Topics Philosophy

Question Good morning everybody. My question is about philosophical skills, that may develop during philosopical inquiry. I ask myself if there is a kind of genuine philosophical skill, a genuine philosophical expertise. If there is one, what are the differences between this special philosophical skill and the the expertise of a theologian, a politician or a logician?

Accepted:
April 15, 2010

Comments

I expect that there will be some overlap in these skills, but strictly speaking, I think the special skill of a theologian will be the ability to organize reasons in such a way as to support certain religious views, the special skill of a politician will be to govern others in a way that engenders support from the governed, the special skill of a logician would be for finding ways to make inferences within a rule-governed system, whereas the special skill of a philosopher will be thinking "outside the box" in such a way as to allow progress on topics in which people "inside the box" find progress difficult or impossible. Philosophers are required not to allow certain religious views, or the need for popular support, to restrict their reasoning. Philosophers also often engage in reasoning where the rules of eviddence are not neearly as clear as they are in formal logic. But as I said, there will be some overlap in all of these skills. Many great philosophers have also been theologians, politicians, or logicians.