What good is philosophy?

In Sweden the university studies are starting for the term. Here in Upppsala one can see many new faces, students new to the city and the university. Last week there was an introduction to philosophy in the main university building. One professor spoke about the use of philosophy she quoted a passage from a source that elude my memory at the moment.

The quote began to say that if you want to be a barrister, economist, or a MD you probably do not have much use of philosophy. This is not a new idea, since the earliest days of philosophy the thinkers have been accused of being useless in all ways practical. In the end though we were told that if you study philosophy you will at least be able to spot when other people speak BS. (If this is in accordance with the old proverb “it takes a thief to catch a thief” I leave unsaid.)

If it is a fact or not, that philosophers learn to detect BS, is an interesting question. Is it true and is it enough. Even if you might be better at detecting inflated claims and dishonest reasoning with others as a philosopher, there is one very necessary thing missing. Do you as a philosopher learn to detect when you are talking BS to yourself?

The question about if it is true that philosophers are good at detecting BS probably needs some careful studying. I would think that after learning how to analyse arguments and looking at all kinds of fallacies philosophers might be better at realising when someone violates the rules of deduction or infer too much from a statement. On the other hand a philosopher without the proper premises are as lost as anyone else.

If the BS a philosopher is offered do not go against his or hers all ready formed ideas about how the world works, and if the construction of the arguments agree with the laws of logic, a philosopher is as likely as anyone else to fall for BS.

Unless of course it is the kind of philosopher that likes to throw everything they got at even their most cherished ideas. Fortunately that seems to be just the kind of people that becomes philosophers.