Is Philosophy Stupid? - Richard Carrier - Skepticon 6

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I AGREE

Richard Carrier's notes on the lecture: http://richardcarrier.info/philosophy.html



I haven't watched it, but it should be interesting.



I suppose a part of it is semantics. Carrier makes the point that the word "science" (and "scientist" and so on) didn't become commonly used until very recently. But the history of science without a doubt goes much further back than the 19th century (even though if you go back far enough the borders of exactly when science started become fuzzy).



By the same token, the word "philosophy" was coined Socrates or Plato if I'm not mistaken (and fully systemized by Aristotle). Yet the pre-Socratics are still considered philosophers even though neither them or their contemporaries would have recognized the word.



But I agree that philosophy should not be dismissed. Science is indeed based on philosophical assumptions that should be examined. But to say that science is philosophy seems a bit misleading to me. In our modern world, science is staunchly empirical and in the nitty-gritty process of trying to figure out what makes the universe tick. Not exactly what modern philosophy is about.

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