I would expect philosophers to believe what they’re payed to believe. Most of them aren’t likely to shift their opinions for grant money, but the ones who have the right opinions are more likely to become philosophers, and will be better known. They will also make their mark on philosophy, and other philosophers will follow that.
What are philosophers payed to believe? What exactly is their job?
They’re paid in large part to come up with minor variants on, and argue persuasively for and against, existing beliefs and practices that other philosophers strongly disagree about. The kinds of arguments, and to some extent the kinds of views, are determined to a significant extent by conventions about what it means to be a ‘philosopher’. E.g., one’s immediate goal is to try to persuade and earn the respect of dialectical opponents and near-allies, not to reliably answer questions like ‘If my life were on the line, and I really had to come up with the right answer and not just an Interesting and Intuitively Appealing reef of arguments, how confident would I actually be that teleportation is death, is determinately death, and that that’s the end of the story?’
If I could change just two small things about philosophers, it would probably be to (1) make them stop thinking of themselves (and being thought of by others) as a cohesive lump called ‘Philosophy’, and (2) make them think of their questions as serious, life-or-death disputes, not as highly refined intellectual recreation or collaborative play.
‘If my life were on the line, and I really had to come up with the right answer and not just an Interesting and Intuitively Appealing reef of arguments, how confident would I actually be that teleportation is death, is determinately death, and that that’s the end of the story?’
different from this question?
Is teleportation death?
Also, what effect do you suppose identifying as philosophers has on philosophers, or adhering to conventions about what it means to be a philosopher? Do you mean that this produces methodological problems?
Relatedly, how are they funded? I’m assuming the large majority of professional philosophers are academics, but that still leaves it open. Is it primarily from tuition / university general funds, from endowed faculty positions, from government grants, from private grants or something else entirely?
I would expect philosophers to believe what they’re payed to believe. Most of them aren’t likely to shift their opinions for grant money, but the ones who have the right opinions are more likely to become philosophers, and will be better known. They will also make their mark on philosophy, and other philosophers will follow that.
What are philosophers payed to believe? What exactly is their job?
They’re paid in large part to come up with minor variants on, and argue persuasively for and against, existing beliefs and practices that other philosophers strongly disagree about. The kinds of arguments, and to some extent the kinds of views, are determined to a significant extent by conventions about what it means to be a ‘philosopher’. E.g., one’s immediate goal is to try to persuade and earn the respect of dialectical opponents and near-allies, not to reliably answer questions like ‘If my life were on the line, and I really had to come up with the right answer and not just an Interesting and Intuitively Appealing reef of arguments, how confident would I actually be that teleportation is death, is determinately death, and that that’s the end of the story?’
If I could change just two small things about philosophers, it would probably be to (1) make them stop thinking of themselves (and being thought of by others) as a cohesive lump called ‘Philosophy’, and (2) make them think of their questions as serious, life-or-death disputes, not as highly refined intellectual recreation or collaborative play.
What makes this question
different from this question?
Also, what effect do you suppose identifying as philosophers has on philosophers, or adhering to conventions about what it means to be a philosopher? Do you mean that this produces methodological problems?
Relatedly, how are they funded? I’m assuming the large majority of professional philosophers are academics, but that still leaves it open. Is it primarily from tuition / university general funds, from endowed faculty positions, from government grants, from private grants or something else entirely?