A society of philosophers

MonfortS26 October 31, 2016 at 08:29 2025 views 4 comments

People often advocate teaching philosophy in schools for the betterment of our society. I could argue that might not be the best way for society to thrive. There would be no one to do any of the grunt work if everyone was adept in critical thinking. Wouldn't it be best if philosophy was left to the people who seek it instead of being forced on the general public?

Comments (4)

Barry Etheridge October 31, 2016 at 12:07 #29566 0 likes

Quoting MonfortS26

There would be no one to do any of the grunt work if everyone was adept in critical thinking.

A strange conclusion. Counterfactual in that I know a plumber with a first class theology degree, Counterintuitive in that much philosophy is dedicated to the better understanding of our 'station' in life.

Quoting MonfortS26

Wouldn't it be best if philosophy was left to the people who seek it instead of being forced on the general public?

Best for whom? An educated elite keeping the oiks in their place?

Hanover October 31, 2016 at 14:03 #29581 0 likes

Quoting MonfortS26

There would be no one to do any of the grunt work if everyone was adept in critical thinking. Wouldn't it be best if philosophy was left to the people who seek it instead of being forced on the general public?

Sure, and we shouldn't teach literature because everyone would just waste away reading books and we'd have no engineers to build our bridges. And we shouldn't teach math because everyone would just calculate all day and we wouldn't have any artists. And we should teach art because everyone would just paint their day away and we'd have no one to cook our dinner.

Either that, or we could continue teaching things of value and allow people to choose their course in life, with some becoming cooks, others engineers, and even other philosophers. It's not as if philosophy is some drug that, should we release it on our youth, they will become so enthralled with it that we'll no longer have anyone to change the oil in our car when it comes due.

wuliheron October 31, 2016 at 15:09 #29585 0 likes

In over ten years of asking if anyone knows the simple distinction between a lynch mob and a democracy I have yet to hear the correct answer from even academics. In fact, over half of them have admitted to being suspicious of the common dictionary despite having no clue that it merely contains popular definitions. According to the National Science Foundation one in five Americans insists the sun revolves around the earth and, without evidence to the contrary, I've always assumed there's nobody in charge around here. Sometimes the brightest lights are left on when nobody is home and whether you teach people philosophy or not will make little difference if they prefer to spend all their time arguing over the definition of stupid and who is the better example.

MonfortS26 October 31, 2016 at 20:32 #29620 0 likes

Lolol Alright then. I'd say I have what I needed. Thanks