Waste not, want not – The politics of why philosophy matters

By Patrick Stokes, The Conversation. And so now we officially know: philosophy is a waste. How can we be sure? Because Coalition spokesman for scrutiny of government waste Jamie Briggs has promised that a Tony Abbott government in Australia would get rid of “those ridiculous research grants that leave taxpayers scratching their heads wondering just what the government was thinking”.
Seriously, don’t bother with philosophy. Don’t bother trying to understand the rules of logic, or what constitutes a good argument, or what makes an action right or wrong. Don’t bother trying to follow humanity’s ‘great conversation’ let alone trying to contribute to it. Waste of time and money. More...