August 10, 2021 | Malaysian Philosophy Society

As a Malaysian, you will probably agree with me that Philosophy conjures up images of dead white males in the minds of many, and specifically “an elite class pursuit with zero practical and marketable value”.

Ever wondered why? And how true is this interpretation of the philosophy profession?

Reasons Why Philosophy Is So Poorly Received by Malaysians

I argue there are 3 reasons that contribute to the view of philosophy as an elite pursuit with little to no practical and marketable value, especially to the eyes of a Malaysian.

#1 The History of Philosophy as an Elite Subject

I will first explore the perception of philosophy as an elite class pursuit. The reason why philosophy is viewed in this light in Malaysia is because traditionally, a liberal arts college education was a privilege of the economic elite, or at least of the upper middle class. Due to how philosophy is usually practiced among the elite whites in other countries, philosophy in Malaysia has also gained the infamous name as an “armchair” discipline relying for the most part, on reason, intuition and reflection, involving thought experiments, which are often perceived as detached from reality.

You will probably agree with me that Philosophy conjures up images of dead white males in the minds of many, and specifically “an elite class pursuit with zero practical and marketable value” in the eyes of everyday Malaysians.

#2 Non-existence of Philosophy in Malaysia Has to do with the Malaysian Development Policy

Next, let’s talk about the reasons behind the portrayal of philosophy as lacking in practical and marketable value. The first reason has to do with our country’s development policy. Even until the current stage, there is no standalone philosophy department here in Malaysia – no pure philosophy faculty or department in existence in any of the Malaysian institutions of higher learning.

Nikkei Asia

According to A. Murad Merican, Malaysia as a relatively young nation needs to develop at a fast pace, and hence fields that tend to produce tangible results in a short amount of time like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are prioritized; more emphasis and funds are being channelled to these fields of studies.

Philosophy and other humanities subjects that are being perceived as not necessary nor essential to the development of the country are therefore neglected. Consequently, over the years, this unequal focus and preference on STEM subjects over humanities has ingrained in us the seemingly unerasable impression that philosophy is one and the same as something that does not contribute to progress.

#3 Philosophy – A Subject with More Questions than Answers

The Writer

The second reason behind the representation of philosophy as having minimal to no practical and marketable value has to do with the nature and method of inquiry of philosophy. Philosophy does not provide instant answers to questions; the usual engagement in philosophy generates more questions than one begins with.

Hence it is easily dismissed as “impractical” and “unintuitive” because this is not the way human brains are programmed to function. We prefer quick fixes to things and mental shortcuts because they save time and energy. Philosophy, on the other hand, challenges us to suspend our judgement and cognitive biases. It encourages the use of rational argumentation to achieve greater truth and clarity in our thoughts. These approaches of learning and inquiry are time and energy-consuming.

I will address all these in turn.

Philosophy is Made More Accessible Over the Years

Regarding the view of philosophy as a pursuit reserved for the elites, it is worth noting that humanities and liberal arts subjects have been made more accessible to people from diverse backgrounds and social classes. Philosophy has also been made more accessible to non-Western countries like Singapore and Taiwan (despite being a small country but with 160 universities and 13 departments of philosophy) among many others throughout the years.

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Likewise, the labelling of philosophy as an “armchair discipline” has also diminished. Over the decades, a growing number of philosophers are conducting experiments to test their arguments. The movement called “x-phi” or experimental philosophy, pioneered by philosophers Jonathan Weinberg, Shaun Nichols and Stephen Stich in the late 1990s prompted philosophers to conduct researches and experiments to accommodate the cross-cultural or demographic variations in “intuitions” people have. Hence we can observe philosophy growing out of the Elite and “armchair” veils and evolving into an inclusive and relevant discipline.

The Values of Philosophy

Philosophy is at the Core of All Knowledge – Yes, Even “Egg” is Related to Philosophy

In the following section, I will address the view that philosophy lacks practicality and marketability.

Firstly, the education development blueprint in Malaysia may have perpetuated the view that philosophy is mutually exclusive from development, this does not mean that it is true. I argue that philosophy plays an essential and inevitable role in change and progress, but this perspective is not available to most Malaysians because precisely there is minimal opportunity to be exposed to philosophy.

Philosophy Foundation

If anything at all, we wouldn’t have been where we are today if not for philosophy. This is because arguably, philosophy is the fundamental of every idea or concept in existence. As philosopher Tim Maudlin put it, “For all X, there is a philosophy of X, which involves the theoretical investigation into the nature of X.”

