Do you guys think philosophers are smart?

[Bhadra]

I am not sure if much people know but there is a very interesting subject called "Logic" in the study of Philosophy which is as a fact a branch of Maths.

A LOT of people think Philosophy is just a set of statements of people how they perceive and define things but its much more than that and it involves Maths.

These are main Branches of Philosophy :-

• Metaphysics, which deals with the fundamental questions of reality.
• Epistemology, which deals with our concept of knowledge, how we learn and what we can know.
• Logic, which studies the rules of valid reasoning and argumentation
• Ethics, or moral philosophy, which is concerned with human values and how individuals should act.
• Aesthetics or esthetics, which deals with the notion of beauty and the philosophy of art.

There is a sub branch in Logic known as Symbolic Logic which can twist minds while doing brain twisting calculations in long tables and can be quite tough like Maths.A lot of so called intelligent guys here can fail doing these calculations.

http://www.chem.uoa.gr/applets/appletgates/Images/Image1.gif

http://www.brian-borowski.com/Software/Truth/Truth Table 1.gif

Also this Logic used in Truth tables is also used in Digital Electronics(AND,NAND,OR,XOR etc Gates)

Digital Electronics: Gates, Decoders, Multiplexers

Ha Ha Ha ....

Are you sure ??

Maths is a branch of logic or logic is a branch of maths ?? Or None !!

 

[Bhadra]

When is philosophy not "coupled with reason and rational thought"? Because if it isn't rational, it's not philosophy.

Very tall statement .....

What about irrational philosophies ??

You mean to say Franz Kafka was ratioanl ?? Or Kabir was rational ? Was Mira ratioanl ??

 

[laughingbuddha]

I have a cousin, high on weed and always philosophying. We call him "Philo".

 

[Peter]

Ha Ha Ha ....

Are you sure ??

Maths is a branch of logic or logic is a branch of maths ?? Or None !!

Logic is a branch of mathematics.To be said quite correctly,there are various types of logic.We computer students learn about Digital logic which is based on boolean algebra.
As for logic in philosophy it will be nice if some one can tell me what it is really about?I mean I want to know what is the subject based on actually.

 

[Peter]

Post #29
^^

It seems odd to me that Siddhārtha Gautama is not on that list. Is it because Buddhism is considered religion, separately from philosophy per se?

The fact is that whether Buddhism is really a religion or a just a set of ideals and thoughts is really not obvious.I know of a friend who is a Brahmin Hindu but calls himself a Buddhist.Yet society(I and his other friends) quite naturally regard him as a Hindu.
Even in Bengal, Buddha is considered by Bengali Hindus as one of the avatars of Vishnu(who is of course the most important Hindu deity along with Shiva).You can find this mentioned in many Bengali literature.
I believe the western definition of religion actually does not apply to Dharmic traditions.Dharmic faiths allow you to follow the teachings of any saint or deity without losing the tag of the religion you were born in.Even atheists can be called Hindus!!!
In my opinion as Buddha was silent about God I would call his teachings or ideas as a philosophy rather than branding it as a religion(well the religion defined in the Oxford dictionary).This is of course just my humble opinion.

 

[Peter]

I'm studying philosophy as you all know and I thought to ask what Indians think of my major. Are philosophers considered smart?

Well I will be frank with you.If you ask me what most Indians really think of philosophers or philosophy as a subject, then you will be disappointed with my answer.Many Indians do`t even consider philosophy as a subject.They think those who do masters or bachelor education in philosophy as potentially unemployed people.Also they feel philosophers have lower IQ or intellect than engineers,doctors etc.If you ask my mother what she thinks about philosopher she will tell that they are good for nothing brats who will soon die of hunger and poverty.She feels they will end up as sweepers etc.

If you ask my own personal opinion I would like to differ with the views of majority of Indians.I think philosophers are just as smart as us engineers or doctors.They have just chose a different subject to study.Everyone does not need to become an engineer,doctor,IITian,IAS(not trying to say IIT is easy.I know how hard it is and I salute IITians).People from humble backgrounds have achieved great things.Well V Ramakrishnan did not get IIT or study as an engineer.Also last time I checked Rabindranath Tagore also could not solve those 360 marks of the IIT paper.One should not judge a person`s capabilities in life or intellect by the subject he has taken up.This is one area where the west is better than us, they treat people pursuing varied fields equally and encourage everyone.Of course there are exceptions.The will and determination for greatness determines a person`s future.Otherwise Satya Nadella could not have risen to such great heights after studying at Manipal university which is not seen in the same light as some other Indian universities.Nothing is a waste of time. Everything depends on how hard you work and what decisions you make.There are many pass out engineers in JU who have not done so well compared to art students in JU.With right mindset even a person studying a "waste of time subject" can achieve great things.So yeah I do think philosophers can be smart and achieve great things if they work hard.

