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Just me or is philosophy actually a complete shitshow? When I was younger I really wanted to major in philosophy because I thought it was "learning to think real good about abstract stuff", but eventually found out it was "quoting other famous people's stuff at each other"

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I’ve only read a bit but some name-dropping happens because other people have had the same thoughts and arguments hundreds of years ago

Aella

@Aella_Girl

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@AntisocialJW2

but that's not the point, like the point is to talk with the *other person* about how *they personally* relate to it, doesn't matter if old people hashed it out.

6:09 AM · Oct 18, 2019

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and

If old people hashed it out, then you listen to whichever one you think makes sense. Either you don’t understand philosophy well or I’m not understanding your problem with it.

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and

Why would you listen to them, though? They obviously did a ton of thinking, but I assumed the point of philosophy is for *you* to do all that thinking, independently, and then notice if you happen to agree with them or not. I used to think people read philosophers to assess-

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If it’s purely about tastes and preferences there’s not much to study as a discipline If it’s about finding flaws and refining positions then prior work can be helpful That said, I see the names as attribution and don’t care for quoting or idolization replacing thought

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and

Then it is up to you to ask them how it relates to them. How it makes them feel. How they apply it. Name dropping acts as a segue to discuss such topics. When asked, if the person doesn’t show introspection, then it’s just about sounding smart.

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and

That sounds more like the point of having a diary.