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Is philosophy just a bunch of nonsense?

#11
confused2 Offline
In note in passing that electrical engineers are pretty close to the top of the salary tree. I think we can dismiss early on that philosophy are earning good money for philosophizing - more likely for their communication skills but communicating what and to who (or whom)? is what I would like to know.
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#12
C C Offline
(Nov 14, 2021 01:16 AM)confused2 Wrote: In note in passing that electrical engineers are pretty close to the top of the salary tree. I think we can dismiss early on that philosophy are earning good money for philosophizing - more likely for their communication skills but communicating what and to who (or whom)? is what I would like to know.


What they are communicating -- in vicarious fashion, through the activists and politicians enchanted by their work -- is that Western science and math is patriarchal, privileged, racist, facilitative of colonialism (both here and in space), misogynist, capitalist, etc. In short: Oppressive (and destructive).

Granted, these are intellectuals conceptually descended from that original, paragon philosophy of social justice (its 1st shaman quoted further below). Separated from the initial passions of reform and revolution by incrementally evolving steps over the decades.

But accordingly, that beneficent desire to be savior and shepherd -- to remedy the harsh lack of radical egalitarianism in the world -- is why they have so much influence on the academic community, its administrators, journalists, and those in government office (at least in the blue states of the US).

Karl Marx: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it [i.e., a new purpose and direction of philosophy]." --Theses On Feuerbach

The big, social justice and utopian change looming on the horizon for science... Is science overcoming its constipated, Euro-perception of how to operate. The shift to "multicultural science" -- the science and math of non-Western traditions. Inclusiveness of other modes of knowledge.

Doubtless they'll have to change the focus of future preliminary texts like the following and actual detailed resources, so that they address how to implement alternatives to Western bias in the current era. Rather than merely retrospectively exploring and praising those: An Introduction to the History of Science in Non-Western Traditions

Some individual scientists -- the most stubborn, privileged, white patriarchal dinosaurs -- may object to this future rehabilitation. But it is ultimately the wishes, political orientations and new policies of campus and institute administrators that they must conform to. (The management of industrial research could occasionally allow regression to prehistoric days, since they need output that actually works.)

Additionally, applicable science disciplines should morally follow archaeology's lead in treating the religions of indigenous populations and migrated cultural groups as literal.

Elizabeth Weiss and James W. Springer: "The most expansive interpretations of NAGPRA’s provisions now serve to place Indigenous oral traditions, which typically include religious stories, on equal footing with traditional forms of scientific evidence such as DNA analysis. And NAGPRA’s review committees often contain traditional Indian religious leaders who assist in repatriation decisions. While it is unfashionable to say so, we do not believe that this application of NAGPRA is correct. Contrary to the popular misunderstanding of NAGPRA, human remains and artifacts are not just repatriated to lineal descendants (such as a great-great grandchild), but are often repatriated to those who are deemed culturally affiliated. This kind of link can be established through orally transmitted creation myths that are analogous to what exists in the book of Genesis -- tales of the origin of the universe and of people that are based on a series of miraculous events." --Why Is the Society for American Archaeology Promoting Indigenous Creationism?
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