This is tangential to the topic of the OP, but (imo) worth responding to:
Yes, I know that philosophy has basically no verification mechanisms and is therefore unable to make progress in the same sense.
Whatever its faults, philosophy excels in figuring out what questions to ask. Very often, once those questions begin to be answered in a decisive way, then the field of endeavor that results is no longer called “philosophy”, but something else. But clarifying the questions is an extremely valuable service!
Funny how most philosophers misunderstand what their job is about. They try answering questions instead of asking or clarifying them, finding a way to ask a question in a way that is answerable by an actual scientist.
Sturgeon’s law applies to philosophy and philosophers no less than it applies to everything else.
The contemporary philosopher whom, I think, I respect most is Daniel Dennett. It is not a coincidence that much of Dennett’s work may indeed be described as “asking or clarifying [questions], finding a way to ask a question in a way that is answerable by an actual scientists”.
This is tangential to the topic of the OP, but (imo) worth responding to:
Whatever its faults, philosophy excels in figuring out what questions to ask. Very often, once those questions begin to be answered in a decisive way, then the field of endeavor that results is no longer called “philosophy”, but something else. But clarifying the questions is an extremely valuable service!
Funny how most philosophers misunderstand what their job is about. They try answering questions instead of asking or clarifying them, finding a way to ask a question in a way that is answerable by an actual scientist.
Sturgeon’s law applies to philosophy and philosophers no less than it applies to everything else.
The contemporary philosopher whom, I think, I respect most is Daniel Dennett. It is not a coincidence that much of Dennett’s work may indeed be described as “asking or clarifying [questions], finding a way to ask a question in a way that is answerable by an actual scientists”.
Vocational prescriptivism? :)