katsaroles

I agree. I'm just providing a reframing of what philosophy is that makes progress in philosophy a possibility.

Philosophy is about posing new questions, not providing answers. It's about imagination more than it's about deduction. Of course, in the same manner that math teachers emphasize deriving proofs rather than crafting new mathematical constructs as the fundamental activity of mathematicians, people who teach philosophy emphasize philosophical argument over opening up new frontiers of discourse as the fundamental activity of philosophers. As a result, students come to perceive philosophy as pointless.

A bit of a background: Varoufakis is something of a celebrity in Greece for being one of the first and the most vocal economists to speak out against the European strategy for resolving the Greek sovereign debt crisis. His predictions have proven to be tragically spot on so far, although it remains to be seen whether his proposal for renegotiating the European bailouts, a proposal that the left-wing SYRIZA political party (which has about 50% chance of winning in the Sunday elections and has allegedly asked Varoufakis to be its economic advisor) has stood behind, is actually a realistic one. He fled to the US and Valve after the doctoral program in Economics he had built in the University of Athens was dismantled during the crisis and after he started receiving death threats by people who weren't particularly thrilled with his opinions.