[MBTI General] Philosophy and type

[Wonkavision]

Herman Hesse's Siddhartha sums up my perspective perfectly. Can't be taught the way, in the end I find it on a river and cannot possibly relay the wonder of it all to any other.

Same here.

 

[Argus]

Surprisingly, my INTP brother hardly ever finds his mind wandering down the path of philosophical adventures. I, however, I'm plagued by it as the majority of the conscious thought it put to philosophical questioning.

 

[Thinkerninja]

posted by nonsequitur
I would say mainly introverted intuitives. Extraverted intuitives tend to be less reflective and obsessed with the theoretical.

However, when it comes to ENFPs, they might be more reflective and obsessed with the theoretical due to the -likely?- chance of them being the -most introverted- extrovert, if thats what this is being based on.

 

[IntrovertedThinker]

INTPs are made for philosophy. We are driven by Introverted Thinking (Ti). This is a highly useful function which uses logic purely to root out inconsistencies and contradictions, along with the structuring of an internal logical model throughout our whole lives. With our Extraverted Intuition (Ne), we can invent and imagine remarkably innovative possibilities, which means we can generate ideas from left-field which allow us to construct wonderful theories about the world.

Other than that, other types that might be philosophical include INTJs or ENTPs, as far as I know, although all INs tend to enjoy philosophical musing on some level.

 

[boondocked]

INTPs are made for philosophy! I majored in philosophy, and most the majors of that year were clear INTPs. Second place, INTJs. A smattering of ENTPs and ISTJs, all male. In fact, we had only two girls, myself and an ESFP. She brought the most interesting stuff to the table, simply because her stuff was different, and related in a different style. The profs adored her.

I love philosophy, and love isn't restricted to type. I do, however, find that type can inform what kinds of philosophy a student pursues. I avoid epistemology and metaphysics, since their distance from lived realities and human plights in general grates on me. I like the philosophy of religion and luuuuurvvveeeee ethics . Also, I love logic, but can't explain that at all. And I enjoy utilitarianism, but that's just dessert.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

I love Philosophy, the endless debate is just amazing.

 

[ZPowers]

Concurring opinions on INTPs as philosophy-bots. I majored in political science, but took either philosophy or literature classes any time I had to fill some hours. I frequently do independent research on the topic. I'm in my final class of my undergraduate career right now: Ethics.

Also worth noting that me and my ENTP friend (who IS a philosophy major) generally wind up spending a few hours talking philosophy every time we meet. His ideas usually seem more optimistic than mine.

 

[skylights]

Their downfall would be that most of them are not naturally drawn to study large amounts of philosophy and would be content just changing themselves instead.

lol so true

to be honest i'm so much of a believer in occam's razor and subjectivity that a lot of philosophy (and religion) seems way overly complicated to me. i like kantian ethics though, and spirituality.

now that i think about it that sounds very Ne / Fi

anyway i like theoretical physics better

ps the tao te ching is pretty sweet

 

[angelhair45]

I've always been fascinated with Philosophy. In fact when I took a class in college I was one of the few who actually cared. The only person I've ever met in real life who I could discuss philosophy with is my ENTP brother. Other than that I've never met anyone else who saw a point in discussing such things. Bummer for me.

 

[the state i am in]

e5s, e9s, and sometimes e7. i know a lot of e4s into sociological theory, but it's more grounded in finding self-definition, personal truth, etc.

 

[Queen Kat]

I've taken philosophy classes, because I thought we'd gonna spend time philosophizing. In the end we turned out to learn about what other people have been philosophizing about. Too bad, I prefer thinking myself and discuss it with others instead of learning about the thoughts of great thinkers.

 

[Loliz]

I ve spent a lot of time in philosophy programs. Grad and undergrad. Definitely a lot of intp/j s, but quite a few nfp s too. I rarely met entp s which is too bad cause they are really fun to think with.

 

[RaptorWizard]

I would guess philosophy would be dominated by Ti users, particularly Ti dominants.

 

[Reverie]

I'm pretty sure philosophy has an appeal to many NF types. Perhaps different schools of thought would appeal more to certain types, though I'm sure it's not that straightforward. I would imagine INTPs being naturally attracted to Logic....INFPs to ethics... that's all heavy stereotyping of course.
I did in my teens consider semiotics as something I might be interested in studying in depth (I experienced a jolt of enthusiasm after discovering Umberto Eco), or Phenomenology. I suppose as a rule of thumb the continental tradition appeals to me more. My 13 year old self was fond of Nietzsche, Sartre, Schopenhauer, Foucault...before I was swept away by the discovery buddhism and the Tao Te Ching and decidedly taking a more hands on approach to life. I think that for me philosophy was mainly a tool for private self reflection. I would imagine that philosophy would have an appeal for INFJs in general though. Especially those who are atheist and are less likely to be lured in by religious disciplines (though Zen buddhism seems to be fine by both).

 

[A_priori]

I love philosophy !!

 

[entropie]

I ve spent a lot of time in philosophy programs. Grad and undergrad. Definitely a lot of intp/j s, but quite a few nfp s too. I rarely met entp s which is too bad cause they are really fun to think with.

I think the reason for this is, having a mind thats insane 24/7 and has a hard time to tell reality from a bad drug trip, philosophy is the last thing you want.

 

[A_priori]

I think the reason for this is, having a mind thats insane 24/7 and has a hard time to tell reality from a bad drug trip, philosophy is the last thing you want.

lol

 

[greenfairy]

I love philosophy. It's the only thing I never get tired of or bored with. It's my major, and I wouldn't mind being a professor. I'd like to be a logic professor. I wouldn't mind being another kind, but I would feel more uncomfortable about having to answer students' questions in anything else.

 

[RaptorWizard]

Philosophy is the way if unlocking and unleashing the full potential of one's mind power!
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[INTP]

i think Te approach generally is too superficial(/statistical) view on things to contemplate on philosophy, but when Fi is dominating Te, it can offer depth to analysis similar way as Ti can. i think N is very important aspect to it too, because philosophy requires thinking, not only what is(based on sensory input), but also about that is beneath of it all.

i would say that INFJ, ENFJ, ENTP, INTP, ENFP and INFP are the types most interested in philosophy in general, but naturally other types can find something to analyze in philosophic ways. i think INTJs would be more about "isnt it weird that this or that" and sort of wondering about things that are.