To see why, if you imagine all concepts as nodes forming a web of knowledge, philosophy would be the central node where all other concepts branch out from. For instance, at the core of the study of politics lies fundamental questions like “What is justice?” and “What is an ideal government?”. At the core of the study of neuroscience, we encounter questions like “What are mental states?”, “Do human brains operate in a pictorial or syntactic format?” and “Can human consciousness be fully explained by materials and physical causes?”. And at the core of the study of sciences, questions like “What is free will?”, “What are the best methods of inquiring into the nature of the universe?” emerge. It is through philosophy, which is the pursuit of answering these big fundamental questions and analysing these fundamental concepts that we roll the wheel of progress forward. This shows that every field of studies falls back to philosophy at the end of the day.

BBC

Need further convincing? Mathematician Hannah Fry showed how if you hit the first link in the main text of any Wikipedia page and do the same for the next page, a pattern emerges. You will eventually reach the page on “Philosophy” no matter where your starting point is.

This shows that Philosophy is not just important, but also inevitable in everything. Everything begins with philosophy including even “egg” and “marmalade”, as Hannah Fry showed. It may be more challenging for us to “see” the values of philosophy because the changes that philosophy creates are changes that happen at a more fundamental level – the level of neurons and thinking, and these changes do not happen instantly or over a short period of time. But this does not mean that philosophy hasn’t propelled any change.

Philosophical Skills are the Skills of Tomorrow

Next, even though philosophical pursuit is time and energy-consuming due to the method of inquiry, it is worth your time and energy. At the very least, philosophy teaches us to be better critical thinkers, decision makers and problem solvers, and philosophical skills are highly employable.

Philosophy majors are found to be ranked in the top 25% of salaries, and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has also shown that philosophy is at least as good of an investment as fields like engineering and healthcare.

An article from thebalancecareers.com also showed that the skills that philosophy teach, including critical thinking, communication and ethics are among the top employability skills sought after by employers.

Philosophy is Necessary for Change and Progress

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Furthermore, Philosophy can offer us new lens to look at current world affairs and issues, and even solutions to these problems. Philosophers have created history-changing social and political impacts. For instance, Karl Marx has inspired renewal of perspectives towards capitalism and social classes and the birth of Communism through 3 different revolutions, Peter Singer ideas on altruism and animal welfare have contributed to the rise of Effective Altruism movement and aided the relief of poverty and animal liberation across the globe, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s work contributed to the use of human capabilities as a measure of quality of life, and Camus’ Absurdism has helped individuals cope with fear of death and loss of meaning in life during the pandemics, to name a few. The real-world impacts that philosophy is capable of creating also further illuminates my previous point that philosophy is necessary for change and progress in society.

We at the Malaysian Philosophy Society have been committed to continue the spirit of these philosophers, creating real-world impacts using philosophy, through the content, events and projects we do. What you would like to associate philosophy with after this, we leave it up to you. But we encourage you to come experience it for yourself before making any hasty conclusions.

Bio of the Philosopher

Chew Zhun Yee is the co-founder of the Malaysian Philosophy Society, a non-profit NGO aimed at making philosophy practical and accessible to everyone. Zhun is a first-class philosophy graduate from King’s College London. Zhun did her year abroad at the University of California, Berkeley, during which she had the chance to dabble into Anthropology, Psychology, Cognitive Science and Graphic Design. Apart from directing the Malaysian Philosophy Society, she is also working full-time in the fields of edtech. Zhun’s dream is to build a future of education that is equitable, enjoyable and empowering for all.

My taste buds felt bland and unstimulated. I could only “taste” what was fed to me—textbook “knowledge” and “recommended readings” to prepare for exams. I followed my teachers’ instructions religiously.

I was taught that studying hard and regurgitating what I learned was a virtue every good student should possess, while doing otherwise was a vice to avoid.

At the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) results day, I began to question this dichotomy of good and bad—when I sensed a lingering emptiness at the back of my mind after receiving my SPM results. Despite earning straight As, I felt hollow. I realized that my five years of hard work had been reduced to just a few letters on a piece of embossed paper. I also realized I had spent my five years of high school operating like a machine; I had never wondered who I was, what I wanted, how I wanted to live, or why I did what I did. My sense of self seemed worlds away from the certificate I held, and the emptiness I felt was so vast it could fill the entire auditorium.

