There are a huge number of cases where philosophers got the ‘right’ answer to some degree before scientists got to it, just due to the sheer number positions philosophers have held on every subject. The problem is that we don’t know which position is correct until after the science has been done.
There are a huge number of cases where philosophers got the ‘right’ answer to some degree before scientists got to it, just due to the sheer number positions philosophers have held on every subject. The problem is that we don’t know which position is correct until after the science has been done.
So are you saying that this is or is not a good example of philosophy proven useful?
At most, it’s as useful as reducing the search space from all possible answers to all answers ever held by a philosopher.
But even that might not be great. No philosopher ever proposed quantum mechanics or general relativity.