NationStates Jolt Archive

There has been some discussion lately about whether 'evolutionist' is the proper term for anyone who adheres to the theory of evolution. Can someone who has a philosophy call themselves a philosopher, or is that term reserved for scholars/those whose works are published?

i think therefor i am.

Does having a philosophy make you a philosopher?

No .... having a beard does.

(If anyone gets that, I'll be impressed)

I'm not so much a philosopher as I am a one man band.

I think anyone can be a philosopher. Of course you need some amount of intelligence and logic... Which most people don't have but whatever :rolleyes:

There has been some discussion lately about whether 'evolutionist' is the proper term for anyone who adheres to the theory of evolution. Can someone who has a philosophy call themselves a philosopher, or is that term reserved for scholars/those whose works are published?


That is an interesting question. I think that if you adhere and profess to a self-developed philosophy, then you are a philosopher.

If you follow someone else's philisophy, you aren't.

This is just off the top of my head.

Well once your educated in lots of other philosophies then maybe....

I'd think it would depend on your approach to philosophy. Reading half a dozen works in a desultory manner for a university class doesn't make you a philosopher, but studying a couple of works in depth, analysing them logically, and formulating a personally-held perspective on them does.

Really, though, "philosopher" is a self-applied title. If someone considers themselves to be a lover of learning, and has their own metaphysical belief system, they can call themselves a philosopher all they want. If they just dabble in other people's texts, and aren't sure about the whole thing, or don't think about it often, they probably wouldn't give that name to themselves.

Or, as the man once said about being a lady: "If you have to ask if you are, you ain't."

i think therefor i am.

Can you prove it? :)

Can you prove it? :)
The French guy can...

I am here you are not.
If a tree falls in the forset and i do not hear it,Do i give a rats arse?

Technically no. It just means that you believe in something

Everyone's a philosopher. Sooner or later we all have to try to answer some of those difficult questions.

Does having a philosophy make you a philosopher?



Yes. In the same way having a hat makes you a cowboy.

All Tanks are AFV's but not all AFV's are Tanks?

There has been some discussion lately about whether 'evolutionist' is the proper term for anyone who adheres to the theory of evolution. Can someone who has a philosophy call themselves a philosopher, or is that term reserved for scholars/those whose works are published?
Evolution is not a philosophy, it is a Scientific Theory.
Wait, or has someone gone a tried to turn it into a philosophy?
Anyway, no I dont think just because one has a particular "philosophy" they are a philosopher.

There has been some discussion lately about whether 'evolutionist' is the proper term for anyone who adheres to the theory of evolution. Can someone who has a philosophy call themselves a philosopher, or is that term reserved for scholars/those whose works are published?
Not if you agree with Plato (see: The Republic under The Philosopher Ruler)
Silence is not Golden, Gold is. But then Gold is silent so the confusion is understandable. :D Oh, thats going on the sig...

I think a philosopher is to philosophy as a theologian is to theological ideas. Ultimately there is a fine line between casual interest and full-on studying, but it's a distinct one.

Any person who searches for the truth is, for the time, a philosopher. However, if this search is stopped, clouded by unshakable beliefs, or anything else is done to stop the searching process, then the person in question loses their philosopher status. It has nothing to do with getting published, I could do that right now easily enough. It is not a title someone can bestow upon you. It is a self ordained position.
- Brian Chut
Official Religious Emissary, Tyslan

Evolution is not a philosophy, it is a Scientific Theory.
Wait, or has someone gone a tried to turn it into a philosophy?
Anyway, no I dont think just because one has a particular "philosophy" they are a philosopher.


Yes.
I fear, I do only know the German name for this philosophy (Evolutionstheoretischer Realismus) - I hope you can figure out what it means ;)
It follows Kant's thoughts that we do not see the real world but only what our senses make us believe. According to this form of realism, our senses are developping due to our evolution and therefore our way of seeing the world is strongly influenced by evolution.
I'm not sure if everybody in here is interested in evolution-theory-realism, so I won't go into detail unless someone asks me to do so.

