46
votes
Why doesn't philosophy have higher standards for its arguments?
Do you have a proof that we don't hold ourselves to higher standards?
There's actually a rather interesting little corner of mathematics called "proof theory." It deals with the question of what a ...
- 17.5k
20
votes
When did philosophers decide philosophy was not useful, and why?
I will enlarge upon Nuclear Wang's reply by turning the question around a bit, as follows.
When did natural philosophers (also known as scientists) decide that philosophy was not useful, and why?
I ...
- 7,770
19
votes
Why doesn't philosophy have higher standards for its arguments?
If I'm understanding your question correctly, then you're basically asking "why doesn't philosophy have the same level of rigor as mathematical proof?"
I think there's two parts involved in ...
- 24.6k
18
votes
Would philosophy be useless if there were a box of answers?
Since it was more for less settled that metaphysical questions can't be settled and moral statements are not factual ("is-ought" problem), the job of modern philosophy is mostly to study the ...
- 5,133
17
votes
Why isn't the dictum "something can't come from nothing" a matter of consensus?
I disagree with your assertion that physics has nothing to say about this.
There was a time when "nothing" was thought of as a box with no contents. Then it was discovered that it contained ...
- 7,770
15
votes
Should I trust my own thoughts when studying philosophy?
No infinite is less than the other
There are actually a wild variety of infinities. See eg Strange but True: Infinity Comes in Different Sizes for an introduction. For a more in-depth picture of ...
- 20.5k
15
votes
Is philosophy bad for you (if taken too literally)?
Can particular kinds of philosophising have disastrous consequences? Yes, and sometimes they have. Especially when they have been the motivation for extreme political movements.
Can philosophising ...
- 22.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Are there philosophical theories that are either confirmed or refuted by the majority of experts?
Yes, there are many "philosophical theories" that have been refuted by the majority of experts.
An obvious example is Thales identification of "water" as the irreducible substance. Many pre-Socratic "...
- 13.4k
14
votes
Accepted
How is Philosophy related to Science?
I find it useful to approach this question from the bottom up. You made a philosophical argument:
My argument is that there is no way to deny the sure success of the sciences (like Physics, ...
- 17.5k
14
votes
Why doesn't philosophy have higher standards for its arguments?
Philosophical theories are more like scientific theories than mathematical theories, in that they have empirical content. As such, there aren't any (universally agreed upon) "first principles" that ...
- 3,784
14
votes
When did philosophers decide philosophy was not useful, and why?
Philosophy became more limited in scope during the 19th century. In the time of the ancient Greeks, philosophy encompassed all forms of knowledge, but specialized subfields of physics, medicine, ...
- 1,177
14
votes
When did philosophers decide philosophy was not useful, and why?
In the old joke, a college president complains to his physics professors that they are always asking for expensive equipment. All the mathematics teachers need is pencil, paper, a wastebasket, he says,...
- 13.4k
13
votes
Are there philosophical theories that are either confirmed or refuted by the majority of experts?
A problem in your question has to do with the concept of refutation and confirmation. If you think of refutation as empirical refutation, then trivially, only empirical sciences refute hypothesis. ...
- 5,830
13
votes
Accepted
What is the distinction between mysticism and metaphysics?
Per Russell's "mysticism and logic", the difference between mysticism and logic (He uses the term logic as a tag for reason and the scientific method in general) is purely epistemic. They are two ...
- 27.1k
13
votes
Does philosophy rely on intuitions? If so, does this mean all of philosophy is nothing more than hunches?
Does philosophy rely on intuition? Yes. Does that mean it is nothing more than hunches? No. To conclude so would be the rather elementary fallacy of composition:
The fallacy of composition is an ...
- 23k
12
votes
Should I trust my own thoughts when studying philosophy?
Intuition Is Important in Philosophy
However, I am scared to trust my own thoughts lest my ideas are erroneous.
Well, coming from a place of fear is a bit irrational since the stakes don't seem to ...
- 23k
10
votes
Accepted
What is the argument for Heidegger's claim that philosophy can only be done in Greek and German?
First, I want to mention an important rule (which of course has caveats), but the accuracy with which a philosopher writes about the history of philosophy is in general inversely proportional to their ...
- 24.6k
10
votes
Why doesn't philosophy have higher standards for its arguments?
A proof is only as strong as the axioms it is built upon. Mathematics works over a very limited number of strong axioms to work with, which gives it a limited number* of things that can be proven, but ...
- 358
10
votes
Why doesn't philosophy have higher standards for its arguments?
Because it would then cease to be philosophy.
Philosophy sees itself as the progenitor of all the sciences, as its questions lead to the paradigm shifts upon which branches of science are founded. ...
- 353
10
votes
Would philosophy be useless if there were a box of answers?
Such a box cannot exist
To begin with a bit of a story. At the end of the 19th century the mathematician Frege was developing a theory which could be used as a basis of all of mathematics. This ...
10
votes
What is the difference between western and other philosophies?
Western philosophy (as commonly understood) is a set of philosophical systems originating in the Middle East and Europe that are heavily influenced by biblical hermeneutics (talmudic argumentation) ...
- 18.5k
10
votes
Why isn't the dictum "something can't come from nothing" a matter of consensus?
Because "something can't come from nothing" leads to infinite regress/explanatory failure when you ask the question, "Where did things come from?"
We will assume that "...
- 236
9
votes
Accepted
How to implement the so called 'principle of charity'?
You are right that reading means interpreting, and we can never be sure that we did not misinterpret the author's intentions. But it is as with any human endeavor, we are fallible. The principle of ...
- 42.5k
9
votes
Is arguing pro choice because "a woman has the right to control her body" invalid?
I don't think it's the best argument for someone on the pro choice side (apart from being useful at persuading others perhaps).
The reason I don't think it's a very strong argument (and I'm pro-...
- 483
9
votes
What is the logical distinction between “the same” and “equal to?”
Non sequitur
I'll go off of the example in the comments, namely
“One dollar” = “money” : “Nickel” = “money.” Therefore, “one dollar” = “nickel.”
This is non sequitur - there's no logical reason to ...
- 1,269
9
votes
Should I trust my own thoughts when studying philosophy?
The irony of your question is that you ultimately decide who or what you trust. If you don't trust your thoughts, then you trust your thought that your (other) thoughts aren't trustworthy. If you ...
- 289
8
votes
Accepted
Is it thought that analytic philosophy is in decline after the linguistic turn?
Good overviews of the more recent history of analytic philosophy are Burge's Philosophy of Language and Mind: 1950-1990 and Philosophy of Mind: 1950-2000 (ch.20), the philosophy of science side in a ...
- 42.5k
8
votes
Is philosophy about organizing our ignorance?
"A man might say, with enough truth to justify a joke: 'Science is what we know, and philosophy is what we don’t know.'"
-Bertrand Russell
“Philosophy for Laymen”
Universities Quarterly 1 (Nov 1946), ...
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