While most of my peers chose to dive straight into higher education, I decided to take a different path. I didn’t have a plan, and I was lost, so I decided to carve my own path. I took a gap year to try out new things that I never thought I would. I mean, you have to try the new dishes to know if you like them or not, right?

The Taste of Life

For the first time in my life, I tasted the tang of life—it was a little nerve-wracking, but mostly exciting and enriching.

I believe everyone experiences life’s essence, or quale, differently (in philosophy, “quale” refers to the subjective or phenomenal quality of an experience as perceived by a person). For me, life feels most alive when I’m breaking out of my own bubble of knowledge—questioning, inquiring, and challenging the status quo.

During my gap year, I explored a kaleidoscope of activities and ventures I never imagined possible when I was “trapped” in what Sartre’s existentialism calls “bad faith.” Sartre describes bad faith as the phenomenon of avoiding personal choice and alternative possibilities by surrendering to societal values or norms, ultimately disowning one’s freedom. One of my greatest discoveries during this time was the beauty of philosophy. I immersed myself in it through meetup groups, philosophical conversations with friends and strangers, and online courses. I vividly remember a discussion on the relativism of moral values. Before then, I had always thought of moral values as “absolutes”—universal and fixed across contexts. And that conversation completely changed my understanding of morality.

The Taste of Passion

Embarking on a philosophy degree, I tasted passion for the first time.

It wasn’t easy at first, but philosophy opened up worlds I hadn’t known existed. I learned to suspend judgment rather than blindly accept what’s presented, to embrace opposing viewpoints and consider alternative perspectives, and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of arguments. These skills weren’t as easily discardable as the information I once memorized and regurgitated in high school.

Philosophy taught me better critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving. When I face obstacles at work, my philosophical training enables me to approach problems with a logical framework—analyzing the consequences of each possible solution to find the most viable outcome that minimizes utility loss.

Many people, including you and me, practice philosophy in our everyday lives—perhaps without even realizing it. From the way we think and the questions we ask to the actions we take, philosophy is embedded in our decisions. For instance, if you’re upset about underperforming at work or school, you might decide to take a break, meditate, or listen to music to distance yourself from the situation. You might tell yourself that you did your best and that outcomes or others’ opinions are beyond your control. Without realizing it, you’re practicing Stoicism’s Dichotomy of Control—focusing on what’s within your control and letting go of what isn’t.

In short, philosophy brought me out of my knowledge bubble and ensured that my journey of learning and living is truly full-bodied.

But it didn’t stop there. I wanted to share the joy I found in philosophy with more people in Malaysia. I believe the Malaysian education system has room to grow in fostering creativity and critical thinking among students.

The Malaysian education system, for those familiar with its corridors, often operates as a linear model where teaching and learning flow in a one-way current: educators disseminate information, and students absorb it passively. Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire described this as the “banking” model of education, where teachers deposit information into students’ minds like funds into a bank account. But this model is inadequate for preparing students for the demands of the modern world.

Today’s society demands skills vastly different from those of a few decades ago. With the rapid advancement of science and technology, the rise of misinformation and polarization, and the growth of echo chambers, it is no longer sufficient to rely on past knowledge. The ability to learn continuously and think critically is essential for keeping up with constant change and demands of society. This is where philosophy becomes invaluable.

I co-founded the Malaysian Philosophy Society with the hope to instil a culture of critical thinking in Malaysia, creating a space where Malaysians can engage in meaningful discussions, question the status quo, and bridge divides.

Taste of Hope

It was during this time that I first tasted hope—a hope that change is possible in Malaysia’s educational climate. Since the end of 2016, we have held onto that hope as we work toward building an ecosystem of philosophy and critical thinking here in Malaysia. Our approach is to make philosophy practical, using it to address real-world and everyday challenges through our content, events and projects.

Importantly, we are not simplifying or “dumbing down” philosophy. Instead, we make its already practical aspects more explicit by:

Applying philosophical concepts and views to local issues,
Applying philosophical skills to everyday life, relationships, and work,
Making philosophy relevant to everyday life,
Translating general philosophical thoughts into specific questions related to the local context,
Collaborating with individuals from various disciplines to explore solutions to interpersonal and societal problems.

In the near future, I hope we can all savor the local flavor of kemajuan (progress) in our country through the lens of philosophy. In closing, I invite you to take a courageous step toward expanding your palate—explore the new stimuli and spices that philosophy has to offer. You may be surprised by the new possibilities it opens up.

I encourage you to give the dish of philosophy a try. Whether or not it becomes a favorite, at least you will have tasted it.