From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!psinntp!norton!brian Tue Feb 11 15:25:00 EST 1992
Article 3526 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: brian@norton.com (Brian Yoder)
Subject: Re: MUST Philosopy be a Waste of Time?
Message-ID: <1992Feb05.214858.1131@norton.com>
Organization: Symantec / Peter Norton
References: <DIRISH.92Feb3142812@jeeves.math.utah.edu>
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 1992 21:48:58 GMT

dirish@math.utah.edu (Dudley Irish) writes:
 
> 	Philosophy bakes no bread.
 
Is that supposed to be an argument?

Anyway, I quite disagree.  Philosophy may not in and of itself bake any bread
but philosophy makes possible the baking of a great deal of bread.  
Epistemology is a branch of philosophy.  Without a good theory of epistemology
science is impossible (look at the history of the dark ages if you need
proof).  Science makes possible the successful manipulation of the world
in order to accomplish a great many goals including the baking of bread, 
the building of ovens, the sanitation of kitchens, the construction of
buildings, and the like.  On another front, it also makes the use and enjoyment
of bread possible.  Look at the consequences of hegelian marxist dialectical
materialism on the (ex?) USSR.  Their lack of bread is a direct consequence 
of philosophical mistakes.  Consider the radical biocentrists and fruitarians.
Their philosophical
conclusions have lead them to reject bread (because it is man-made or harmful
to plants) in favor of fruits and nuts.  Or perhaps the medieval saints who 
rejected food and comfort in favor of sheep bile and sleeping on rocks as a 
means of leaving the cares of the body behind in favor of another world their
philosophy said was better than this one. 
 
To sum up, without a good philosophy there would be no bread and even if there
were, you couldn't eat it or enjoy it.

--Brian
 
-- 
-- Brian K. Yoder (brian@norton.com) - Q: What do you get when you cross     --
-- Peter Norton Computing Group      -    Apple & IBM?                       --
-- Symantec Corporation              - A: IBM.                               --
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