Philosophy

Reading through the questions posted on this site gives the impression that it is almost impossible to escape philosophical problems in the course of day-to-day life. Why is it that some (reasonably intelligent) people seem to have no interest in philosophy at all?

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I run a freshman course with the rather over-egged title 'The Metaphysics of the Everyday'. It's purpose is to begin, each week, with a different current event or issue, and try to tease out what philosophical issues might be at play. Obviously, we cannot go into a great deal of depth about either the issues or the philosophical notions; that's not the point. The point is rather to encourage the recognition of the influence and ubiquity of certain ideas. Why am I telling you this? Seeing philosophy at work in 'everyday life' is a skill that first has to be acquired. A good, though probably a silly, analogy is with bird-watching: one might think that the ability to spot birds is related simply to eyesight or attention, but it really is a skill that needs to be acquired by many chilly dawns in forests.

Moreover, there are good reasons why many people never acquire this skill (spotting philosophy, I mean, not birds), or even feel the need to acquire it. I would say that we all have a relation to institutions part of the purpose of which is to claim that there is no debate to be had about certain concepts; that, for example, the concepts of 'truth' or 'right' or 'faith' are no more problematic that the concept of 'chair'. (This may be a political point, but it is at least not partisan: 'oversimplifying' or 'obscuring debate' are common enough accusations that political groups fling at each other.)

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