Question There is a tribe where people assume that short men are short because they were sexually loose during adolescence and a consequence they have a lower status within their society. We moderns like to think we are more rational. "Our modern society is not like that," but many people still adhere to irrational beliefs which our central to our society. "People are poor because they didn't work hard enough" for example. Will philosophy help us to attain a more rational, equitable, tolerant, and compassionate culture? If not what will? I've read stuff from within cultural criticism but I can't see how that stuff will make our culture better because most of it seems kind of "out there."

Accepted:
July 5, 2012

Comments

I don't know why you assume that either of these false beliefs is irrational. They are certainly not true but they could be and no doubt there is some argument and theory of which they could be a part and play a role. They are not arguments which philosophy can address directly, since they are biological or economic, although philosophers could address what sorts of evidence might prove or disprove them.

A good way of starting is not to assume that philosophy can help us to attain a more rational, equitable, tolerant, and compassionate culture. It can help us provide some explanations of different conceptions of such cultures, but you seem to assume that it is obvious what such a culture would be, and what values it must hold. That is very far from anything that most philosophers set out to do, fortunately.