Why Did a Billionaire Give $75M to a Philosophy Department?

Re:Why Did a Billionaire Give $75M to a Philosophy Department? by Karrot_Kream on Wednesday January 31, 2018 @02:09PM (#16276583)

There's nothing ironic about that. Your question itself reveals your own assumptions:

* What is evidence?

* What does it mean for evidence to be empirical?

* What does "critical thinking" or "reasoning" mean?

* What is a fact?

Further (more meaty) questions to ask:

* Does your concept of evidence support the existence of a single truth?

* Can 2 people truly perceive the same fact in the same way? What does it mean to perceive a fact?

And the list goes on

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Re:Why Did a Billionaire Give $75M to a Philosophy Department? by stdbrouw on Wednesday January 31, 2018 @06:24PM (#16278494)

You're changing the subject. The fact that it is possible to have a discussion (whether empirical or not) about the nature of evidence or of what constitutes a fact, and even that this might be a very fruitful thing to discuss, does not suddenly make a statement like "philosophy improves critical thinking" true and beyond questioning.

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