Fearing Philosophy
Why do we fear one of our species’s greatest gifts?
Last semester, one of my students wrote on the course evaluation form an all too familiar sentiment.
I was hesitant to take a philosophy course, but Dr. Giles knows what he’s talking about!
I hear that several times a term from students. “I was intimidated . . . ,” “I was reluctant . . .,” and even, “I was afraid to take a philosophy course.”
Why?
I know why.
Some of it is philosophy’s own fault. It has a centuries-long history of difficult-to-understand texts produced by philosophers who aren’t clear in expressing their ideas. In recent times, professors of philosophy have thoughtlessly perpetuated the stuffy elitism that saturates academia. Some professors are actively resistant to connecting their academic work to the real world. I know, I’m one of the gadflies at the conferences who keeps asking “but how does that apply to …?” Alas, we gadflies don’t get straight answers.
Even when they try to reach down from their Ivory Tower to the masses, philosophy professors come off so hackneyed as to be risible. I wrote about a recent example.
