2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: what makes someone a philosopher?
While it's definitely a stretch to claim that lay people have contributed more to philosophy than people who hold a PhD in philosophy, surely lay people can make use of the same scholastic methods as professional philosophers? And some people who haven't received a formal degree in philosophy are evidently capable of making some contributions to the field. I'm not talking about Aristotle or Confucius, who lived before formal educational institutions, but certainly received a very rigorous education by the standards of their time. I'm thinking of well-read writers like Dostoevsky or Stirner.
Comment by loserforhirex at 27/01/2025 at 01:27 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It kind of depends on what counts as a contribution to the field. The fact that Lois Lane thinks Superman is bullet proof but doesn’t think Clark Kent is bullet proof is a decent example of the distinction between de re and de dicto but I wouldn’t say that the creators of Superman have contributed to philosophy.
I’m not the right person to comment on the philosophical value of works of fiction because it’s well outside of my area of expertise. But I will say that I’m not sure that it’s proper to credit Dostoyevsky with whatever insight someone has gained from his work. I’m also unaware of Dostoyevsky having used the methodologies of philosophy (as opposed to those of literature) in any of his works. But I must confess I know little about his writings as well.
I’m not opposed to someone without a degree doing philosophy. But rather I want to establish that philosophy is not merely a subject matter but that it is properly understood as addressing some subject matter in the proper way and with the proper tools. If Hank from 2B sits down and cracks open his books and sets about doing that then fuck yeah more power to Hank. I just don’t think every jackass who has ever gotten super high and been like “but what do we really know, man?” Is doing philosophy because that happens to also be something epistemologists have wrestled with.