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I've been studying philosophy quite intensively for a year and a half.

But when I say studying, I mean on the way to work, in audio format when I walk the dog and a lot of my free time.

I do not think that at this stage of my life that I will go back to university get a second degree in philosophy.

So I was just wondering, at what point of self-study, if at all, can I call myself a philosopher? or is that something solely a university can bestow on me?

Jonathan
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  • why does it matter to you? are you producing interesting and new work? –  Mar 09 '19 at 22:27
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    The field of philosophy should be happy to have you as a consumer and even producer. But you may already know that Nietzsche didn't sell many books while he was alive. Since there are unemployed/underemployed MAs and PhDs, you can imagine the competition in teaching and even in tutoring. – Gordon Mar 09 '19 at 22:32
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    Actually, I have written a white paper in my field about a new way to think about solving some problems and I have made a todo list categorised on some philosophical concepts. – Jonathan Mar 09 '19 at 22:33
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    I voted to close this question as subjective because when it comes to questions like "what qualifies as a philosopher" it is entirely too dependent on the context and specific intended meaning of the word to be able to answer objectively. You can call yourself whatever you want and you can consider yourself to be whatever you want, but under what circumstances you should call yourself something, those are almost impossible to answer. What is the audience of people you're asking about, in front of your friends? In front of a potential employer? In front of the mirror? It's all subjective. – Not_Here Mar 09 '19 at 23:04
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    In a strict meaning, a contemporary philosopher is someone who makes the majority of their income from publishing/teaching philosophy. You wouldn't want to write "I'm an electrical engineer" on a job application if all your background is is reading a few books and working on small projects. You wouldn't want to call yourself a philosopher under the same circumstances. On the other hand, it seems reasonable to write "I consider myself a philosopher" in a personal bio on twitter or wherever else. It depends on the context, the audience, and what you mean by the word. – Not_Here Mar 09 '19 at 23:08
  • just ignore the games and be pleased with your work then @Jonathan that's my two cents form life experience, not my "being a philosopher about it" ;) –  Mar 09 '19 at 23:28
  • @Not_Here Actually, it's illegal to sell yourself an engineer if you're not licenced in countries like Canada. – Cell Mar 09 '19 at 23:54
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    @Cell I don't know why you said "actually", what I said is that you wouldn't want to do that. "You wouldn't want to commit tax fraud," why might you not want to do that? Well it's dishonest for one, but most people would probably answer "because its illegal." – Not_Here Mar 10 '19 at 01:09
  • @Not_Here Sorry, I misundersrood. I thought I read that you wrote you can call yourself anything you want and that it's all subjective. – Cell Mar 10 '19 at 01:54
  • @Cell I am saying that you can call yourself whatever you want, but in many cases that doesn't mean that you actually are that thing and in many cases you have a huge motivation not to do that, such as legal recourse because you're committing fraud. That doesn't preclude you from doing it, so we can't objectively answer the question because we don't know what context the OP is asking it in. – Not_Here Mar 10 '19 at 03:13
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    Never call yourself a philosopher. Do what they do and let others decide what to call you... (This is sound for most vocations) – christo183 Mar 10 '19 at 03:19

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Anytime you want. There's no legal or ethical boundary.

There is no professional criteria (licensing) for being a philosopher... or even a scientist, or baseball player or carpenter.

However, making such a claim without qualification might result in damage to reputation if the other people don't understand why you're not stating a falsehood.

Randy Zeitman
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  • Why is this question on hold?

    "but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise"

    The correct answer is a fact, and is referenced, and specific ... there is no legal requirements to be a philosopher. It's completely uncertified. You, me, anyone can do it anytime whatsoever and there's no answers here that say otherwise.

    It's 100% cut and dried and you're welcome to explain why it's not.

     – Randy Zeitman Mar 11 '19 at 01:09