By the way, Karl Jaspers said that one can't escape philosophy. Even someone who says that he is NO philosopher is one, because refusing philosophy is a philosophy. So everybody is.
"Philosopher" means something like "The one who loves wisdom", and not "the one who is wise" (would be "Sophoser" then, I think). You don't have to be intelligent, well-educated or anything to be a philosopher.

Philosophers are people who love knowledge ;)

Yes.
I fear, I do only know the German name for this philosophy (Evolutionstheoretischer Realismus) - I hope you can figure out what it means ;)
It follows Kant's thoughts that we do not see the real world but only what our senses make us believe. According to this form of realism, our senses are developping due to our evolution and therefore our way of seeing the world is strongly influenced by evolution.
I'm not sure if everybody in here is interested in evolution-theory-realism, so I won't go into detail unless someone asks me to do so.

By the way, Karl Jaspers said that one can't escape philosophy. Even someone who says that he is NO philosopher is one, because refusing philosophy is a philosophy. So everybody is.
"Philosopher" means something like "The one who loves wisdom", and not "the one who is wise" (would be "Sophoser" then, I think). You don't have to be intelligent, well-educated or anything to be a philosopher.

I agree with philosphy not just belonging to an academic elite, but I think you should at least have to be questioning to be a philosopher. If you think you already know everything that needs to be known you aren't open to the truth
(well, the search for the truth, anyway).

I agree with philosphy not just belonging to an academic elite, but I think you should at least have to be questioning to be a philosopher. If you think you already know everything that needs to be known you aren't open to the truth
(well, the search for the truth, anyway).

I should have said that a philosopher is someone who loves AND SEEKS wisdom, not somone who thinks he's the wisest man on earth ;)
And yet, there are some philosophers who say they don't seek for wisdom, because it doesn't exist, and yet they are philosophers...

Everyone's a philosopher. Sooner or later we all have to try to answer some of those difficult questions.

Not true. Some people just stick their heads in the sand and never ask questions. Some just follow blindly without asking. Philosophers search for knowledge and truth. They expose ignorance, and know their own ignorance. Like Happiness said, its not about being wise, but loving wisdom and knowledge. If you always show how much you are and are not knowledgable, always work to expose ignorance and knowledge, and never falter even in the face of the people then you are a philosopher. Hell, Socrates died for his belief in the life of a philosopher. He didn't relent even when he was put on trial for his philosopher life.

Not true. Some people just stick their heads in the sand and never ask questions. Some just follow blindly without asking. Philosophers search for knowledge and truth. They expose ignorance, and know their own ignorance. Like Happiness said, its not about being wise, but loving wisdom and knowledge. If you always show how much you are and are not knowledgable, always work to expose ignorance and knowledge, and never falter even in the face of the people then you are a philosopher. Hell, Socrates died for his belief in the life of a philosopher. He didn't relent even when he was put on trial for his philosopher life.


Those who don't ask questions and follow others blindly HAVE a philosophy, it's just one you seem to dislike. They chose to live and think like that.

There are many philosophers, like e.g. René Descartes, who were searching for the truth for a long time but many of them ended being ignorant or believing in dogmas ("I think therefore I am" is not an ultimate truth but a dogma and the fact that Descartes believed in it, makes him ignorant - somehow).

Those who try to expose ignorance best (in my humble opinion) are the critical rationalists... and again, I don't want to go into detail... don't want to bore you :)

P.S.: Socrates was a condemned "child molestor" - wether this was true or not, he was not really killed because he was a philosopher. At least, not that I know of. :rolleyes:

philo=love of
sophos=knowledge

you have to be in the bruce's philosophers song to be a philosopher

anyone that is a "thinker" is a philosopher. anyone who thinks about a subject to find answers and ends up with more questions than they started with...

if you philosophize you are a philosopher. even if its amateur or part-time. if you get paid to philosophize you are indisputably a philosopher. even if you suck.

Philosophers are people who love knowledge ;)

philo=love of
sophos=knowledge

People who love wisdom, shurely?