SoA Forums

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yvrq7dyg6o

Sadly, it's only philosophy, so no real use to anyone.

At least it is not a set of accounts for the estate, holding out the prospect that there might be history books in the collection 

Quote from: Keraunos on Today at 08:21:00 AMAt least it is not a set of accounts for the estate, holding out the prospect that there might be history books in the collection 

To be fair, a set of estate accounts could well provide useful historical information. But there is a limit to just how much Greek Epicurean philosophy we really need 

Quote from: Cantabrigian on Today at 07:59:49 AMhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yvrq7dyg6o

Sadly, it's only philosophy, so no real use to anyone.

"Those who despise philosophy are doomed to wallow in the sterile futility of Twitter posts and TikTok videos" - Aristotle, De Media Inutilia

Quote from: Justin Swanton on Today at 09:19:46 AM"Those who despise philosophy are doomed to wallow in the sterile futility of Twitter posts and TikTok videos" - Aristotle, De Media Inutilia

Hmm, I'm not subscribed to either of those sites, so by your assertion I can't be a person who despises Philosophy.  So what does it say about a subject, when even people who don't despise it think that it's useless?

Which is exactly the sort of argument that irritates me about Philosophy!   

Quote from: Cantabrigian on Today at 12:46:11 PM

Quote from: Justin Swanton on Today at 09:19:46 AM"Those who despise philosophy are doomed to wallow in the sterile futility of Twitter posts and TikTok videos" - Aristotle, De Media Inutilia

Hmm, I'm not subscribed to either of those sites, so by your assertion I can't be a person who despises Philosophy.  So what does it say about a subject, when even people who don't despise it think that it's useless?

Which is exactly the sort of argument that irritates me about Philosophy!   

Sorry, didn't complete the quote: ...et multorum alium rerum inutilium. - "and of many other useless things."

He covers all the ground, like a good philosopher.

A bit more seriously, I get that it's very much the anglophone down-to-earth, practical, gotta-make-a-buck mindset to wonder why on earth one would bother about philosophy. And sure, if you're calculating your annual tax rebates it isn't much use. But it is useful in other fields that have less to do with a comfortable lifestyle and a healthy bank balance.

If we accept the journalist's statement that Greek Epicurean philosophy "teaches that fulfilment can be found through the pleasure of everyday things", we may perhaps find more utility in this work if we believe that little lead and plastic figures are everyday things. I believe, do you? 

A truly philosophical observation.

Quote from: Adrian Nayler on Today at 01:46:53 PMIf we accept the journalist's statement that Greek Epicurean philosophy "teaches that fulfilment can be found through the pleasure of everyday things", we may perhaps find more utility in this work if we believe that little lead and plastic figures are everyday things. I believe, do you? 

Oh right, it's Epicureanism. I'm more Aristotelian myself. It definitely justifies wargaming: a noble, pleasant pursuit that doesn't do one any harm (except create feelings of frustration when your brilliant plan is shot to pieces by a succession of 1's). Epicureanism was the ancestor of the modern scientific method and they invented the idea of atoms, so not so bad for a useless occupation, no?

Quote from: Justin Swanton on Today at 01:15:04 PMA bit more seriously, I get that it's very much the anglophone down-to-earth, practical, gotta-make-a-buck mindset to wonder why on earth one would bother about philosophy. And sure, if you're calculating your annual tax rebates it isn't much use. But it is useful in other fields that have less to do with a comfortable lifestyle and a healthy bank balance.

Oh, I don't have a philosophical objection to Philosophy, it's more a comment about just how badly done it is in general.  It seems to be either restating the obvious that everyone else knows, or pointlessly overcomplicating an argument until the author can't understand it any more at which point he thinks he's proved something.

And the amateur hour logic...  If philosophers were actually any good at logic they'd be studying maths instead.

In my humble opinion.... 

Quote from: Cantabrigian on Today at 02:06:27 PM

Quote from: Justin Swanton on Today at 01:15:04 PMA bit more seriously, I get that it's very much the anglophone down-to-earth, practical, gotta-make-a-buck mindset to wonder why on earth one would bother about philosophy. And sure, if you're calculating your annual tax rebates it isn't much use. But it is useful in other fields that have less to do with a comfortable lifestyle and a healthy bank balance.

Oh, I don't have a philosophical objection to Philosophy, it's more a comment about just how badly done it is in general.  It seems to be either restating the obvious that everyone else knows, or pointlessly overcomplicating an argument until the author can't understand it any more at which point he thinks he's proved something.

And the amateur hour logic...  If philosophers were actually any good at logic they'd be studying maths instead.

In my humble opinion.... 

It's a rabbit hole. Depends on what school of philosophy you're talking about. As a moderate realist of the Aristotelian school I see it as essential to complete our understanding of the universe since the concepts offered by experimental science can go only so far.

Take a black hole. It is an entity that has enormous mass and concomitant gravitational pull but no volume, no surface area, no internal structure, no nothing. How does one understand it? Aristotle wouldn't have a problem: a black hole is a substance in which the prime matter has only the formal determinations of mass and localisation. Meh. But if you're not a philosopher, it's an impossibility. No volume at all?

Quote from: Cantabrigian on Today at 02:06:27 PMIf philosophers were actually any good at logic they'd be studying maths instead.

Cannot argue with that!

Quote from: Cantabrigian on Today at 02:06:27 PMAnd the amateur hour logic...  If philosophers were actually any good at logic they'd be studying maths instead.

But they did.