Standing Up for Philosophers
Many people don’t understand and therefore disrespect philosophy
I’m used to people dissing philosophy. I get dren from anti-intellectuals who think philosophy is worthless. I also get antagonism from right-wingers who hate university professors in general and philosophers in particular. Then there are the egotists who imagine they are smarter than everybody and take pot shots at those who try to think deeply about matters. Whatevs.
Haters are going to hate. Just have to let it go because it’s not the indictment the haters want it to be.
But I was stunned and appalled to receive an e-mail from someone insulting the writers on Original Philosophy. That’s the Medium publication I helped establish in the summer of 2022 to promote writing about philosophy. It publishes peer-reviewed articles by writers who write about philosophy but don’t have the connections necessary to be considered by the professional philosophy journals.
I and another PhD on-faculty philosophy professor review articles submitted. We reject more articles than we publish. Of course, we aren’t a professional journal but that’s not the point. It’s an opportunity for intelligent people to write about philosophical ideas and share them with others.
But this person who e-mailed me took aim at the writers of Original Philosophy claiming the articles “simply don’t reach the level of quality” that they believe acceptable and strongly implied that these articles aren’t good enough to be on Medium. This person’s e-mail was rude, arrogant, and way off base.
As someone who works as a referee and reviewer for several academic journals, and has worked in publishing for several decades, I cannot accept this verdict that the writers on Original Philosophy are writing inferior stories. I know these articles aren’t perfect, but they are quality thoughts shared by good people.
This person in the e-mail said I should look at a list of allegedly “quality” articles. The person’s recommendation revealed that the real issue was a bias (hopefully just unconscious) against philosophy and deep intellectual content. Apparently, the writers on Original Philosophy shouldn’t be wasting their time discussing truth, meaning, existence, purpose, and better ways to obtain knowledge. Apparently, on the basis of the recommended picks, they should be writing about chain restaurants, UX design, recipes, and retirement planning. Those, the person claimed, are what Medium should promote, not philosophy.
It’s a big world, and there is room for many voices on many subjects. The thing is that if you aren’t interested in a genre of writing, you should just not read it, not insult it. It’s childish to say that something is poor quality and shouldn’t be promoted because you aren’t interested in the topic.
Maybe I’m odd, but I am many degrees angrier at this person’s denigration of the writers on Original Philosophy than when people insult me. I’m used to hate because I write about political philosophy. I’m not used to people going out of their way to insult other people I am trying to help.
Look, I get it, many people don’t understand philosophy. Not their fault because education is lousy at teaching philosophy. Thus, people don’t understand what philosophers do when they analyze concepts at a deep level and push the boundaries of what is accepted convention. And I know people tend to reject what they don’t understand. It’s still sad to see the hostility. It’s a waste.
Writing this is my way of shrugging off this person’s rudeness by putting the crass comments into perspective. It is an isolated incident, as proven by the hundreds of daily visitors to Original Philosophy. Maybe praising chain restaurants is more popular, but whatevs. I will stand up for the philosophers. Always.
