As I read this interview question about women in academic philosophy, I am struck by its imagery, and find myself returning to my favorite philosophy metaphor. In philosophy one explores the limits of human knowledge and finds oneself traveling unexplored or at least little explored intellectual terrain. The way some philosophers approach this reminds me of John Muir, relatively solitary figures taking notes and returning to their communities hoping to inspire. Others approach the wilderness as developers seemingly more interested in getting a new town erected, recognized, and named after them; and some seem like gunslingers who think theyre doing the world a favor shooting up poorly planned new towns. While I find it easy to romanticize the first, be skeptical about the second, and feel disdain toward the third, I confess I find all three imperfect responses to our intellectual wilderness. Yet the hope is that, along the way, we learn from these adventures, discovering mistakes to avoid, developing more reliable methods to settle our underdeveloped intellectual terrain. These days these issues seem especially common when discussing the nature of the mind and that discussions implications.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:53:37 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015