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Have you ever studied philosophy?

Toad

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If you answer is no, please answer my following question.

Do you think you are missing out on something important in life because you haven't studied philosophy?

This is a homework assignment. I'm supposed to be asking real people, but I thought this forum would serve the same purpose.

Thanks for helping guys.
 

preilemus

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Study? No I haven't. that doesn't mean I don't learn about it on my own though.

Perhaps the structure of an academic course would push me in front of ideas I wouldn't care to explore on my own, so I guess in a sense I would be missing out. Couldn't say how important those things would be to me though.
 

Da Blob

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Not voluntarily. I do not have a lot of respect for modern philosophy. It seems that only philosophers can understand it. It is a lot like masturbation to my mind, a process of self flagellation. It is an abstract word game, that does not even pay attention to reality, just the fantasy world of prior philosophers and old philosophies. It is a religion of the intellectuals, perhaps.

The best philosophers graduate to become poets, once they realize just of what utility a single word might have. Poets allow their messages to be hidden between the lines of their poems. I think that Wittgenstein was perhaps closest to discovery of this truth ...

EDIT: to answer the question - No - there is nothing that philosophy offers to the nonphilosophers of the world any more. It is a private club for the intellectual elite...
 

GarmGarf

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Same as above (preilemus's post): academically, no (although, since I'm a determinist and I'm studying physics, maybe I am studying philosophy, academically, after all, ha).

Do you think you are missing out on something important in life because you haven't studied philosophy?

Well I must be (as the poster above me (preilemus) conveyed) but at the same time there is a chance I will notice something that the academic philosophers missed that I would have surely too missed under their wings.
 

Il Nessuno

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I used to be really into philosophy, I've been kind of turned off by it lately though. I've been meaning to seriously get into it again but you guys know how it goes for us INTP's. ;) Is there anything I've learned from philosophy? It's taught me to be more open to new ideas at first but be skeptical afterwards and the importance of direct experience. Albert Camus really helped me during my existential crisis my second year in college, I don't think I'd be here without him. :p I think a lot of people could do with some more philosophy in their lives. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone "get" a movie or music video when they could've learned it in so much more depth in a classic piece of literature or philosophical text. It really pisses me off sometimes. :rolleyes:
 

Kuu

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By study do you mean academically? Well I took TOK classes in highschool, which is philosophy in essence...

Of course, studying can be done outside formal schooling environments, so in that sense, yes, I have studied a more-than-negligible amount of philosophy. Some things just dabble, some other things more in depth.

Even if I had never read anything on the subject, I'd still say that I do study philosophy, because I am a philosopher (lover of wisdom).

(I agree with blob that most contemporary stuff is just pretentious intellectualoid masturbatory post-modernist jargondump crap)
 

Words

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Do you think you are missing out on something important in life because you haven't studied philosophy?
Not really..I think philosophy is subjective. I'd rather create my own...solutions such as in math are spoilers.
 

Kidege

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Yes. I started graduate studies in it.
I'm not done with that yet, it's only in the back burner.

My personal experience:

(Rant warning)

It was pretty terrifying at the beginning, because there's loads and loads of stuff you have to read/memorize regarding who said what and why. It's history but not only history... you gotta learn when to grab an idea from a certain guy and use it... but you have to learn how. The rules are quite fuzzy but there are some rules, particularly in the ways you shape your papers. For instance, using dialogues says something, using aphorisms says something different. There's also rules about how to quote that may vary depending on who you're quoting. And nobody considers you amount to anything if you can't read at least some Latin, some Greek and some German. You can be multilingual in whichever languages you wish, without those three languages, you're toast. Oh, and without the proper editions of the key books, you're toast too. Reading Plato online might get you sneers.

A rational person who likes playing with ideas has a natural talent for philosophy. But doing it profesionally/academically takes a lot of work (and money for the training).

On the other hand -and I've seen this happen- a person who works and works in the field, but has no real talent for advancing their own ideas, might as well quit, because whatever they're doing is not philosophy.
 

Toad

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Thanks for the responses guys. Thank you to Blob especially. You're post was the perfect answer to my homework question. I hope you don't mind me using it in my assignment.
 

Sugarpop

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By study do you mean academically? Well I took TOK classes in highschool, which is philosophy in essence...

I'm doing ToK (the IB subject) too. Did you feel like it was a good course?
 

Kuu

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It depends a LOT on your teachers. I hated one of mine, absolutely loathed her (as she did me) because she went batshit when I deigned to speak up during the morality discussions and refute her fallacious and hole-filled logic.. but other teachers were excellent, and it was quite enjoyable.

