Question Suppose someone in some remote corner of town is endowed with the gift of sublime philosophical wisdom and insight. When presented with centuries-old paradoxes s/he can simply see the correct answer. Think of him/her as the Susan Boyle of philosophy. Has Philosophy become so institutionalized that this person would have little to no chance of having his/her response heard in a respectable venue? What are the chances that this person might get the attention s/he deserved?

Accepted:
September 24, 2009

Comments

I'm not quite sure what is meant by "sublime insight"! But anyway, serious philosophy involves negotiating your way around thickets of argument. Philosophical originality is a matter of finding new moves to make (or breathing new live into old moves) in argued debates that have usually been developing and deepening for many years, in some cases for thousands(!) of years. Generations of philosophers have explored the options on (as it might be) the liar paradox, or the free-will problem, or the nature of consciousness, with ever-more sophistication, piling distinction upon distinction, argument upon argument. And yes, of course, lots of progress is made -- refining the options, working out their costs and benefits, and often engaging with the relevant science (or work in logic, etc.) as that develops.

Now, it is hard enough for graduate students who've devoted five, six, or more years studying philosophy to start making much progress -- they have to get to grips with so much first, in order to reach the cutting edge (just as it is hard for budding physicists to get to the frontiers, for example). Someone coming from outside the academy is going to find things even tougher -- unless they have an equal amount of time at their disposal, and then they will still need access to libraries if they are not going to spending their time reinventing the wheel. It wouldn't impossible for a philosopher with no institutional attachment to make a mark: just terribly difficult without the time and support that such attachments bring to those of us lucky enough to have them.