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What is philosophy for?

juvenissun

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You realise that Christianity is a philosophy as well as a religion, right? The Bible is all about philosophy.

Exactly. That is how philosophy should be.
Read the Bible, instead of any professional philosophy book.
 
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juvenissun

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"We should love our enemy" is a philosophical thought.
You take it as a hypothesis. Some others take it as a challenge. Some others try hard to do it in their real life.

Real philosophical thoughts are very real.
 
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juvenissun

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Huh, just realized how old this thread is. Oh well

It is OK. The question is still a valid one.

There was a thread, in which I defended that I AM a philosopher because I have a doctor degree in "Philosophy" (Ph.D.), even I have never read a philosophy textbook. People don't like it. But I don't care. The degree title is always my witness. I am a scientist, AND a philosopher.
 
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goshjosh

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modern scholarship and such
often leaves much to be desired
as having lost its older philosophical true roots

same goes for psychology which means study of the soul
etymologically
probably most psychologists don't believe in the soul or spirit...sigh

philosophy ..love of wisdom

kinda like the merriam Webster dictionary in the 60s went to the dark side --- relativism and usage
as the basis of its definitions
rather than a spiritual philosophical basis
mr Webster is probably turning in his grave....
as his main inspiration to do a dictionary was an aid for bible study

ahh yes postmodern philosophy...sigh
generally denying the power and connection with the universal absolute
 
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ToddNotTodd

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A. It's bad form to necro threads.
B. You're not really supposed to proselytize in the Philosophy forum.
 
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lesliedellow

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Philosophy lacks any precise definition, and is pretty much just one big joke. Philosophy has never contributed anything tangible to society, and is just another one of the many pseudosciences out there.

Is that why the philosopher Karl Popper's definition of what constitutes a scientific theory almost universally accepted by scientists today?

Before displaying your contempt, try correcting your ignorance.
 
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DogmaHunter

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First off, I don't know a lot about "philosophy", nore am I really interested in it at this point.

But as I understand it, philosophy has undergone some kind of displacement over the centuries.

There was a time where "philosopher" was pretty much synonymous with "scientist". Indeed, it centered around logical argumentation and "common sense" to draw conclusions about the world.

But overtime, science started make more and more discoveries, particulalry in physics, where our "common sense", and even our fundamental ideas about what is "logical" and what isn't, came under pressure and in some cases completely irrelevant.

To quote Lawrence Krauss (not sure if he came up with the statement, but I heared him say it anyway): "Our common sense evolved to avoid being eaten by lions in Africa. It did not evolve to understand quantum mechanics".

Slowly but surely, philosophy became rather "obsolete" in the matter of the natural sciences. We can no longer base ourselves on our "common sense" to draw conclusions about the world.

In that sense, in the sense of progress and learning about reality, philosophy is as dead as road kill.

That does not mean that philosophy is dead, full stop. It still has its place... I guess.

Just to say... philosophy as a field of study TODAY, is not what it used to be some 400 years ago.

And what I observe is that most people who still insist on using "philosophy" to answer open scientific questions, are people who are engaging in religious apologetics.

In fact, I can't come up with an example that isn't religious apologetics.


EDIT: fell for the necromancy again........
 
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lesliedellow

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When Plato wrote his Republic he wan't writing about science; he was writing about politics. Aristotle is best remembered today for his work on formal and informal logic; which is very much relevant to today's physical sciences. Epistemology is likewise very much relevant to today's physical sciences.

In Newton's day, what is today called science was called natural philosophy, and the word science itself had a much broader definition than the one it has today. That changed in the course of the nineteenth century.
 
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juvenissun

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In Newton's day, what is today called science was called natural philosophy, and the word science itself had a much broader definition than the one it has today. That changed in the course of the nineteenth century.

Why did it change?
Why didn't they change my Ph.D. into Geo.D. or Chem.D.?
 
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lesliedellow

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Why did it change?

Because of the growing prestige of the physical sciences, when somebody said "science" it increasingly meant the area of endeavour which was forever turning up new discoveries.

Today we might have a slightly more jaundiced view of science, and we no longer think in terms of a brave new world, but they did.
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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It's just an anachronistic label. Being a Ph.D. doesn't mean you're a philosopher any more than having a Bsc. means you're a batchelor.
 
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juvenissun

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It's just an anachronistic label. Being a Ph.D. doesn't mean you're a philosopher any more than having a Bsc. means you're a batchelor.

Not convincing.

The title of the terminal degree should not be taken lightly. If it is inappropriate, then it should be changed. If it is not changed, then it should still mean what the name literally mean.

I have a Ph.D. SO, I AM a philosopher, which is a title recognized by the academic degree system.
 
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lesliedellow

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I have a Ph.D. SO, I AM a philosopher, which is a title recognized by the academic degree system.

I see, so you you have no trouble in passing a first year undergraduate exam on Platonic metaphysics.
 
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juvenissun

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I see, so you you have no trouble in passing a first year undergraduate exam on Platonic metaphysics.

That is where the question is. I can not pass that exam in two hours.

BUT, why do they give me the doctor's degree on philosophy? I would rather to have it called doctor on geology.

Also, the point is: I think I may be able to pass the example of ANY philosophy course if someone can help me to answer my questions related to those in the exam. I don't need years of study. I only need, with the help, about a few days.

Try me on a question about Platonic metaphysics (is that a philosophy course?). I think I don't need to take that course to answer the question.
 
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lesliedellow

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Try me on a question about Platonic metaphysics (is that a philosophy course?). I think I don't need to take that course to answer the question.

I am a mathematician, not a philosopher, but I am not arrogant enough to think that I could learn in five minutes what it takes a philosophy undergraduate three years to learn.
 
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juvenissun

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I am a mathematician, not a philosopher, but I am not arrogant enough to think that I could learn in five minutes what it takes a philosophy undergraduate three years to learn.

I said I could answer a question in a philosophy exam as well as a philosophical student of any level can do.

This is only a hypothesis. I like to test it. Because I already have a doctor degree on philosophy.
 
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Received

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I think the "professionalization" of philosophy is largely how it has lost its way. It leads not only to increasing competition for unique ideas, which means less and less relevant ideas given the long history of philosophy and number of folks in academia, but also (much more harmfully) to the belief that philosophy is only something professors do, which leads many people to become blind to the philosophizing they might do on a daily basis without naming it as such.

At the same time, it's always easier to think than to live out the conclusions of your thoughts. So although I agree that philosophy should be about meaning, which is by definition applied abstraction, given the difficulty of actually, I don't know, living according to one's ideals it makes more sense that philosophy would break down to the dopamine kick provided by many times useless philosophical quibbles.

And if philosophy is really about the good feeling you get from thinking, you're just getting high and calling it sophisticated.
 
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lesliedellow

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I said I could answer a question in a philosophy exam as well as a philosophical student of any level can do.

This is only a hypothesis. I like to test it. Because I already have a doctor degree on philosophy.

For a supposed PhD, you talk an incredible amount of nonsense.
 
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