How undergraduates see philosophy : Evolving Thoughts

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John Wilkins is an eternal student, who thinks philosophy of biology is at least as interesting as politics or sport and twice as important. He has a PhD from the University of Melbourne and worked at the University of Queensland, in Australia, before taking up a research fellowship at the University of Sydney. After a varied career, involving factories, gardening, civil service, publishing, graphics, public relations but not, unfortunately for the CV, driving a truck, John finally completed his thesis on species concepts in 2004, which he has worked into two books.

This blog ~~is designed~~ evolved to host any random thoughts that happen to be passing through my forebrain at a given moment. So there will be errors...

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How undergraduates see philosophy

Category: Humor • Logic and philosophy
Posted on: February 4, 2008 11:54 PM, by John S. Wilkins

I am quite sure that this is how undergraduates in philosophy see the whole thing:

HT: Creative Synthesis

Find more posts in: Humanities & Social Science

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Comments

That's it. I'm becoming a radical skeptic. There's nothing we can know or do. :)

Posted by: Brian English | February 5, 2008 12:11 AM

AHAHAHA!!! that is classic. i love it. I get it all! I received my Master's in computer science, but always had a fondness for Phil classes. This is just perfect.

Posted by: Gabe | February 5, 2008 1:14 AM

I like it!

I seem to recall, vaguely, a lengthy all-text example along that line. Something about brains in jars on moving trains, perhaps ...? I can't seem to find a link to it now. (I didn't know there would be a quiz!) Oh, well, I should get back to work in the chinese room.

Posted by: etbnc | February 5, 2008 10:51 AM

Gee, unlike Dennett's list of philosophical neologisms, I actually understood most of the references. Perhaps there's hope for me yet....

Posted by: Eamon Knight | February 5, 2008 5:58 PM

This is probably what #3 is referring to:

http://www.mindspring.com/~mfpatton/Tissues.htm

Posted by: David Canzi | February 5, 2008 10:00 PM

I am quite sure that this is how undergraduates in philosophy see the whole thing:

Wots undergrads got tuh do with it!

This is wot filosofi is about ain it?

Posted by: Thony C. | February 6, 2008 3:02 AM

Well I didn't want to criticise academics who aren't philosophers, but that is how a lot of them see it, too.

Posted by: John S. Wilkins | February 6, 2008 3:21 AM

This is the most awesome comic I've seen in the last year.

Posted by: Sophie Hirschfeld | February 6, 2008 5:56 AM

I didn't want to criticise academics who aren't philosophers,

Aren't all academics philosophers? Or don't they, at least, think they have the right, as academics, to philosophize?

Posted by: Thony C. | February 6, 2008 7:47 AM

Aren't all academics philosophers? Or don't they, at least, think they have the right, as academics, to philosophize?

Yes.They just don't think that their philosophizing is philosophizing.

This is an especially common attitude amongst academics in the natural sciences.

Posted by: Ponder Stibbons | February 6, 2008 7:59 AM

Highly amusing.

I sincerely wish that my undergrad philosophy profs had been nearly that clever.

Posted by: Roadtripper | February 6, 2008 10:00 AM

"Philosophy" is probably something that anyone with any intelligence has a natural inclination to engage in. And everyone thinks they're an expert. Kinda like politics. Forget Searle and Hauser - maybe there's even a philosophy gene ;) I haven't checked - is philosophy defined in the basic concepts list? Might be interesting.

Posted by: jeff | February 6, 2008 2:19 PM

I kinda remember this -- those shadows on the wall of the cave were explaining the length of the flagpole, iirc, but I just don't remember where the flagpole was with respect to the train tracks!

Posted by: David | February 6, 2008 7:47 PM

This is a masterpiece. Thanks for sharing it. Though it is deplorable they left the "brain in a vat" issue.
The comics did put my brain on fire. (Now, where did I put that vat...)

Posted by: Omer Moussaffi | February 7, 2008 2:19 PM

That is excellent. It's right up there with this comic, which I loved because it combined a former embarrassing dorky pastime, role playing games, with my current one, philosophy.

http://dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_031.htm

Posted by: Ecpyrosis | February 7, 2008 11:27 PM