Stigmata against philosophy?

Question

I recently conducted a survey to get peoples view on philosophy. Overwhelmingly, the response was bad. People had little or no exposure to the subject and often felt that it was "stupid." They were so put off by it, that they said they would categorically refuse to investigate it further. So my question is, why? What is seen as so repugnant? Is there something in the subject itself or do you think it is due to other factors?

Answer 1

I think some cannot think too deep some can and are scared by the depth of the human mind and others because there is no money in philosophy

Answer 2

Most people are only concerned with TV shows, video games, celebrities, Ipods, getting wasted on the weekend etc.  Philosophy requires intelligence and the ability to think deeply about difficult subjects and material.  Most people have little desire to engage in critical thinking, outside of  what is perhaps required for their profession/job, and philosophy bores many people because they simply don't have the capacity to understand it, or even if they do, they would rather engage in mindless activities.  Governments, corporations, Wall street-- love stupid, thoughtless people because these people act like sheep throughout their entire lives, blindly buying what's advertised in front of them, keeping up with the Joneses mentality. They are very easily manipulated and controlled.

Answer 3

Perhaps a lot of people see it as intellectual waste of time without any practical use in real life!!  

Answer 4

I think that the general consensus about Philosophy is that it is idle daydreaming.

Though general consensus is usually incorrect, it is not difficult to understand this attitude since, for example, so many people who post here seem to think of themselves as Philosophers and enter rambling diatribes which are difficult to take seriously.

We all have our own Philosophy of life based on life experience and what we've read and heard and we express our own preconceptions constantly.

Few of us, however, call ourselves Philosophers.

I know a person who can talk Philosophy for hours and make my head hurt. She's brilliant, and, I'm sure, would never claim to be a Philosopher.

Answer 5

Many people have an anti-intellectual bias. The way that philosophy will go on and on picking a topic to death, looking at in from every angle, with a lot of "on the other hand"s, is tiresome to some people. They look at that the way they would a lawyer cross-examining them -- as unpleasant.

They also don't see an immediate reward. And there may not be one. If I am pursuing philosophy for pleasure or the "greater good," you could just see your doing that as not your cup of tea, like you could be apolitical or not like sports. Not all people are capable of intellectual pursuits.

But ultimately, if you wonder about the larger world around you, you'll be using philosophy sooner or later to think through a big question.

(I believe you mean "stigma," rather than "stigmata.")

Answer 6

When I was taking my first philosophy class I came across the same phenomenon as you; many of my friends, who I always thought were free thinkers, absolutely shunned philosophy for no apparent reason. I was perplexed to say the least. Upon further goading, I was able to find out that the majority of them were of the firm belief that philosophy disproved religion, as such; they were inclined to shy away from it.

Answer 7

I would say that the reason behind the utter disinterest in the "diligent inquiry" behind philosophy is two-fold:

1. Physical inability. The mental faculties of the person may have lesser capabilities of understanding the vast complexities behind the main tenets of the great philosophical understandings of life, which extends to metaphysics. Unfortunately and respectfully, there are those who do have "simple minds" even if their mentality has not been retarded (appropriate usage).

2. Indolence and temporal demands. Specifically, one may find great disinterest in the amount of time needed to pursue the "diligent inquiry" for the sake of less tasking opportunities. We live in a vain society, wherein the greatest and most profound undertaking is to sate their hedonistic appetites through gossip, sitcoms, video games, parties, drugs, alcohol, and the like. Next, though, is not as impressively unsettling, but rather admirable, which is that the individual may not have the ability to pursue "diligent inquiry" for demands on their life through monetary and or familial means. It seems, though, that even among many who study philosophy still suffer at these latter issues, slightly, which brings me to a thought that many of the greatest minds were recluses.

Edit:

Philosophy and science were once bedfellows in learned communities, however, it seems in most recent times that the link between the two has been severed. While both use many of the same methods and arriving at particular answers - save, perhaps, metaphysics, which is reserved for the philosopher and virtually ignored by the scientist - they can often arrive at different conclusions: the end of philosophy or "diligent inquiry" being postulated as the divine things, whereas the end of science would seem to stop at nature itself, being that it is the study of nature.

Peace and love,

Phillip

Answer 8

Maybe because people want to live their lives and not reflect on ultimate causes.  The success of science, technology and practical work and leisure in our lives, probably cause people to think there is no reason to study philosophy.