Why do we pay Philosopher's (and the like) for basic Stoner Thoughts? Have they ever solved anything?

[chippermonk]

When you are high everything makes sense

but less so to everyone else

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

The OP included (and the like), which may include teachers of religion, soothsayers, gurus, etc. Not limited to philosophers of. knowledge

Because the "new philosophy" is that no one has to learn anything... we can all just make it up as we go...
Everyone is a philosopher and everyone can be like a god... And no one values it because they can make up their own world view.
Why would I pay for someone else's view if I can simply make up my own.

Philosopher's didn't get paid even when one had to go to school to become one and there was an actual definition.

So just saying that a teacher, soothsayer, etc is a philosopher doesn't make them philosophers; and even if it did it doesn't necessarily make it worth paying for.

Sorry...

 

[Chaurus]

As above. This goes for Religion too. We pay so much in taxes for people to dick around.

We'll pay for anything and everything that entertains us, even noxious compounds that can completely ruin our lives and considerably shorten them.

 

[Shrooms00087]

how is tax money going to philosophers?

could you give a few examples?

alasdair

Oh we don't pay them? Good news.

 

[alasdairm]

i don't know. you say we pay them tax money. how is that money paid and for what?

thx.

alasdair

 

[Shrooms00087]

i don't know. you say we pay them tax money. how is that money paid and for what?

thx.

alasdair

But wait a minute the government funds billions in colleges I just looked it up? To dick around.

 

[Shrooms00087]

"Philosopher" covers a huge range of beliefs and applications. When I took an intro philosophy class way back when, I remember being surprised by the use of logic and discipline by various philosophers in justifying their conclusions. ( Not that they necessarily persuaded me)
On the other hand, me and my stoner friends were anything but disciplined and our logic was pretty vague. Plus getting the munchies kept distracting us from all that useful thinking

You don't think by nature of focusing on one topic your logic would be disciplined? It's just we give no credence to Stoner Thoughts.

 

[Mjäll]

I was asking myself this very question.
Let's say you consult a philosopher for a task.
Like building a barn, how could a philosopher help with the job.

That sort of depends on how you look at it, in a way.

In another way it doesn't.

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

We pay philosophers? Really? I mean yeah, people buy books and some are employed as lecturers etc I guess.

If you're suggesting that philosophy is a futile exercise then I'd be disagreeing with that, but there are many philosophers who I'd prefer an evening of extracting my own toenails to reading their work.

Philosophy in gerenral though has given a huge amount to mankind, I've no doubt about that but also no desire to provide an argument to support the statement. Philosophy is essentially thinking about thinking - fascinatingly interesting and also far beyond boring, depending.

 

[Camomill]

That sort of depends on how you look at it, in a way.

In another way it doesn't.

yes well, I simply gave up on that question.
It is almost a useless question I think.

All things considered, some philosophers really went far in their own minds to make a statement about something.
Some went even further, probably, but were lost in the times by the way... I think we can be thankful that some wrote it all down, for us to acknowledge. I wouldn't know what to pay for it, that is for sure.

the Ancient Greek word philosophia (φιλοσοφία). Philosophia is the combination of the Greek -phílos (φίλος), which is translated as "friend" or "lover," and -sophía (σοφία), understood as "wisdom."
Hence, the most common translation of philosophia is "love of wisdom" or "love of knowledge".
--->copied from an article, for anyone wondering what that word actually meant/means

 

[Jnowhere]

My question is who would ever go to college( who wasn't a trust fund stoner), major in philosophy and get a bachelors degree in it: Then complain about student loans, and no job opportunities.

Hey, dumbasses you could have picked just about any other major, and it would be better for you.

I bring this up, because there are morons who do that.

If you are not going for a phd, in philosophy, to get an easy job as a professor in the most retarded major, then shut up.

There are people who really do that. I met a few at college and my guess is, they regretted it. Yes they were stoners and not rich.

Rant over.

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

Slightly beside the point, but related :

I highly recommend Jostein Gaarder's 'Sophie's World' for anyone who'd like a crash course in philosophy that's written like a mystery novel.

