Quote:
Originally Posted by scottmandue
Useless knowledge? (disclaimer, I love ancient philosophy)
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Pascal
Voltaire
and so on....
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Well you can expect a philosophy major to chime in about this one.
The very first essay I wrote in University was on Socrates and his argument for the immortality of the soul. Incredibly interesting. I studied philosophy because I felt that it might help me find some objective conclusions about the universe, so when I began reading one of the greatest philosophers and his argument for an immortal soul, I thought this stuff must be gold! It has to be true!
Well the soul may or not be immortal, and his argument may or not be true. HOWEVER. As I wrote the essay I had to outline and understand his argument and the argument flow. Fully comprehending his work to clearly outline step by step how he arrived at his conclusion was a mind opening experience. That is when I really started to love philosophy. It wasn't asking and debating the universal metaphysical questions that I'll probably never have an answer to (which is still great fun), but comprehending and explaining a philosophers argument. It truly is one of the greatest mental exercises and skills one can perform, IMO, and will grant you a set of useful and transferable skills that are very applicable. But to make use of these skills in the real world, you need books that will grant you "knowledge".
Philosophy as useless knowledge? Yup. But with those kinds of works, it is the mental exercise that you gain.
Hell, you could easily add Dostoyevsky to that last.