Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, June 16, 2014

The Best and Worst Jobs in the U.S. - "Philosopher" is #12

"The study, released Tuesday from CareerCast.com, a new job site, evaluates 200 professions to determine the best and worst according to five criteria inherent to every job: environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress..."

The Best and Worst Jobs

Of 200 Jobs studied, these came out on top -- and at the bottom:
The BestThe Worst
1. Mathematician200. Lumberjack
2. Actuary199. Dairy Farmer
3. Statistician198. Taxi Driver
4. Biologist197. Seaman
5. Software Engineer196. EMT
6. Computer Systems Analyst195. Roofer
7. Historian194. Garbage Collector
8. Sociologist193. Welder
9. Industrial Designer192. Roustabout
10. Accountant191. Ironworker
11. Economist190. Construction Worker
12. Philosopher189. Mail Carrier
13. Physicist188. Sheet Metal Worker
14. Parole Officer187. Auto Mechanic
15. Meteorologist186. Butcher
16. Medical Laboratory Technician185. Nuclear Decontamination Tech
17. Paralegal Assistant184. Nurse (LN)
18. Computer Programmer183. Painter
19. Motion Picture Editor182. Child Care Worker
20. Astronomer181. Firefighter




An interesting life

Calvin's version of the Serenity Prayer:

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What is Philosophy – and what’s it for?

"People are understandably confused about what philosophy is. From a distance, it seems weird, irrelevant, boring and yet also – just a little – intriguing. But it’s hard to put a finger on what the interest really is. What are philosophers? What do they do? And why does one need them?



Luckily, the answer is already contained in the word philosophy itself. In Greek, philo means love – or devotion – and sophia means wisdom. Philosophers are people devoted to wisdom.

Though a rather abstract term, the concept of ‘wisdom’ isn’t mysterious. Being wise means attempting to live and die well, leading as good a life as possible within the troubled conditions of existence. The goal of wisdom is fulfilment. You could perhaps say ‘happiness’ but ‘happiness’ is misleading, for it suggests continuous chirpiness and joy, whereas ‘fulfilment’ seems compatible with a lot of pain and suffering, which every decent life must by necessity have.



So a philosopher or ‘person devoted to wisdom’ is someone who strives for systematic expertise at working out how one may best find individual and collective fulfilment.

In their pursuit of wisdom, philosophers have developed a very specific skill-set. They have, over the centuries, become experts in many of the general, large things that make people not very wise. Six central ones have been identified..."



What is Philosophy – and what’s it for?

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

‘Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters’ by Michael S. Roth - The Washington Post

"The book’s supporting framework, which Roth borrows from the education scholar Bruce Kimball, is the idea that two distinct traditions of liberal education have “uneasily co-existed” in America. The first is a philosophical tradition emphasizing preparation for inquiry; its aim is freeing the mind to investigate the truth about things physical, intellectual and spiritual. The second is a rhetorical tradition emphasizing initiation into a common culture through the study of canonical works; its aim is learning to participate in the culture, to appreciate its monuments and to create new monuments inspired by the old. Roth characterizes the philosophical thread as “skeptical” and the rhetorical thread as “reverential.”

The central argument is that liberal education is some combination of these two traditions that aims at serving the needs of the “whole person.” Both traditions are necessary for raising free and autonomous individuals who must also participate with others in society. It is next to impossible to attain independence alone, precious little can be learned without a common culture and the society of others, and it is the special task of education to offer the tools required to understand both oneself and the world in which one lives.


‘Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters’ by Michael S. Roth (Yale Univ.)
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‘Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters’ by Michael S. Roth - The Washington Post