![]() |
#901 | |
Bah, humbug!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 39,072
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#902 |
Big Ears
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 191
Karma: 2229
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pontoise, France
Device: Onyx Boox 60, iPad
|
I suspect that this is a little unfair. First of all, there are technical questions that philosophers have to look at, and that are not such as can be very usefully discussed using the language of the ordinary educated reader. The fact that you or I do not understand this stuff doesn't mean that it isn't philosophy, or that it's not necessary to the overall project.
Secondly, I can think of a number of philosophers who do speak to the issues of the day. In France they range from the TV stars like Bernard Henri-Lévy (everybody hates him, but he still sells a lot of books) through to the more austere figures such as Alain Badiou who, though much of his stuff is heavy going, sometimes descends into the political arena with a readable text, as he did recently after the election of Sarkozy to the presidence. In the UK, philosophers like Julian Baggini, Sarah Bakewell, or Slavoj Zizek make regular appearances in the newspapers - Bakewell's recent series on Montaigne was very well received. In the USA a number of philosophers direct their work to questions of the day. Rawls' work still leads to comment and argument. Dennett talks forcefully about religion and biology. One could write a fairly long list. So it may well be true that there are large numbers of academic place-servers hiding out in our universities. The same could be said for a number of disciplines - including the scientific ones (only a very small number of the papers actually published are cited by other scientists). But I don't think we can really claim that there's a dearth of philosophers willing to bring their wisdom to us. On the other hand, we may be a little more sceptical about that wisdom than used to be the case. Today, people challenge the scientists, the philosophers, the doctors - everyone in our democratic age is equal to the experts after spending five minutes with Wikipedia. Or Glenn Beck. More people have been educated to a higher degree than ever before, and more people have the critical skills needed to argue right back at the academic. When a philosopher writes for the comment section in the Guardian blog, he or she is likely to be roundly criticized by a bunch of nobodies. Some of them don't like it very much. Last edited by TimMason; 08-23-2010 at 04:17 AM. |
![]() |
![]() |
Advert | |
|
![]() |
#903 | |
Addict
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 378
Karma: 1624276
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: South, South Texas
Device: Pocketbook 620
|
Quote:
![]() Nevertheless, as an ahistorical practice mutilated by self-imposed division of labor, it can recycle the same basic arguments over and over again every generation which, in turn, ensures that everyone can get tenure and promotion! ![]() The way out of all this is to go back to Ralph Waldo Emerson's critique of the self image of the philosopher and work your way forward but, since Emerson is no longer counted as a philosopher, we will have to pin our hopes on his grumpy students, Nietzsche and Dewey. ![]() ![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#904 | ||||
Addict
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 378
Karma: 1624276
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: South, South Texas
Device: Pocketbook 620
|
Quote:
![]() Quote:
![]() Quote:
Quote:
|
||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#905 | |
Big Ears
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 191
Karma: 2229
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pontoise, France
Device: Onyx Boox 60, iPad
|
Quote:
I recall Stanislaw Andrewski arguing that the sociologist was - or should be - a social philosopher. Today, someone like Richard Sennett is as much an old-timey philosopher as he is a scientist. In anthropology, Michael Taussig is a philosopher in the continental style. Among historians, E.P. Thompson was a philosopher, as is someone, from another angle, like Daniel Lord Smail. So it may be that philosophy is still kicking away - but not, by your account, in the halls of university philosophy departments. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
Advert | |
|
![]() |
#906 | |
High Priestess
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
In 2002 in France, many people didn't bother to go to the voting booth. Supporters of the right extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen did. As a result, the second round of the election was between two right-wing candidates, one of them being Le Pen. Everyone was shocked. For two weeks people (the same people who hadn't bothered to vote) demonstrated in the streets to show how opposed to Le Pen they were, and how much they didn't want him as a president. A few weeks later, there was another election. Granted, it was a minor one. Nevertheless, you'd think these people would have learned their lesson. You'd be wrong. They still didn't bother to vote. The current democratic system, built in centuries when political and economic knowledge was mostly restricted to an elite, when communication was slow and information took a long time to reach the leaders and even longer to reach the rest of the population, is not working in our world. Many people feel they know better or as well as our presidents or PMs how to run the country. It's an exageration, but it is true that they are much better educated and informed than they used to be. And now they get almost the same information the president or PM does, and just as fast. I am very attached to democracy in principle, and to representative democracy since it's basically the only one we have so far, but it's increasingly obvious that it's no longer working, at least in the form we have inherited from the 18th-19th centuries. We need to start doing some thinking. Call it philosophical or political, I don't care. But we need to start thinking before we wake up one morning and find the change has happened anyway - well, that's usually how it works anyway, so maybe we can just relax and watch - I don't know. But anyway, I do think political changes must and will happen. I just hope it happens in a way I can still recognize as democracy. And I hope nobody gets beheaded along the way. Last edited by FlorenceArt; 08-23-2010 at 11:01 AM. Reason: One day I'll manage a post without typos - maybe... |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#907 | |
High Priestess
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#908 |
Wizard
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 4,395
Karma: 1358132
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3
|
I think there should be a little political quiz on every ballot (say 5 questions from a pool of 1000) - if you don't get 4 right your vote doesn't count.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#909 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#910 |
Bah, humbug!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 39,072
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
People like Julian Baggini and the late John Rawls are among those who fall under the "but not all" clause in my post concerning the linguistic turn in philosophy, and are doing what I consider important, namely engaging with the important issues of the day and bringing the results of their efforts to a larger audience. People can disagree with what Rawls wrote, but at least he is attempting to bring the important ethical issues of the day to the forefront, and his "veil of ignorance" approach to a just society has been quite influential. John Dewey, also, is vastly underrated in my opinion for his contributions to pragmatism and the practical solutions he set forth that still reverberate across to the 21st century. Still, the linguists and epistemologists seem to dominate many of the discussions, but perhaps the tide is turning.
Last edited by WT Sharpe; 08-23-2010 at 11:28 AM. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#911 |
Bah, humbug!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 39,072
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
I recall a college class I took in political science is which I was astounded to discover how many of the students didn't know the differences between socialism and capitalism. Sometimes I think that educationally the U.S. is a third world superpower.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#912 | |
Wizard
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 3,490
Karma: 5239563
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kindle 3|iPad air|iPhone 4S
|
Quote:
![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#913 |
Banned
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 3,724
Karma: 535488
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: the Mortuary
Device: Kindle 2
|
That's because most college students are there on sports or "affirmative action" scholarships, and most tenured college professors are not qualified to teach due to radical idealism or mental illness.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#914 |
Big Ears
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 191
Karma: 2229
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pontoise, France
Device: Onyx Boox 60, iPad
|
This reminds me of Borges' classification of animals :
Communism and Capitalism fall in the last category. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#915 | |
Bah, humbug!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 39,072
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Tags |
philosophy, plato |
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Philosophy eBooks | dhume01 | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 8 | 07-28-2010 12:18 PM |
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | FlorenceArt | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 6 | 08-29-2009 07:43 PM |
Christian and Philosophy books on Kindle? | nathanb | Amazon Kindle | 11 | 07-07-2009 09:57 PM |
interesting discussion on pricing of fiction books | Liviu_5 | News | 4 | 10-10-2007 09:27 AM |
Book2Book mobile e-books discussion | shalmaneser | Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) | 0 | 08-05-2005 05:49 AM |