23 thoughts on “for Jeff”

  1. jim- says:
    March 10, 2018 at 18:45

    One thing that turned me off from philosophy many moons ago, was the “cleverly worded” won the day, even if it was wrong.

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  2. inspiredbythedivine1 says:
    March 10, 2018 at 19:53

    Good article. I certainly don’t think philosophy is a wasted endeavor entirely. It’s a good intellectual exercise, helps one develop a talent for presenting ideas, and helps one develop better writing skills. I think, however, that it isn’t the be all and end all of everything. It’s a good starting off point. One asks questions about the bigger picture of life and the universe; one develops an opinion on said things, writes essays on it, and then, far too often, one says, “Look at how wonderful my philosophical hypothesis is about what came first, the chicken or its mother-in-law. It’s SO grand, that simply because I have a tremendous gift for writing rhetoric and argumentative essays about it, it MUST be true.” Here’s where philosophy can become much like theology–wheel-spinning to the point people become so dizzy they think what they’re saying MUST be true and/or important because it’s making their head pound so much. Too much philosophical thought stops at this point.
    What’s hardest after coming up with a grand philosophy is coming up with empirical evidence to support it–evidence not based on how well one can write an argumentative essay, but upon what can be shown to be true in a repeatable, verifiable experiment. If this can not be done, then one must say, “OOPS! While I simply LOVE what my ideas are and how well I can write about them, they may very well be nothing more than poo-poo because I’ve no way of proving their ‘truth’ in a reliable, repeatable experiment which will give me the same result each time I do it.”
    To me, philosophy and scientific thinking should compliment each other when used productively. This said, I don’t think every bit of philosophical thought needs to be verifiable in the scientific sense to be worth discussing. Such discussions help form the mind and exercise our ability to communicate effectively. But, we must realize that an exercise is all this is. And no matter how profoundly stated one can make a rhetorical. philosophical argument, unless it can be proven to be true with empirical evidence, it may very well be nothing more than a balloon filled with very hot air that will float away and disappear the moment we let go of it.

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  3. renudepride says:
    March 10, 2018 at 20:24

    I didn’t read the ENTIRE interview. After all, it is a weekend and my poor brain is too overworked as it is. Naked hugs!

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