The Future of Philosophy
Aug 01, 2006Ken and John discuss the future of philosophy with three rising stars in American philosophy: Elizabeth Harman from New York University...
Reasons to Donate to Philosophy
Sun Lee
01 February 2018
Marco Rubio once said in his campaign trail, America's economy needs "more welders and less philosophers." A recent donation by a billionaire Wall Street investor challenges the common perception that philosophy is impractical and disconnected with the pursuit of economic gains. Value investor Bill Miller gave $75 million to the philosophy department at Johns Hopkins University, where he was once a PhD student. Miller claims that philosophy has benefitted him incredibly as an investor.
This is the largest gift a university's philosophy department has ever received; however, it comes short of the amount STEM programs receive. As the world confronts more complex problems, some think that philosophy holds the key to illuminating humanity's vision. What are some other reasons to give to philosophy?
Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/arts/bill-miller-75-million-gift-phil...
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Related Shows
The Future of Philosophy
Aug 01, 2006Ken and John discuss the future of philosophy with three rising stars in American philosophy: Elizabeth Harman from New York University...
Philosophy and the Alma Mater
Sep 19, 2010Scholars from Berkeley and from Stanford have played a big role on Philosophy Talk. Sure, John and Ken are from Stanford, but man...
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Jan 04, 2009Is a university a research institute with students, or and educational institution with research around the edges – or something in between?
The Philanthropy Trap
Jun 19, 2016Many of us generally admire people who donate large sums of money to charity. Yet people donate for all sorts of reasons – some selfless, some not so much.
Blog Archive
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
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Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
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Comments (2)
Ken Taylor
Thursday, February 1, 2018 -- 11:21 AM
Hey Sun! Good message. HereHey Sun! Good message. Here's my own defense of the central importance of Philosophy,
https://politicalphilosopher.net/2016/08/26/featured-philosopher-ken-tay...
MJA
Monday, February 12, 2018 -- 2:14 PM
Why Philosophy: SocratesWhy Philosophy: Socrates believed Philosophy was truth and a philosopher a lover of truth; surely truth is of supreme relevance today as it will always be. Truth is absolute. So what is this truth Socrates could not grasp and cause Ken to write in his essay Why Philosophy : "There may be some deep unity beneath this vast surface diversity. But after all these years, I myself still can’t quite say what that unity comes to." Ken later write most beautifully: "If one could catch a glimpse of the whole, from a perspective outside of this ever unfolding landscape, if you could regard with a certain detached equanimity, it would, I suspect, be a marvelous thing to behold."
That unity Ken is truth!
I think it was Einstein who said that of all the groups he would most want to be associated with it would be the true searchers for which there are only a few living at one time. I think Ken you are one of them, hmmm!
If I might humbly offer some direction here, it would make me most happy to share.
Truth can be found in Nature so Nature is (truth is) the place to look. Find yourself or a river and try to measure it. If you are fortunate to find the river is as nature is, is as Oneself is, truly immeasurable, that unity or truth you are searching for is just around the next bend.
Why Philosophy! One day philosophy will lead science and religion to the river and they will surely drink. Truth is a powerful drink! =