Topics Philosophy

Question I believe modern Western philosophy is more a tool for reasoning than a body of doctrine, i.e., you apply it to whatever subjects crop up. Here comes my irreverent question. What do professional philosophers like yourselves do at barbecues when someone states an opinion? Do you subject it to rigorous philosophical analysis (this might not win you friends) or just chow down and let it go? And if the discussion was about something like the advisability of invading Iraq or otherwise, what could a philosopher offer that anyone else could not? This question is not a put-down - you must encounter a lot of idiocy in everyday life such as creationism - so what do you do in such situations? It must get frustrating at times! I am sure you all have robust senses of humor, however, and can handle this stuff and my genuine inquiry.

Accepted:
November 20, 2008

Comments

Well, I can't speak for other "professional philosophers", only for myself.

One thing that philosophers can offer is a capacity to recognize an argument's logical structure and whether arguments of that structure are good-- and, if they are not good, to make clear exactly why they are not good by crafting similar arguments whose problems are fairly obvious. Of course, philosophers are not uniquely able to do this. But philosophical work (as well as teaching philosophy) does tend to make one better able to do it -- more sensitive to ambiguity, equivocation, begging the question, circular reasoning, regresses, distinctions that must be drawn, and so forth.

Another thing that philosophers can offer is some historical perspective on a given issue. We may know where similar issues have come up before, what the standard argumentative moves and options are, etc. Again, philosophers are not uniquely so equipped. But philosophical training can help.

A third thing that philosophers can offer (though, again, not uniquely) is the ability to proceed abstractly. Philosophical training helps you to see what general principles may be implicated in a given argument, what general concepts are doing the work, etc.

Now of course, when arguments are made in barbecues, one doesn't bring all of one's philosophical equipment to bear upon them! (At least, my wife hates me when I seem to be doing so and says things like "You'll have to excuse him, he's a philosopher.") Indeed, some topics seem to attract such fallacious and ignorant arguments that when those topics come up, I immediately excuse myself and join another conversation, because it is bad for my blood pressure for me to hang around.