Philip Kitcher’s Critique of Today’s Useless Philosophy

Prominent philosopher Philip Kitcher recently authored a short book surveying the present state of his field: What's the Use of Philosophy? His answer: as currently practiced, not much. Kitcher's survey is eye-opening both for what he clearly gets right and for where he goes badly astray. On the one hand, it's refreshing that a dean of the profession is willing to turn such a critical eye on its many flaws. On the other hand, his recommended alternative path — the philosophical pragmatism of John Dewey — is an abdication of the central goals of philosophy. Join Ben Bayer, Aaron Smith and Mike Mazza to see what we can learn about the causes of philosophy's cultural decline and how it might be revived from critically analyzing this book.