Can't Resist This One - "What Is A Philosopher?"

The New York Times introduces a new column/blog/something-or-other today by the name of "The Stone," and apparently it is a forum for philosophical discussion. Way to go, NYT!

The first column asks the question, "What is a philosopher?" Good way to start!

Here's my first take at an answer: a philosopher is someone who realizes how incredibly stupid it is to ask a question like "What is a philosopher?" because there are a million different answers, almost all equally meaningless.

Here's my second take at an answer: a philosopher is someone who can't resist trying to answer the question "What is a philosopher?" because his or her answer might be that one-in-a-million answer that is the most interesting and not entirely meaningless. Not "right," because in philosophy, there is no "right" answer, just more or less interesting ones. An "interesting" answer to a question, at least by philosopher standards, is one that provokes the listener into thinking more about both the question and the answer.

Here's my third take at an answer. This is a paraphrase of a quote from Franklin Roosevelt. He used the world "radical," not philosopher, but it's a fun take on it nonetheless: "A philosopher is someone with both feet planted firmly in the clouds."

Here's my fourth take. This one is rather cynical: A philosopher is someone who is paid to be professionally confused for years at a time.

Here's my fifth take, again rather cynical: A philosopher is someone who is professionally uninterested in making decisions.

Actually, four and five are not great answers, because it is entirely possible that someone could meet either or both of those criteria and not be anything close to a philosopher. But it was fun to write those sentences.

Sixth take. There are limits to questions. There are limits to what can be known merely by thinking. A philosopher is someone who is aware that these limits exist, and may even be vaguely aware of where they are, and completely ignores them.

Here's my final attempt to answer the question "What is a philosopher?": a philosopher is someone who understands this analogy: doing philosophy (not necessarily "studying" philosophy) is like driving a Ferrari: 99 times out of 100, it's either largely pointless, not worth the extra effort/cost, or potentially fatal. But that 1% of the time, there is nothing like it in the world.

Philosophy and hedge funds

The FT has an article about an Asian funds of hedge funds, Persistent Edge, whose founders use philosophy to understand the market.

I love the FT.

Specifically, they use Kant, Ilya Prigogine, and Taoism. That's a great combination. I didn't go far enough in my study of Kant to really get into his concept of antinomy (one of my regrets about my undergraduate studies in philosophy), but it makes perfect sense: two people can come to directly opposite conclusions from the same evidence. Sure seen enough of that in my time.

I don't know much about Prigogine, but I ran across his name while I was studying complexity theory, so my ears prick up. And I was into Taoism when I was in high school. So I am totally down with this group.

Their basic theory seems to be that they look at the fundamentals, and then they look at how others in the market are interpreting those fundamentals. Makes a lot of sense. That's how I play HSX, although I don't have as much data to go on.

I have always said that studying philosophy is like driving a Ferrari; 99% of the time it's either more trouble than it's worth, marginally useful, or potentially dangerous. But that 1% of the time that it's really useful, there's nothing like it in the world.

Looking forward to hearing more about this in the future. Persistent Edge. Remember that name.

More and more philosphy majors

Never thot I would read this. According to the NYTimes, philosophy is an ever-more popular major among undergrads. Huh. Wow. Weird. Interesting.

This trend, of course, immediately raises questions. Is it true? Are we justified in believing this? What is the meaning of this? Can we judge it to be a positive for society?

Or is this an example of mass delusion, thousands of people spontaneously believing something - that majoring in philosophy is a worthwhile endeavor - the assumptions of which have never been conclusively proven? Is the unexamined life really not worth living? Is it possible that people who live their lives unexamined do live fulfilled, meaningful lives?

More importantly, is it possible to get a job as a philosophy major? Yes, but it is highly advised that you go to law school.

I was a philosophy major. My parents were supportive and encouraged me. My mother, however, did ask me if I was going to start a philosophy store. No, I couldn't assign a value to Hegel, and Schopenhauer proved impervious to packaging.

There is one great problem with majoring in philosophy, and that is that there is the ever-present danger that you will take it too seriously. Philosophy teaches you how to ask questions, but not necessarily how to find answers. Once you get started, it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to know when to stop. This can be a serious problem. Monty Python captured it perfectly.




There are, however, several solutions. Monty Python also provided one such solution. The lyrics of this song were actually posted on the wall in the office of the chairman of the philosophy department at Swarthmore.




And then, of course, there is this scene from A Fish Called Wanda, which has one of my all-time favorite lines about philosophy.




Sometimes I think Jamie Lee Curtis is the one who should have won an Oscar for this movie (Kevin Kline won Best Supporting Actor).

My feelings about philosophy come down to this. Studying philosophy is like driving a Ferrari. 99% of the time, it's either only marginally better than whatever is normal, a complete waste, or actually counterproductive. But that 1% of the time when you can use it for the purpose for which it was intended, there is nothing like it in the world.