The Importance of Philosophy in the Modern WorldMany of the philosophers we read in class seem hopelessly dated to me (even though some of them express useful ideas and /or make good points). Of course, it is easy to get locked into writing only for the period in which a person lives, and a philosophy necessarily depends on the historical situation and the extent of man's knowledge. And many philosophers who have existed over the centuries have necessarily had to worry about disapproval, censorship, or sanctions from government, the Church, or society. (Socrates, for example, was sentenced to death by a court for explaining his ideas.) However, Victor Hugo said that if he wrote only for his time, he would have to break his pen and throw it away (or something like That). It seems, then, that for a philosopher to be relevant to the future as well as the present, he must take into account all the objections to his philosophy that can be anticipated at the present time. (Since we are not omnipotent, this is the best we can do.) And it seems to me that the most frequent objections to modern and premodern (but not postmodern) philosophers arise from the incompatibility of their philosophies with what is considered established science. do. For example, Plato's theory of forms does not seem to me to correspond to modern physics and cosmology. And while I can only vaguely glimpse the psychology behind Kant, it seems highly questionable. (In my opinion, the application of Kant's epistemology and metaphysics could never produce an artificial intelligence capable of passing the Turing test.) And so, it seems to me that the best way for a philosopher to avoid being dated (not in the romantic sense) (many don't seem to have a problem with this) is to become aware of scientific knowledge and integrate it into philosophy. Of course, this requires an independent assessment of the merits and demerits of a given scientific idea, which, in turn, requires in-depth knowledge of that theory. After all, physics can (it seems to me) give us insight into metaphysics, since both seek different ways of doing the same thing; psychology, sociology, anthropology and archeology can give us insight into epistemology; various “soft” sciences dealing with comparative cultures can fuel reflection on ethics, etc...