RE: Re: RE: Re: Philosophical Problems at home: Explaining "what the hell you're doing" to your skeptical sibling/mother/father/cat... (fwd)

["Bernie Doeser" <bernie@doeser.org>]

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Explaining what any academic discipline, which takes place after secondary
school, is always difficult. I don't know about you, but I think most people
are being polite when they ask, "so what does a philosopher/research
chemist/oceanographer do?" and then live to regret having to listen to a
rambling, incoherent and incomplete answer. I had the same problem
explaining my thesis on the causes of cracking in bolted joints made from
titanium alloys.

When people ask me what philosophy is I usually give them an old copy of
Philosophy Now. If they are sufficiently interested they'll get hooked, but
if not, then at least we haven't wasted each other's time. Incidentally the
editorial page always includes a neat summary of what philosophy is.
Alternatively if they are interested in sci-fi, I get onto the root problems
covered in Star Trek - the nature of life, the problems of time travel,
ethical dilemmas of the prime directive. If they are exercised by a
particular ethical dilemma - balancing personal freedoms against protection
from terrorists, vegetarianism, or environmental issues, then I think, as
philosophers we can show that it is possible to explore the problems without
taking sides. We may subsequently take sides, but our exploration of the
problem should be impartial. This, in common parlance, is referred to as
"being philosophical" about something. I consider this detachment to be
critical to philosophy.

Getting back to explaining what philosophy is - there is a fundamental
problem in that what our questioner wants is a simple answer, but we want to
give an accurate answer. Is the "simple truth" an oxymoron? But if you are
just trying to attract them to the discipline, then tell them that they'll
learn how to win all the arguments down the pub. Don't, though, tell them
that pretty soon they'll stop being invited out for a drink.

Bernie Doeser
Sandiway, Cheshire, UK




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