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Do professional philosophers have any influence on the daily life of people anywhere in the world? By daily life, I mean, even if indirectly, the general public, politicians, economists, therapists, bosses, novelists, and so on?
Accepted:
January 31, 2014

Comments

Oliver Leaman
February 13, 2014 (changed February 13, 2014) Permalink

Perhaps not directly, but by affecting the general cultural climate of the time philosophers do have an impact. For example it may be that the prevalence of utilitarian thinking among moral philosophers has made possible the sorts of developments we often see in politics, economics, therapy and so on. Modern society is often more given to instrumental thinking about itself than was the case in the past, and that could well be linked with the sorts of moral philosophy which today tend to prevail.

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