Philosophy

Do you think that the answers you offer here, not so much to questions that resolve themselves into issues of terminology or disciplinary orhtodoxy, but to questions that address the allegedly larger issues of life, death, truth, ethical behavior, etc., have any more value, practical or otherwise, than answers provided by, say, priests, prostitutes, or politicians? If so, why? If not, what is your motivation for participating in this forum?

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I'm not sure that any of us really pretend to have answers to the difficult questions of life. We claim to have thought about them, perhaps more deeply than your average prostitue or politician, and perhaps from a different perspective than your average priest (or minister, or what have you). I don't know that this makes what a philosopher has to say about, say, the ethics of abortion or gay marriage, the meaning of death, or the nature of human sexuality of more value than what someone else might have to say, but I hope very much that it does make it of some value.

Part of what I myself would hope this website demonstrates is that it is possible to think hard, rationally, and clearly about difficult and profound issues. And, indeed, thinking about such issues does not have to be separate from whatever it is one might do with priests, politicians, and prostitutes. Thinking can, I would again hope, be integrated with other ways of approaching such questions.

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