Though the subjects are interesting to think about, when it comes to the essays, trying to stick to a single subject and getting concrete, non tangential examples and, you know, actually writing the thing.... can be a massive buttpain....
 

LAM

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Not academically, no but I hope to. I have started reading a lot of philosophy, but none of it modern. I don't really think there is such a thing as modern philosophy as it has been replaced by self-help courses and stuff like that.I think that there are different types of philosophy; there is philosophy to help us understand something better, whether it be war, politics, our minds, the universe or spirituality or basically anything else. Then there is the philosophy which teaches you to be a (better?) person in many ways. One of the more obvious of this type is reading some of the work with Confucious's philosophy.Most importantly of all for me is that reading all of this expands my own "philosophy" my own perspective on life and all the things that make it up, myself and my mind and what I consider moral/immoral necessary and unnecessary. I feel that if I were to perfect my philosophy and know it very well, I would go through life confident I am living it the way I wanted to live it.
 

Minuend

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I don't think it would be fun study it in uni/school, it would become more of a chore. But I'm definitely planning on reading more about various topics when I finish reading about my current topic.

I do think I would gain a broader perspective on life if I knew more philosophy. Am I missing something important? Well, depends on what you mean by important. I would surely manage in life without it. I want to learn more about it because it seems entertaining and I enjoy seeing The Ultimate Big Picture, which I just invented. Think of a huge mind map where everything in existence have lines connecting each others. I've actually thought about drawing it in real life on a big piece of paper, writing down tons of descriptors (if that's what it's called). But that would surely be impossible. Would be fun, though.
 

amorfati

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I've never studied it academically, but I've read a whole shit load of it on my own (this seems to be quite common here I guess)

I agree with Da Blob about how Philosophy is just another form of entertainment (I think you used the word "fantasy") for intellectuals and doesn't really touch on reality at all. To me, however, that's not a knock against philosophy. It's as fun of a fantasy world as any. Some people like to get lost in the fantasy world of horror, or romance, or whatever else; I prefer to get lost in the fantasy world of peoples minds.
 

Da Blob

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Hmmm, while I am not really retracting my prior statement, in defense of philosophy, I believe that everyone does have a personal philosophy, a system of belief that at one time in history, every philosopher addressed as the philosophy of the Common Man. It just seems that within the past century or so that philosophy has become the province of the intellectually elite. Philosophers do not even appear to desire to be understood by the "masses" any longer, but play only to an academic audience in a philosophical jargon that seemingly is more exclusive than inclusive.

I said that to say this - there are some wonderful philosophies being expressed to the world at large, especially today via the internet. These philosophies are not labeled as such - but poets and musicians, authors and essayists, photographers and comics can be seen each to be sharing a philosophy, when they share their own Points of View. The snobbish idea that 'real' philosophy is limited to the works a few dozen "Masters' as determined by the Philosophy Department, is a limitation and definition I find unacceptable and an anathema.
 

Ermine

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Well, I've been indirectly studying philosophy by regularly reading this forum. Now I have general knowledge of a bunch of different schools of philosophy. I also occasionally read philosophy-heavy novels such as Candide or Fountainhead. But even then, I'm more interested in how philosophy affects the characters involved than I am in the philosophy itself.

I'm a little atypical in that I don't really care for studying philosophy in depth, at least not as philosophy. When reading philosophy, all I get from it is "This is my belief system" or "This is what I think". While I find other people's thoughts interesting, I still find my own thoughts and their development more interesting than that of some influential philosopher. While they have important things to say, I'm still focusing on making my own philosophy.
 

Agent Intellect

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tom34

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I have not studied philosophy in the classical term(school/university).

I have however thought about it based on books/movies/religion/life experiences. So, I have my own philosophy on life which I'm quite content on.

I'm curious as to what I would gain from studying philosophy?
 

Lostwitheal

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Mmmm, nicely necro'd thread. Had I been a member when this post was current I would have said something along the lines of...

A) Define "study". In an institution, no, I haven't. For my own curiosity and of my own accord, yes.
B) Studying philosophy in the majority of modern institutions is mostly studying the history of philosophy, rather than actually philosophising*. I'd suggest you miss out on more from not doing the latter than you do from not doing the former. The former can be a very useful and necessary grounding for the latter, though if you're not careful it can be hard to see outside of what has already been laid down, if needed. Philosophy should be an ever-evolving pursuit ;)
C) I think there's a lot to be said for Robert Pirsig's view that unless philosophy has some relation to everyday life for people, or can be of some benefit for them, then it's pretty much just an intellectual playground.

*Up to undergrad level anyway.
 
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