[lit-ideas] Re: Philosophy in China

Which reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter who chose to
major in English at the U.S. Naval Academy, a primarily science and
engineering school. I asked if this might damage her career. She said,
"No. The top general in the Marine Corps is an English major." So see,
business isn't the only area in which humanities BAs can excel.

The theory of neoconservatives is based on European Continental philosophy, specifically, Hegel's Phenomenology, and more specifically, the idea of thymos. Fukuyama's book is a study of ethics.

The throes of the last 10-20 years of American politics, both domestic and international, are based on philosophers. The devastating attacks on "liberals", the sidelining of the federal government (and virtual ostracizing of State Dept, the CIA, and much of the US military), the domestic politics (slashing taxes for the wealthy, cutting or obliterating social services for the middle and lower class, the fantastic debt, etc.), and international politics (invasions for regime change, scrapping or renouncing international treaties, etc.) are due to ideas in philosophy. It's perfectly obvious that the neocons are not interested in economics or any of the practical sciences.

Chinese parents (and Korean and Japanese) badger their kids into studying computers, engineering, etc., in order for them to get jobs, but this is only creating the working classes of the future. That's great: more workers for us to manage.

It's renegade free thinkers who create new social structures, esp. in Western society, which for the last 200 years, has been based on philosophers' ideas: the Enlightenment, Rationalism, Marxism, and so on.

Want to get a paycheck? Study engineering.

Want to change the world? Study philosophy.

yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com

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