Philosophy gets a bad rap, even by fellow academics sometimes. Commonly cited criticisms are that it has become too prosaic and detached from society at large. Maybe that’s true of some philosophers but I don’t see a problem with people studying something purely for the joy of learning and there are philosophers who do an excellent job of explaining philosophical ideas to lay audiences, Alain de Botton immediately springs to mind. Status Anxiety is among my favourite videos.

The reality is that we have too few people who think about what it means to live a good life and make a wholesome society

anymore than English or History is

It’ll be the same for them too.
Nobody appreciates learning for the sake of learning anymore, learning is strictly for getting jobs. Although if you have the money to spend on getting many degrees worrying about paying off loans, then there may be another aspect to the resentment, considering the cost of university these days

There’s a philosopher/history of philos on the bowling team I’ve just joined. I’m philospically inclined so I asked him if Descartes was ripping off Socrates’ “I only know that I know nothing” which could be interpreted as “I doubt everything except my existence”. It’s a topic that came up the other day on Lemmy. He said no, Socrates was just saying he was wiser than everyone else because he wasn’t deluded about his abilities.

I asked him about Descartes’ relationship to solipsism reply: Descartes wasn’t a solipsist because his god wouldn’t deceive him like that, Descartes’ god is real because of the ontological argument. Which one’s that again?..

I kinda just felt like I was making him do his job…

Philosophers are always the first targets of anti-intellectuals. People genuinely believe that studding what’s true about the world is a waste of time.

You can tell that this is a prejudice because the same people who think you shouldn’t get paid for having useless knowledge will still hire economists.

Because religious people are raised with a flawed worldview that they can’t waver from or they’re going to hell and also made to feel extremely shameful about regular human emotions like curiosity and horniness

I’ll be real with you: philosophy seems like a bougie thing to major in.

It’s something you major in when you have a cushion that allows it.

Most people don’t have that cushion, so they get mad when they see someone who does use it.

Its because most of them don’t really know what philosophy is, so someone being a master of it makes them feel very insecure - like they’re cornered with a topic they know nothing about.

For a layperson, philosophy doesn’t have an obvious practical application. They think philosophers just sit around pondering esoteric topics and can’t imagine why anyone would pay them for it.

I think, because people think it’s a useless degree, because there is no industry or marketable jobs not phil that’s not from a university. Much like BA in psych or some Studies degree. There really isn’t jobs outside of academia for phil. I was in a philosophy course in college like 10+ years, a instructor recently finished his PhD, and seems to love it. But he has no permanent position, so he jumps from college to college teaching it, I was following his LinkedIn profile. On the other side, its probably propaganda against philosophy as too much on one side of the political spectrum, right wingers scoff and it quite a lot. Also it includes religions as part of the studies, so people find it very uncomfortable that it contradicts their religious beliefs

Anti intellectualism.

Well, there’s an anti-intellectual streak in the world. And, given the cultural trends of the last 20 years, it’s not getting smaller. So there’s that. Deep down some people will think you think you’re better than them. Deep down some people might be touchy about touchy about their level of education and tired to being lied and condescended to by people presenting themselves as cultural authorieies.

I suspect it’s any university degree that doesn’t have obvious “practical” benefits at this point (and even then).

Here is a quote, taken slightly out of context, that I believe speaks to what you are experiencing:

“The clinical picture of a person who has been reduced to elemental concerns of survival is still frequently mistaken for a portrait of the survivor’s underlying character.” - World Health Organization. (May 31, 2016). ICD-11 Beta Draft (Joint Linearization for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics).

Extrapolating from that in this other context, we can assume more and more people are simply losing their capacity to entertain “loftier” ideals than immediate survival. For all too many, there was never any other choice.

I studied philosophy at university in the 80’s, and remember the endless jokes about what restaurant job I would be able to get with my degree, etc. It speaks to the hidden framework of capitalism that confines us all. It’s only gotten worse in my lifetime.

I look back at my parents, who were able to buy their own house and raise two kids with a single earner, blue collar wage. My mom did eventually work as well, which allowed us children to go to college.

Now I am close to retirement, and I have nothing to show for it. No house, no car, no big retirement payout waiting. I ‘squandered’ my money and time being an activist and humanitarian, living in the moment and refusing to produce or hoard wealth for the capitalist machine just because.

I try to use my philosophical insight as a practical methodology to remove myself from the clamor for crumbs. I am a minimalist, an environmentalist, a gardener, a handyman and helper, a teacher - a papa smurf to my community and philosopher to my peers. I wouldn’t trade it for all the money in the world, but I would be remiss to ignore the looming economic circumstances that threaten the future of humanity, myself included.

But I will forge ahead into this wilderness. As Deleuze and Guattari would say, forget reading someone else’s map, become your own cartographer. Philosophy is a great basis for profound understanding of the human condition. It won’t make you rich, and it certainly won’t be respected or understood in this modern world - but it will enrich you. If you follow your heart it can show you a path through the madness that does not require that you shed your humanity or reduce yourself to that of an economic survivor, victor, or victim, and can serve as a beacon for others less fortunate to have been afforded such a perspective.

I often share the story of Taigu Ryōkan, the Zen Master, who perfectly illustrates both the value of philosophical introspection, and it’s liberating effect from the confines of the material world.

https://laspina.org/the-thief-and-the-moon-a-zen-tale-in-ryokans-haiku/

I think it’s cool! Congratulations on your two degrees. As to your question, I’m not sure why people would find it negative.