AK: You don’t think that’s true in the Arts? SP: Not in the same way. In the arts, a lot of the judging is outside of your tribe: curators, galleries, even museums. Philosophers are judged more from within. Also, much of philosophy is not for public consumption, or at least, it sort of is but sort of isn’t. You’re ultimately making things for your own family and they’re the ones judging you. The Arts function in a different way.

I have a degree in analytic philosophy, and this is definitely true. It's something I both miss and think is a serious issue with the field of philosophy, at least in the Anglosphere. It's very, very tempting to stay in the isolated, intellectual world of academic philosophy, where rigor matters and the petty sociopolitical problems of the world outside can be safely ignored. The vast majority of analytic philosophy doesn't really comment on contemporary ethical issues in the first place, which is ultimately where that buffer comes from, instead focusing largely on language, logic, and similar areas.

But it also leaves you feeling like you aren't really engaging with the world and with everything that the field of philosophy has to offer, especially when contemporary times are IMO full of real-world problems in desperate need of philosophers.