tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7516365113085703166.post4754894917336909139..comments2022-11-13T09:12:02.500+01:00Comments on Critique of Pure Barbell: A modest proposal (that doesn’t involve eating anybody’s babies –literally)Vintage Rockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04778131632227119571noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7516365113085703166.post-499501773980469042016-05-30T18:47:28.201+02:002016-05-30T18:47:28.201+02:00Heh, heh, I could chicken out of this one saying &...Heh, heh, I could chicken out of this one saying "dude, it was satire, as in the original Swift writing", but I'll rather bite the hook. I'm 100% with you in how valuable those disciplines are, and how they help us understand our world better. Heck, of late I myself read 5 sociology books (and 3 economics) for each one of "proper" philosophy (I used to add 1-2 psychology in between, but just couldn't put up with the sheer idioacy any more, so had to let that one). All I say is the way they are taught is counterproductive to their own development. They have to be re-thought from the ground up, something they considered in the late eighties-nineties of the last century, when most of them went through a lot of soul-searching (and seemed for a brief moment on the verge of accepting that it was perfectly legitimate for them to have different methodologies and different truth criteria than natural sciences) that finally ended in nothing (well, in nothing different from their abject surrender to "scientism" in the worst sense).<br />So I stick to my guns: close all the universities and send the teachers home. Invalidate the degrees and stop funding the "research" programs. Discontinue the reviews (at elast, don't subsidize them) and disband the associations. Indeed, ethics constitute a good example, as far as I know there is no degree in ethics, no title of "ethicist" and no badge of honor in claiming to be one (as well it shouldn't, I recall a recent survey, in Aeon I think, that showed that purported ethicists were more prone to lying, cheating and not calling their moms weekly over the phone... bad people overall)Vintage Rockerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778131632227119571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7516365113085703166.post-52857061616749082002016-05-29T16:34:03.805+02:002016-05-29T16:34:03.805+02:00Santi, I think you have gone maybe too far in your...Santi, I think you have gone maybe too far in your however modest proposal :). I agree with you that many of these disciplines are packed with individuals that use faulty (or even non-existing) science, even in the wide meaning provided by Collingwood. But I also think that these disciplines, when properly used, help us understand better our world and make better decisions, even if we consider them scientific or not. So, why should we stop teaching them? Should we stop teaching Ethics? I don't think so. What we should probably do is teach not only the discipline, but also its limits. <br />However, I think that this very interesting topic deserves at least a glass of Talisker...Pedro Linareshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03752416272915637492noreply@blogger.com