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Article: Tease the mind; Philosophy.(The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, The Future for Philosophy)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 21, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A STANDARD charge against contemporary philosophy is that it has grown too technical and abstruse for all but initiates to understand. Articles in philosophy journals are like chess analysis, where adepts know the arguments and counter-arguments 20 moves deep. It is philosophy for philosophers, without regard for the rest of humanity. Philosophy, the critics say, involves large life-and-death issues that concern us all and should not be a professional reserve.
The complaint does not impress the profession. Nobody expects molecularbiology or aircraft engineering to be intelligible to non-experts; people just want these practitioners to get it right. Yet few make ...