Philosophers' Syndrome: mistaking a failure of the imagination for an insight into necessity.

Daniel C. Dennett
About This Quote

In his essay “Why Philosophy is a Waste of Time,” the late Stephen Toulmin says that philosophy is a waste of time because it is not useful. In his view, philosophy is valuable only as a way of thinking about thinking. He argues that philosophers’ tendency to regard their work as an exercise in thinking leads them to the false conclusion that the way they think about a particular subject is the best way of thinking about it.

Source: Consciousness Explained

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