Marco Rubio recently suggested that we need fewer philosophers and more welders because welders make more money. See below:
In case itâs not obvious why this is a foolish suggestion, Iâll explain.
THE MAIN PROBLEM
Here are a couple claims that are probably true:
- There is a need for more welders.
- Some welders make more money than some philosophers.
Notice, however, that neither of the following follow from those probably true claims:
A. We need fewer philosophers.
B. On average, welders make more than philosophers.
So, insofar as Marco Rubio thinks that A and/or B follows from 1 and 2, Rubio is just wrong. And many people have pointed out that B is just false.â  So insofar as Rubio thinks B is true, he is just wrong.
SOLUTIONS?
What can we learn from this?
- We need better fact-checking in politics (ideally, politicians would check the facts before they start talking at a public venue).
- We need more philosophy (viz., a proper understanding and appreciation of good reasoning) â even in the highest ranks of US politics. Maybe we need argument-checking: âFact-checking is not enough. We need argument-checkingâ.
TWO MOREÂ PROBLEMS
And for those who still want to point out that we need more welders: fine! Having more welders and having more philosophers is not mutually exclusive! We can have both!â â
Finally, there is the implicit suggestion that we should choose careers based on how much money the career offers. Sigh⌠Look, I get that we need a certain amount of money to flourish. But â contra Rubioâs short argument â surely there are other (more important?) variables involved in a career choice.
â âMarco Rubio said wrongly that welders make more money than philosophersâ (Politifact). âMarco Rubio says welders make more money than philosophers do. Heâs wrongâ (Slate). âPhilosophy majors actually earn a lot more than weldersâ (Vox).
â â Thanks to John Ballenger, James Endicott, Andrew Chapman, Cameron Buckner, and Andrew Cullison for making these points (and other points that I havenât even mentioned). Finally, thanks to my Facebook friends for humoring my Facebook rants about this.
Featured image: Â âGas metal arc weldingâ via Wikipedia, Public Domain