[FOM] Platonism and Progress in Philosophy

[Jon Awbrey]

Robert Lindauer wrote:
 >
 > The notion "considered progress" as in "X is considered progress"
 > is a purpose or personality relative question.
 >
 > Obviously in the last 100 years philosophy has made great progress,
 > witness:
 >
 > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_philosophy
 >
 > compare the relatively limited
 >
 > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mathematics#20th_century
 >
 > The question itself betrays a lack of appreciation for the
 > kinds of things that philosophers find important without
 > any apparent argument or reason for said lack.

I'm guessing that the run of Wikipedia articles on Anime alone
would probably dwarf the above two subjects combined, so maybe
our metric for philosophical progress is best sought elsewhere.

The recognition of a problem solution may be a personal experience --
it's been a long time since I could see the "Paradox" in the "Liar" --
but problems do get solved, and there comes a time when the majority
of sufficiently prepared observers share the sense that a threshold
of understanding has been passed with respect to questions that once
seemed hopelessly opaque.

Jon Awbrey

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