<story><title>Getting to “Philosophy”</title><url>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Getting_to_Philosophy</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pierrec</author><text>A good friend of mine is a student of philosophy, and I often argue with him about the importance and usefulness of the discipline. His favorite metaphor on the matter goes like this: If each domain of science was a finger, philosophy would be the thumb. It&amp;#x27;s the one that the others should rest upon when being used.&lt;p&gt;Of course, I always dismiss his metaphor as pie-in-the-sky ridiculous. But I must concede that this phenomenon occurring on Wikipedia gives a lot of weight to his argument.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>colordrops</author><text>To believe that associating philosophy with science is pie-in-the-sky ridiculous is to profess ignorance of the foundations and history of science.  Science is a descendant of philosophy and the decisions made on how we practice it and interpret its results are guided by different philosophies throughout the centuries.  A book or course on the philosophy of science, which is offered by most major universities, is recommended.</text></comment>
<story><title>Getting to “Philosophy”</title><url>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Getting_to_Philosophy</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pierrec</author><text>A good friend of mine is a student of philosophy, and I often argue with him about the importance and usefulness of the discipline. His favorite metaphor on the matter goes like this: If each domain of science was a finger, philosophy would be the thumb. It&amp;#x27;s the one that the others should rest upon when being used.&lt;p&gt;Of course, I always dismiss his metaphor as pie-in-the-sky ridiculous. But I must concede that this phenomenon occurring on Wikipedia gives a lot of weight to his argument.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tunesmith</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t think you can get far in determining what people &amp;quot;should&amp;quot; do with various facts without diving into normative ethics and in turn philosophy.  The question of what should be done can hinge entirely on what kind of philosophy people adopt.</text></comment>