 

[PredictablyMalicious]

Well I will be frank with you.If you ask me what most Indians really think of philosophers or philosophy as a subject, then you will be disappointed with my answer.Many Indians do`t even consider philosophy as a subject.They think those who do masters or bachelor education in philosophy as potentially unemployed people.Also they feel philosophers have lower IQ or intellect than engineers,doctors etc.If you ask my mother what she thinks about philosopher she will tell that they are good for nothing brats who will soon die of hunger and poverty.She feels they will end up as sweepers etc.

If you ask my own personal opinion I would like to differ with the views of majority of Indians.I think philosophers are just as smart as us engineers or doctors.They have just chose a different subject to study.Everyone does not need to become an engineer,doctor,IITian,IAS(not trying to say IIT is easy.I know how hard it is and I salute IITians).People from humble backgrounds have achieved great things.Well V Ramakrishnan did not get IIT or study as an engineer.Also last time I checked Rabindranath Tagore also could not solve those 360 marks of the IIT paper.One should not judge a person`s capabilities in life or intellect by the subject he has taken up.This is one area where the west is better than us, they treat people pursuing varied fields equally and encourage everyone.Of course there are exceptions.The will and determination for greatness determines a person`s future.Otherwise Satya Nadella could not have risen to such great heights after studying at Manipal university which is not seen in the same light as some other Indian universities.Nothing is a waste of time. Everything depends on how hard you work and what decisions you make.There are many pass out engineers in JU who have not done so well compared to art students in JU.With right mindset even a person studying a "waste of time subject" can achieve great things.So yeah I do think philosophers can be smart and achieve great things if they work hard.

Philosophers are actually smarter than Engineers. See my post on the first page. Philosophy majors score the second highest on LSAT (Law School Admission Test) after Physics, and also one of the highest on the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). I have seen many Indian engineers and they did not strike me as particularly bright. Engineers are not known for being smart. Only MIT and IIT graduates on average are very smart; not your average engineer.

 

[Peter]

Philosophers are actually smarter than Engineers. See my post on the first page. Philosophy majors score the second highest on LSAT (Law School Admission Test) after Physics, and also one of the highest on the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). I have seen many Indian engineers and they did not strike me as particularly bright. Engineers are not known for being smart. Only MIT and IIT graduates on average are very smart; not your average engineer.

Well I am not saying that an engineer or doctor is smarter than a philosopher.Neither am I saying that a philosopher is smarter than an engineer.All I am saying is success in any field depends on hard work.If you say that philosophers are smarter than engineers like us it`s ok with me.They must have done more hard work than us and did not waste their time on internet. That`s the reason of their good GRE`s.If a person puts in a lot of effort he can become a boss in any field and he will be called smart.

(As for MIT and IIT graduates being only smart that`s not true.Any engineer who can be innovative can achieve great ends.Even here in JU there are students/batchmates who gave up IIT to study CSE in JU)

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

Very tall statement .....

What about irrational philosophies ??

You mean to say Franz Kafka was ratioanl ?? Or Kabir was rational ? Was Mira ratioanl ??

kabir was highly rational
.

.
one of his Doha
.
kabira tera ghar galkatiyan k pas
.
jo karenge so bharenge tu kyo hoy udas
.
simply those who do bad work will pay for it , we shouldn't worry about them.
.

.
kafka was a writer and not philosopher
.
he followed positive existentialism , which is highly rational ,the main theme of positive existentialism is the world is end it self but there is god
.
and main points of negative existentialism which is also called absurdity is world is end itself and there is no god
.
kafka was positive existentialist
.
and albert camus,samuel beckett are that of absurdity
.
kafka was a rational writer and existentialism is rational
.
.
may be you are saying religious writing as irrational but actually religious philosophy is rational but you need to think carefully

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

Very tall statement .....

What about irrational philosophies ??

You mean to say Franz Kafka was ratioanl ?? Or Kabir was rational ? Was Mira ratioanl ??

kabir was highly rational
.

.
one of his Doha
.
kabira tera ghar galkatiyan k pas
.
jo karenge so bharenge tu kyo hoy udas
.
simply those who do bad work will pay for it , we shouldn't worry about them.
.

