It seems that philosophers have a reputation for the trivial, often looking for the tiniest thing that may relate to the discussion.
Is this reputation well deserved?
PhilX
Are philosophers nitpickers?
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Re: Are philosophers nitpickers?
A significant part of the "game" is pinpointing and then examining/analyzing assumptions. That's going to amount to frequently focusing on things that others might see as minor details that aren't the overarching "point" of something.Philosophy Explorer wrote:It seems that philosophers have a reputation for the trivial, often looking for the tiniest thing that may relate to the discussion.
Is this reputation well deserved?
PhilX
An analogy would be examining supports--supporting, load-bearnig columns, etc., for a large building. Examining the stability, integrity, etc. of a building's supports is honing in on details that aren't directly about the overall building, but if there's a problem with the supports, it affects the overall building, which might come crashing down because of this. That's a lot of what we do as philosophers.