Posted by Jeffrey Thayne
I recently encountered an incredibly well-thought out critique of philosophy. I actually agree with this man. This does not mean that I don’t see value in studying philosophy. It is incontrovertible that philosophers have profoundly affected the way we see the world, and there is value in studying their ideas and investigating alternative worldviews. I agree, however, that philosophy (as an intellectual pursuit of knowledge) will never bring us to eternal truth.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MH7eSXz0L4
[The YouTube video has apparently been removed, but the video can still be seen at the following site:]
http://www.tubeislam.com/video/1644/Uselessness-of-Philosophy
This, of course, does not change the mission of this site: to contrast, in a simple and understandable way, the philosophies of the world with revealed truth. I believe one of the best reasons to study philosophy is to provide a context for revealed truth. When we understand how revealed truth differs from ideas and worldviews invented by people, we can be more wise in our choices and decisions. However, philosophy itself will rarely lead us to revelation.
Yeah, the view that philosophy is useless is an interesting philosophy, don’t ya think?
I’m with you Blake. Not only is the view that philosophy is useless an interesting philosophy, but the assumption that philosophy must have a use also reflects an interesting philosophy.
I should clarify: The title of this post, “The Uselessness of Philosophy,” is the title of the Youtube video to which I linked. I did not realize that the embedded video does not carry the same title. I agree that studying philosophy is immensely useful… I disagree that philosophy is a conduit to truth, and therefore agree that philosophy, as a pursuit of truth, is futile without revelation and inspiration. In that sense, philosophers will invariably get things wrong and their ideas will invariably be handicapped in the absence of revelation.
"Do not waste your time on social questions. What is the matter with poor is poverty; what is the matter with the rich is uselessness."
I love that video clip! I tell you, I LOVE IT! I have a brother who has gotten a nice philosophy scholarship at the U of U and he’s kind of the same way–intimidating to talk to but I still know that none of it really helps anything. (Heck, he had a 3 hour conversation on the phone with a girl he liked who also knew about philosophy and after that time they finally had established that she existed!)
Totally Cool