As you know (or perhaps you do not know) I am currently in the ridiculously tedious process of applying to Uni. Cambridge, of course, has one of the best philosophy departments in the world, and I really have no choice but to apply to it. The problem is just this: It is very Analytically biased. And having looked at contemporary debates in analytic philosophy, especially in Philosophy of Mind, I’ve really been questioning the use of this kind of philosophy. No wonder philosophy gets a bad rep. It really is fucking boring. Just different positions circling back and forth, stuck in a deadlock, using insipid language, doing something that is not so much philosophy, not so much science, not so much mathematics, but a monstrous mixture of the three that just puts one to sleep.
I first contemplated suicide when I encountered, for the thirtieth time, some stupid theory trying to resolve the Mind-Body problem.
What, then, should Philosophy really be?
It should be exciting. Enthralling. Unconventional. Full of leaps and reversals. Of personalities. Of insights into the world that I am living in. Saturated with jokes. Imbuing into the person with a love for life, fate, and the world. Philosophy should be difficult, but not obtuse. It should force you to think, but also inculcate within you a love for thinking. Its primary concern should be the human in all its spheres of life. It should be a pleasure to read. Literary but precise. It shouldn’t be written by academics for academics. It should satiate that kernel of invaluable wonder we have towards the world.
Unfortunately, this is not the attitude of too many philosophers. You get more exciting people in Maths departments.
But what can one do other than learn as much as possible and try to share one’s love for the subject (at its best!) with the world?
Warren's Brain Dumps 