods, so I cannot answer the question what it would take me to ask a god for something.
I don´t understand why anyone else but the harmed person would be in the position to forgive the harming person.
But, more essentially, I have come to leaving those ideas of guilt and forgiveness behind. Life is better without them, for me.
 
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elman

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I find it useless.
Even more i think it adds to the confused mind and takes it to a trip in the ost mind of the philosopher who wrote something.
In my opinion philosophy is not legit because we are all unique and no one can say or categorise anything at all and that thing to be valid for no more then the person that wrote it.
Ergo Life is the best philosophical literature to read.
imo ;)

You are using philosopy to argue agains philosophy.
 
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David Gould

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maby i gived a wrong example :)

How about this one.

What philosophical qualitys must one have in order to forgive the terrorist that cuts his head off.

Maby you will not stumble on this one.

Numerous ways.

My personal way is to recognise that there is no such thing as responsibility for one's actions and therefore forgiveness becomes unnecessary as it is recognised that there exists no wrong to be forgiven.

Now, whether I could in practice be as accepting if someone horribly killed someone I cared about is an unknown. Being human, I am (or may be) just as much at the mercy of my emotions as anyone. However, this is the ideal that I strive for.
 
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Eudaimonist

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I was actualy asking about what kind of philosophical qualitys one must have in order to be able to do such a thing :)

I'm not quite certain what a "philosophical quality" is, but I'd say it requires a high degree of self-awareness through self-examination. One would need to understand one's emotions and their sources, and evaluate whether or not following them is helpful or wise in the present situation. At some point, the emotions themselves may change, and forgiveness and understanding will feel natural.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
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Is there any use of it ?
I would argue it is essential, but that it significance is diminished by where it sits in our perception, similar to how motivation takes a back seat to ability/circumstance when taking about great achievements.

What did philosophy add to the lives of men ?
Creativity, liberty of intellect, freedom from the box...ect.

Would Einstein have found relativity without philosophy?
Darwin evolution?...

How did it help us ?
It is involved in many if not all great new ideas, scientific theories, artistic master pieces, laws ... great horrors such as the holocaust, crusades... and I almost guarantee was involved in some way in every system we deal with on a daily basis.
 
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