Sadly, I have not met Philosopher John Conway—although I have met (well, read) more philosophy than the average bear, due to a childhood interest that’s continued (mostly autodidactically) throughout my life. And I was always a pretty heavy reader, so it’s fairly extensive. OTOH, I’m probably more critical of philosophers than the average bear, regularly exclaiming “but that’s nonsense, X!”, so there’s that. Pretty much the same regarding theology, which was/is a nasty surprise for my family. And a few unrelated other topics. I would feel comfortable debating with the average author on such topics, not sure how that compares to the average graduate or whatever.
As I said, I can only comment on my general impression of the field. I’m not an expert—in anything—and I don’t move in philosophy circles.
Worse still, because of my experiences with e.g. theology, I may be unusually biased towards criticising philosophers without properly engaging with them. “My experience of philosophy” is more valuable than a high-schooler’s, but it’s probably nothing special as experience-of-philosophy goes.
Nevertheless, as I said, in my experience of philosophy there are few philosophers at EY’s level.
I think that’s relevant, and hey, if someone with better evidence disagrees then all the more data for me. But the grandparent didn’t provide evidence; it used underhanded tactics to deflect away from it instead.
John Conway … is awesome and much higher-level than me, but I’m not sure how that relates to the above discussion. As you say, he’s a mathematician; I’m not sure who Philosopher!John Conway would be, even if I had met them. Which I haven’t.
It takes some engagement with philosophy to know how to rate a philosopher. OTOH, someone can always gain popularity by telling people what they want to hear. Someone once told me that the Best Philosopher was Timothy Leary.
Sadly, I have not met Philosopher John Conway—although I have met (well, read) more philosophy than the average bear, due to a childhood interest that’s continued (mostly autodidactically) throughout my life. And I was always a pretty heavy reader, so it’s fairly extensive. OTOH, I’m probably more critical of philosophers than the average bear, regularly exclaiming “but that’s nonsense, X!”, so there’s that. Pretty much the same regarding theology, which was/is a nasty surprise for my family. And a few unrelated other topics. I would feel comfortable debating with the average author on such topics, not sure how that compares to the average graduate or whatever.
John Conway is principally a mathematician.
Aren’t you still in high school?
As I said, I can only comment on my general impression of the field. I’m not an expert—in anything—and I don’t move in philosophy circles.
Worse still, because of my experiences with e.g. theology, I may be unusually biased towards criticising philosophers without properly engaging with them. “My experience of philosophy” is more valuable than a high-schooler’s, but it’s probably nothing special as experience-of-philosophy goes.
Nevertheless, as I said, in my experience of philosophy there are few philosophers at EY’s level.
I think that’s relevant, and hey, if someone with better evidence disagrees then all the more data for me. But the grandparent didn’t provide evidence; it used underhanded tactics to deflect away from it instead.
John Conway … is awesome and much higher-level than me, but I’m not sure how that relates to the above discussion. As you say, he’s a mathematician; I’m not sure who Philosopher!John Conway would be, even if I had met them. Which I haven’t.
It takes some engagement with philosophy to know how to rate a philosopher. OTOH, someone can always gain popularity by telling people what they want to hear. Someone once told me that the Best Philosopher was Timothy Leary.