Philosophy

Can studying philosophy make one's life worse? I've been reading philosophy in my spare time for the last four years and it has not improved any facet of my life other than make me more critical of everything and most philosophers living or dead except for a handful. It has not led me to "wisdom" in the slightest and it has made me more argumentative with others in a sort of shallow legalistic sense.

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Can studying philosophy make one's life worse?

Certainly it can, just as working out to get fit can make one's life worse: one who works out to get fit can thereby tear a hamstring and become laid-up and miserable, or thereby suffer a heart attack, etc. Indeed, working out to get fit can make one's life worse overall, i.e., all things considered. Ditto for studying philosophy. There's no reason to think otherwise.

But studying philosophy, or working out to get fit, can also make one's life better, including better overall. For many people, myself included, studying philosophy has improved their lives overall (although I began studying philosophy because of an intense curiosity about the issues it covers rather than because of a conscious desire to make my life better by studying it). I doubt I can say anything more helpful without knowing more about your own encounters with philosophy. For instance, by "more critical of everything," do you mean "more intellectually vigilant about everything" or "more negative and cynical in my attitude toward everything"? I see the former as a benefit, even if the latter isn't. I'm also curious to know which philosophers you've been reading and which of them belong to the handful about whom you're not critical (in whichever sense of "critical"). Without knowing more about you, all I can say is that my own experience of studying philosophy has been positive overall, which is fortunate since I can't realistically see myself doing anything else with the bulk of my time. I'd urge you not to give up on philosophy. If you'd like to contact me, my email address appears on my homepage.

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