Philosophy

Do the panelists think, perhaps from their own experience, that there are certain philosophies that are more appealing at certain times in people's lives, perhaps even predictable life stages?

Comments

I am actually inclined to think your hypothesis is correct--though I also think that your question is really an empirical one, which would best be answered by the methods of the social sciences (e.g. with an appropriately designed public opinion poll). But to give just one example of what I suspect are many, I am inclined to think that younger people are more attracted to utopian thought and the more radical political theories--in part because such ways of thinking match well with a general youthful way of thinking according to which problems are supposed to have simpler solutions, whereas as we age, we become more convinced that life's problems are more complex and less likely to be amenable to very direct and simple solutions. Accordingly, I am inclined to think that undergraduates generally might not find Stoicism all that atractive--as so much of it looks like mechanisms for coping in a difficult or even hostile world. To people later in life, such philosophies may seem more attractive. But these are generalities at best, and coming from a philosopher they are only speculation. As I said at the beginning, this looks like an empirical question.

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