Philosophy
versus Philosophology
Robert M. Pirsig provided an interesting and somewhat controversial discussion of 'philosophology' in his recent book, Lila. Here is the bulk of the discussion:
... Philosophology is to philosophy as musicology is to music, or as art history and art appreciation are to art, or as literary criticism is to creative writing. It's a derivative, secondary field, a sometimes parasitic growth that likes to think it controls its host by analyzing and intellectualizing its host behavior.
Literature people are sometimes puzzled by the hatred many creative writers have for them. Art historians can't understand the venom either. He [Phædrus] supposed the same was true of musicologists but he didn't know enough about them. But philophologists don't have this problem at all because the philosophers who would normally condemn them are a null-class. They don't exist. Philosophologists, calling themselves philosophers, are just about all there are.
You can imagine the ridiculousness of an art historian taking his students to museums, having them write a thesis on some historical or technical aspect of what they see there, and after a few years of this giving them degrees that they are accomplished artists. They've never held a brush or a mallet or a chisel in their hands. All they know is art history. (pp. 370-371).
I think this represents a struggle that many people face in their personal development. How do you balance studying things versus doing things? If you want to be an artist, when do you stop academic study and start simply creating? Personally, I think that an artist can benefit from the study of art history, just as an art historian can benefit from creating art. The problem comes when you do either to the exclusion of the other.
Most people could benefit from formal studies in philosophy, especially the discussions with fellow students and instructors. The formal discipline and critical thinking skills learned in academic studies can also help in other areas of your life. Still, it is important to remember that there is philosophy outside of formal academic studies.