.
kafka was a writer and not philosopher
.
he followed positive existentialism , which is highly rational ,the main theme of positive existentialism is the world is end it self but there is god
.
and main points of negative existentialism which is also called absurdity is world is end itself and there is no god
.
kafka was positive existentialist
.
and albert camus,samuel beckett are that of absurdity

 

[jackprince]

Philosophers are actually smarter than Engineers. See my post on the first page. Philosophy majors score the second highest on LSAT (Law School Admission Test) after Physics, and also one of the highest on the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). I have seen many Indian engineers and they did not strike me as particularly bright. Engineers are not known for being smart. Only MIT and IIT graduates on average are very smart; not your average engineer.

How many engineers or Doctors, who are actually working worthwhile jobs in their own respective respectable fields or any Physics graduate who are doing research - appear in LSAT to go in Law, particularly since despite all the hoopla about money of lawyers, it is one of the most despised class of people socially?

Further, I must say those guys who did not seem bright toYOU is one of the highest complement for them, as what kind of smart person suffer enough insecurity about his/her smartness to ask completely unknown people - almost begging - to call him/her a SMART person!!! The basic thing is that if one is smart, he already knows that and does not have to get certificate from anyone!

 

[Dovah]

When is philosophy not "coupled with reason and rational thought"? Because if it isn't rational, it's not philosophy.

A lot of times. When dealing with philosophical problems mainly pertaining to morals, ethics and aesthetics people tend to forgo reason and approach from n emotive point of view.

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

let of tell you 3 methods started in philosophy and scientist uses them for most of their intention
.
there methods are basic of science right now
.
.
socrates : he used to ask question, those questions were rational but basic like what is bravery ?, what if a guy ran from battlefield so that he will come later to win ?
.
plato : known as founder of criticism
.
his method can criticize a intention ,article etc .
.
aristotle : he have us a scientific way
.
his technique includes careful observation and equal careful criticism,
.
this 3 technique -asking questions , criticism and observation are actually most important among science

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

well engineers and doctor are dull in philosophy and so the philosopher in engineering and medical
.
everyone is not aristotle or leonardo da vinci to be versatile

 

[LurkerBaba]

Philosophers are actually smarter than Engineers. See my post on the first page. Philosophy majors score the second highest on LSAT (Law School Admission Test) after Physics, and also one of the highest on the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). I have seen many Indian engineers and they did not strike me as particularly bright. Engineers are not known for being smart. Only MIT and IIT graduates on average are very smart; not your average engineer.

GRE is a bloody joke. These scores are from the US.

In India, any half-decent guy scores 320+ out of 340 in GRE. The good ones score 330+

Here, Engineers and Doctors are definitely smarter than the average liberal arts guy (assuming all three are from decent colleges). In US I'd say that Law and Finance people are as smart as STEM folk

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

well engineers and doctor are
dull in philosophy and so the
philosopher in engineering
and medical
.
everyone is not aristotle or
leonardo da vinci to be
versatile
.

.
arts is not inferior to science actually it was arts which gave an atmosphere for science to grow
.
in 15 century the enlightenment,renaissance is the cause of growth of science .
the things like freedom ,administration, human problems, different attitude toward life etc gave science atmosphere to grow and they all are outcome of arts
.
.
to be honest sir, many engineers and medical student producer really inferior novels and literature der eg. Chetan bhagat
.
@lurker sir

 

[Apollyon]

GRE is a bloody joke. These scores are from the US.

In India, any half-decent guy scores 320+ out of 340 in GRE. The good ones score 330+

May you should stop believing the random talk you had with someone who gave GRE. It's bloody difficult to score 330+ and 315+ is what any half decent guy/girl would score.

 

[Bangalorean]

to be honest sir, many engineers and medical student producer really inferior novels and literature der eg. Chetan bhagat
.
@lurker sir

Chetan Bhagat thought of a great business plan - writing English novels in simple English, without any high-sounding words or complex grammar. And he succeeded. It was a brilliant business plan which fetched him lots of money and fame. I call that a big success.

 

[PredictablyMalicious]

May you should stop believing the random talk you had with someone who gave GRE. It's bloody difficult to score 330+ and 315+ is what any half decent guy/girl would score.

He is delusional. He thinks Indians are somehow smarter than Americans I can tell you with some confidence that American graduate students are definitely smarter than their Indian counterparts.

 

[Apollyon]

He is delusional. He thinks Indians are somehow smarter than Americans I can tell you with some confidence that American graduate students are definitely smarter than their Indian counterparts.

Exactly. One of the reasons being the syllabus is up to date with the latest.