A thread about why philosophers are so widely disliked and disrespected quickly turned into an occasion to bash economics – a discipline about which philosophers know precious little.
Maybe that’s your answer right there.
Maybe that’s your answer right there.
Philosophers have the most annoying habit of criticizing things they’ve made no serious effort to understand. Doing so generates zero new insight, and it alienates people from whom they could have learned something new.
Philosophers being jackasses certainly make my life as a philosopher of economics (or philosophical economist) a lot harder than it should have to be.
Here's the thing: economists are every bit as bright as philosophers – maybe brighter – and they've been at it for 250 years straight. If some criticism occurs to you, a philosopher with no economics background, within 5 minutes of reflection, it's *overwhelmingly* likely …
… that it's occurred to the economists too. Their answer may be unsatisfactory to you, but they're *extremely* likely to have dealt with it, likely at length, probably in print, maybe in a three-volume work.
So instead of saying "economists are stupid because they haven't thought of X," try asking "how do you deal with X?" You may learn something in the process – and you're a lot less likely to come across as a jerk too.
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