philosophy and laypeople
So these are my experiences and opinions:
My hours of thinking about ethics don’t actually make me a nicer person, don’t affect how I do things day to day. But just because I don’t think about utilitarianism when I brew my coffee, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t inform my positions. Moral philosophy (as an example) affects how I view my abstract duties towards other people. This in turn affects how I think about the people I actually interact with, which finally affects my actual day to day interactions.
In addition, thinking about philosophy trains my brain to think in abstractions, and makes me used to the idea of challenging my own beliefs. While I absolutely have my flaws, there are a great many people who are not used to this style of thinking, and become stuck in their ways, unable to understand why they are lashing out or sticking so strongly to the ideas that they hold dear.
I mean I’m still a dumbass, but philosophy helps a little bit.
So back to the original question of why the average person should learn philosophy, I think that everyone would gain some benefit from thinking in the ways I mentioned above. I absolutely don’t think everyone needs formal schooling for years on end, but even some basic stuff would improve many people’s lives.
