Denver Business Daily

Is there a correlation between academics and the philosophical mind?

Seems to me, from the people I have known who were deep thinkers and philosophers, that there is a correlation between the two. Such as, these people did rather poorly in school as far as studying, but got fair grades anyway. Then when they grow up they do ok for themselves. (usually) Does it really have to be an "either - or" situation? I would appreciate website links on the subject, if anyone has any.

Public Comments

1. Oh, well, I don't have any website links, but I was just going to agree with you, as a philosophy major myself. I have basically the same experience thus far... I never used to study, but I was intelligent enough I didn't have to. It was only in college, and even here only a few classes, that have really made me do any work. Now that I'm in philosophy, I love it, so I do well in philosophy classes just due to my personal drive to do it, and go to grad school, and then teach philosophy. I love the academic world. So yes, there is a correlation I suppose.
2. Carpenter's Son; school drop out Ramana Maharishi, mendicant Shirdi Sai Baba... the list of realized Souls not known for academic excellence is long. It is entirely possible that academic pursuit may make for great and useless pontification and hair splitting.
3. Those that tend to dwell on the philosophy of a particular discipline, usually make their way to the academic circles. The more pragmatic world only wants results, not the whichs and whys. The one thing that is almost universal in the doctoral realm is that they tend to be fragile souls as well.
4. The primary link between academics and the philosophical mind center on the fact that most (but not all philosophers of today) are involved with academics---that is they are instructors. You will also find that for the most part teach a history of a certain idea or thought and do not give their own opinions of the matter. This is so that each individual will learn to think and decide for themselves what they believe. Also, there are very few job opportunities outside of academics for philosophers. Note: I have my masters in philosophy and am working on Phd....so I have some experience in this field.