[Bups-dis] question for bups-dis

[Luis Johnstone]

Dear Sophie,

1. There is, I think, an is-ought distinction regarding purposes. After 
all, I could use this e-mail to offend you but it's certainly not what I 
ought to use it for.

2. I'm not sure if philosophy does feature in 'real life'. I mean do you 
really need philosophy to get from A to B? Do you really need philosophy 
to buy your cod and chips from the local chippy? Do you really need 
philosophy to fall in love? Do you really need philosophy to create 
viable green energy? I don't think so.
And those are 'real issues'. But then it's all about how you define 
"real", isn't it? So I guess it depends on what you think "real life" 
is. In all honesty I very rarely employ philosophy in my every day life 
and that life is the one that I consider real. In my academic life I, of 
course, deploy philosophical method routinely- but, I wouldn't count 
that as "real life". But I'm sure that others might (whether you see 
that as a good or bad thing is another matter).

3. I don't know if I'm radical but I think that Philosophy should be a 
means to self-improvement. And I think that a major way of improving 
oneself is by changing oneself in a way that betters others. So I think 
that Philosophy ought to aim at the betterment of others through the 
betterment of the self. I do see a recreational purpose for philosophy 
(i.e. for enjoyment) but there's a fine line between that and wasteful 
intellectual masturbation.

Regards,

Luis.


Sophie Erskine wrote:
> To reply to this message or start a new topic please email: BUPS-DIS at bups.org
> -
>
> Dear Luis, 
>
> My question is partially related to the purpose of philosophy, yes; and in
> questions relating to purpose, I'm not sure that there is a great difference
> between asking what the purpose of an activity (or whatever) is, and what it
> should be. 
>
> However, providing an answer to the purpose question would not really
> satisfy my curiosity as I described it. If one were to answer it by claiming
> that the purpose of philosophy is to solve certain puzzles or paradoxes, I
> could still ask: and what is the purpose of THAT? What role ought our
> (aimed-at) solutions to have? How ought philosophy to feature in real life?
>
>
> Perhaps our attempt to solve philosophical problems is merely our way of
> participating in an intellectual game, akin - for example - to playing
> chess; in this case, the results of our inquiry may not have much practical
> use. Or maybe, in engaging with these questions, we are really attempting to
> search out the truth in order to assess - and perhaps change - our own view
> of the way things are, and perhaps to change the way we live. In short, I'm
> wondering about the practical usage of philosophy.
>
> It might be the case that this question is too broad to cover the whole of
> the subject: some may have the intuition that - for example - ethics and
> political philosophy have comparatively much more influence on day-to-day
> affairs, whereas formal and philosophical logic are more abstract in nature.
> Personally, I think all of philosophy should be directly practical and
> should directly affect the way we think and live; but I'm interested to hear
> what others think. You may be surprised that I'm posing this question to a
> list of philosophy lovers - but, I assure you, I do know other philosophy
> students who think philosophy's role is and should be completely detached
> from 'the real world', if you'll let me use that expression.. 
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bups-dis-bounces at list.bups.org [mailto:bups-dis-bounces at list.bups.org]
> On Behalf Of Luis Johnstone
> Sent: 17 July 2007 18:41
> To: bups-dis at bups.org
> Subject: Re: [Bups-dis] question for bups-dis
>
> To reply to this message or start a new topic please email:
> BUPS-DIS at bups.org
> -
>
> Sophie,
>
> I assume that you are asking what the purpose of philosophy is. But is yours
> a merely empirical question about what Philosophy is or do you want to know
> what people think Philosophy ought to be?
>
> Regards,
>
> Luis.
>
>
> Sophie Erskine wrote:
>   
>> To reply to this message or start a new topic please email: 
>> BUPS-DIS at bups.org
>> -
>>
>> Here is a short but (I think!) important question: What is philosophy for?
>>  
>> Obviously, philosophy is a broad subject which covers various 
>> different sub-topics, on the subject of which it asks different 
>> questions. (How should we live? What exists and what is it like? What 
>> is knowledge? What are the right principles to reason by?) But, in 
>> investigating the answers to these questions, are we merely solving 
>> some interesting puzzles, or are we clarifying matters that will 
>> really change the way we see things? Should philosophy remain 
>> abstracted from real life, or should it be an essential inquiry - 
>> which is then acted upon - into the way experience should be interpreted?
>>     
> In short, what is philosophy's active role in our lives?
>   
>>  
>> Any responses will be received interestedly!
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> -
>> Browse or search the BUPS-DIS archives, or unsubscribe from the 
>> mailing list at: http://www.bups.org/mailinglist.shtml
>>
>>
>>   
>>     
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> -
> Browse or search the BUPS-DIS archives, or unsubscribe from the mailing list
> at: http://www.bups.org/mailinglist.shtml
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> -
> Browse or search the BUPS-DIS archives, or unsubscribe from the mailing list at: http://www.bups.org/mailinglist.shtml
>
>
>