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Are philosophers nitpickers?
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:48 pm
by Philosophy Explorer
It seems that philosophers have a reputation for the trivial, often looking for the tiniest thing that may relate to the discussion.
Is this reputation well deserved?
PhilX
Re: Are philosophers nitpickers?
Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 8:30 pm
by Terrapin Station
Philosophy Explorer wrote:It seems that philosophers have a reputation for the trivial, often looking for the tiniest thing that may relate to the discussion.
Is this reputation well deserved?
PhilX
A significant part of the "game" is pinpointing and then examining/analyzing assumptions. That's going to amount to frequently focusing on things that others might see as minor details that aren't the overarching "point" of something.
An analogy would be examining supports--supporting, load-bearnig columns, etc., for a large building. Examining the stability, integrity, etc. of a building's supports is honing in on details that aren't directly about the overall building, but if there's a problem with the supports, it affects the overall building, which might come crashing down because of this. That's a lot of what we do as philosophers.