 

[Shrooms00087]

What the fuck is a Klein Bottle Manifold and why the fuck should I care? Open invitation.

 

[Featherfall]

they are paying philosophers? fuck most of them its difficult to pay them to shut up

 

[Featherfall]

i would also like to mention, this is such a sad and american (i have no other word for it) way to view things and think.

"We fund colleges???? with my taxpayer money????? how could it be????? how dare there exist any academic discipline which does not provide me immidiete real world value! every mayor should be engineering and buisness!!! because thats the only thing that matters!!!!"

like, actual facts about how academia works and its criticism is lost here regardless, so i wonder, are you not a bit sad? isnt this way to view the world a little shallow? dont you think you can maybe do a little better than just the security of your next meal? alot of people cant even do that so what are you doing

 

[M!$TER-ED]

My question is who would ever go to college (who wasn't a trust fund stoner), major in philosophy, and get a bachelor's degree in it and then complain about student loans and no job opportunities?

I think anyone who has student loans complains about them. People attend college or higher learning for various reasons.

Eye of the beholder etc

To be fair, the student loan lending institutions, both federal and private, are not consumer-friendly. Remember when Biden tried to pass a loan forgiveness act? Republicans fiercely opposed it because federal student loans are a source of income for the government. And the same is true with Trump’s tariffs, it is nothing more than a direct of funds and income for Trump’s spending, mostly for self idolatry.

 

[Mjäll]

i would also like to mention, this is such a sad and american (i have no other word for it) way to view things and think.

"We fund colleges???? with my taxpayer money????? how could it be????? how dare there exist any academic discipline which does not provide me immidiete real world value! every mayor should be engineering and buisness!!! because thats the only thing that matters!!!!"

like, actual facts about how academia works and its criticism is lost here regardless, so i wonder, are you not a bit sad? isnt this way to view the world a little shallow? dont you think you can maybe do a little better than just the security of your next meal? alot of people cant even do that so what are you doing

Medicine is another major one that provides real world value. Not sure about "business" though.

There are many things that exist without public funding. There is no dichotomy of public funding vs. non-existence.

Your last 2 sentences confuse me. Are you saying that the existence of poverty is an argument for spending tax money on useless degrees?

 

[notarookie]

Yes. The final one.

 

[Camomill]

Medicine is another major one that provides real world value. Not sure about "business" though.

There are many things that exist without public funding. There is no dichotomy of public funding vs. non-existence.

Your last 2 sentences confuse me. Are you saying that the existence of poverty is an argument for spending tax money on useless degrees?

Again, I totally forgot that this topic pans out very differently between public funded education and one where you have to pay.
If you have to pay 200000 bucks for a philosophy degree instead of zero it has a very different taste and existence altogether.

it would be cool if we could maybe erect a 'lower university' network or something, that is maybe around 20k instead in places where education is so expensive.
I guess that already exists most likely, I mean it would make a philosophy degree just as 'useless' from a straight economic standpoint, since the achieved degree would be basically less valuable than a 'real one', but you can't go lower than pointless anyways in this scenario.

I digress. What is for example very cheap, sometimes free even, are again as has been said above, books.
Also philosophy is a term that unifies many different schools of thought...
I think there are many that go so far, to even conflict eachother.

philosophy in western universities start with ancient greeks, Sokrates etc., if I'm correct here.
It is at the same time also a teaching in history.
Honestly knowledge is power. Not directly and not without resistance, but still.
Knowledge can also be false and then lead to greater knowledge. It's kinda funny

I got into ancient greeks a little and somehow noticed that these people were living in a different world if you ask me.
Then again other times they came to conclusions which more or less stand until today/could be described as universal truths(kind of), conceiving them in this very different world they lived in.
They came to conclusions that are just as true 3000 years later...

Some people might even argue it is the most valuable degree I guess

 

[Shrooms00087]

Philosophers (and the like) should be relegated to the market. I'm not going to pay you for something 1/10th of 1% care about. You're going to hash it out on the market like every God fearing citizen.