Meta-philosophy
I’ve been reading up on information, again (John Collier’s Intrinsic Information), which has nothing to do with what I’m supposed to be studying, and, probably as a consequence, thinking deep thoughts about my future in philosophy, and whether I really want to do a PhD (and if not, whether I still have reason to complete the current course). It can’t be instrumental: I’d be over 60 by the time I finished it, and not likely to be more willing to relocate then than I am now, which is very reluctant, so a philosophical job is very unlikely.
So what it comes to is: do I want to do a PhD for its own sake, regardless of what I might or might not do with it? An important consideration is that my philosophical interests tend to be in the big picture, the broad sweep, and philosophers these days seem to be like scientists, focusing on smaller and smaller issues. I want to develop a sort of philosophical (as opposed to scientific) theory of everything: matter, meaning and mind from the bottom up. What are my chances of getting to do a PhD on that? Not good, I’d guess—but that’s all it is, a guess, I really don’t know.
So leaving aside the question of what I’d do it on, for now, ask this: would I be likely to enjoy the process of doing it, the life, as it were? Umm, don’t know that either, so how could I find out? If only I could do the next best thing, the nearest to a PhD that’s currently open to me, an MSc by research, and see what that’s like. Wait a minute, that’s what I’m already doing! Except, as long as I’m thinking about my future in philosophy, or studying other things like information (or blogging), I’m not. I suppose I better get on with it then… 
[In a "senior moment", I forgot I supposedly committed myself to completing the MSc and going on to do (or try to) a PhD on information last week. That's fairly typical these days. Would having a memory like that compromise my ability to do a PhD? Let's see what effect it has on an MSc...]
February 26, 2010
Posted in: announcements
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