rsl12

To use an analogy--mathematics is abstract logic, but many of its branches have very practical applications in engineering, natural sciences, etc. What are the practical applications of philosophy?

I could think of 3: the application of occam's razor in the scientific method, the use of political philosophy in determining constitutions and the role of government, and cognitive psychology-type branches for use in artificial intelligence. are there others?

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Giltwist

Medical ethics! Definately. Couldn't have medicine without the Hippocratic Oath.

wilbjammin

Um... I use philosophy everyday in every decision. There are lots of philosophies focused on the individual: existentialism, transcendalism, solipsism, etc...

Post-modern philosophy and the media seem to go hand-in-hand. I could probably think of infinite examples, I'll probably get back to this post later.

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Johnny Rotten

As wilbjammin implies, philosophy has multiple personal benefits, while the hard sciences tend towards broad benefits.

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Dragonlich

I'd point you at the book "The consolations of Philosophy" by Alain de Botton. It'll show you just how useful philosophy can be when dealing with everyday problems.

triad

Since one's philosophies usually become determine/are a result of who one is, you could say that philosophy has application in everything, period. As far as visible/practicle applications, I agree that it can be useful when applied to any field, especialy anything involving ehtics.

rsl12

yes, of course philosophy has use in helping understand many metaphysical issues in life--i guess what I'm asking about are the applications that are of practical significance beyond those types of questions. for example, wittgenstein helped the progress of science in his arguments for precisely defining terms used. russell/whitehead provided proof of the limitations of all theorems in principia mathematica. are there any other such examples?

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Moonduck

Philosophy is the tree from which all other sciences have branched. It was the basis and origination of ordered thought, and thus the root of such systems as science, mathematics, history, etc. When you look at many of the seminal figures of thought in history, the vast majority of them were considered philosophers as well as scientists, mathematicians, etc. To this this day, the highest normal degree one can obtain is a Ph.D., or Doctor of Philosophy, in a given field.

These days, philosophy is more self-contained. Given the specialization of fields that exists in modern education and thought, scientists handle science, mathematicians, handle math, and philosophers handle... philosophy. It has become somewhat esoteric, to be honest. Yes, there are practical applications. I have a degree in philosophy, and haven't lost an argument with a rational person in a very long time. I also tend to make very well reasoned decisions regarding my life. As such, it is fairly common for my peers to ask me for my thoughts when they are faced with difficult decisions. Simpel application of the Socratic method is generally sufficient to help someone work through many tough quandaries.

For the serious, high-level applications, philosophers tackle the more subtle concepts. There's are fields of study devoted to defining what art is, how we think about the universe, how pervasive symbology is, etc. Much of the philosphy being produced today is impossible for me to explain, especially as I've given up on trying to keep up with it. Not going on to Grad School, I see no reason to. Suffice to say that ethics is a hot field.

In my case, I realized that any non-specialized degree (ie engineering, etc that leads into a particular field and has no real application outside of field) is equal to any other non-specialized degree (ie my philosophy degree holds the same weight as an English degree or a degree in art appreciation). So I decided to take a degree that most interested me. Philosophy was it. The great thing about the degree is that it allows for great flexibility in course selection. I was able to build a very broad range of topics into my education, and can thus claim to be classically educated. That is a worthwhile goal in itself to me.

ARTelevision

As humans, we are burdened by cumbersome and faulty thought processes.

Philosophy sharpens up the thinking process.

As such, it does a necessary repair job on the brain - painless brain surgery...

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John Henry

I thought of a good example last night. It just popped into my head and I had to dig this thread up to share it with you all:

Your computer runs on philosophy.

All the operations your computer performs are based on boolean logic, which was originally developed as a tool for formal philosophical reasoning.

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MojoRisin

For me philosophy negates practicality.

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John Henry

Could you elucidate?

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rsl12

That's a good one. I don't think of logic as being strictly grounded in philosophy, though--I think its development in math is called 'propositional calculus', and I don't know if its development predates 'boolean logic' or if the development of the two are somehow linked. If you know anything about this, I'd love to hear the answer.

The following link was not as informative as I was hoping, but still a good read:
http://radicalacademy.com/philapplied1.htm

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Xell101

Philosphy is something everyone has, it effects how we process information.