Topics Philosophy

Question What do philosophy and philosophers do nowadays? In the past new ideas affected politics and all that jazz, sort of. But what about today? Maybe it's just obscure and the general public hasn't noticed but what has philosophy accomplished of late? In my eyes, philosophers just keep arguing about old texts and inferred meanings and things humans will always wonder. So where is philosophy going?

Accepted:
June 21, 2006

Comments

Who knows? But it is wrong to think that contemporary philosophy is merely technical and unconnected with everyday cultural and political events. The major debates about these events are constantly informed by philosophical ideas, and even the explicit contributions of philosophers themselves, just as in the past. For example, it is very difficult to understand political debate in the United States at any time without a solid grasp of the political theory of liberalism and natural rights. John Locke would feel very at home listening to talk radio, as would Jeremy Bentham.