Master.........Really?

[Mike Boswell]

Is it disrespectful to call a physician "doctor" because it devalues the accomplishments of someone with a PhD who has spent years doing original research?

Is it disrespectful to call a computer programmer an "engineer" because it devalues the accomplishments of someone who has passed their FE and PE exams?

Being upset at the use of a term in a title misses the point that the term is used in a particular context. One can spend their life upset at usages of language. But doing so misses the point that language merely points to concepts. That you know what "master diver" refers to clearly shows that you understand the term within it's linguistic context.

And that points to the utter silliness of being upset about it.

Excellent summary.

 

[TMHeimer]

Is it disrespectful to call a physician "doctor" because it devalues the accomplishments of someone with a PhD who has spent years doing original research?

Is it disrespectful to call a computer programmer an "engineer" because it devalues the accomplishments of someone who has passed their FE and PE exams?

Being upset at the use of a term in a title misses the point that the term is used in a particular context. One can spend their life upset at usages of language. But doing so misses the point that language merely points to concepts. That you know what "master diver" refers to clearly shows that you understand the term within it's linguistic context. And that points to the utter silliness of being upset about it.

Well put. That's the bottom line IMO.

 

[Thalassamania]

Is it disrespectful to call a physician "doctor" because it devalues the accomplishments of someone with a PhD who has spent years doing original research?

Actually, it is. But it is a fine point and one that most everyone today is used to.

 

[Mike Boswell]

A medical doctor (physician) generally has many more years of education and training than your average PhD, and generally enjoys a much higher level of prestige and public recognition.

 

[lowviz]

Actually more to the point is the misuse diminishes every certification with the names PADI, NAUI, and SSI (and perhaps others) in front of them. I am not upset, only pointing out the consequences of the inappropriate use of the term.

I am not upset either. I like to think of it as progressive de-regulation: it keeps getting easier to do whatever you want. (Still waiting for OW Expedition Helium...)

 

[drrich2]

And don't forget not all Ph.Ds are alike. A Ph.D in Literature and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry are far & away not the same thing.

Richard.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

Way off topic, but I was partly raised in the UK, and learned as a wee bairn not to call some of my father's colleagues at the hospital, 'doctor'. As specialists, they earned the right to be addressed as "Mr" or "Miss", he admonished the goggling five-year old me. Proof that titles mean sod all!

 

[divin'dog]

So what do you call the person who comes in last in his class in medical school?











answer: doctor...

 

[Thalassamania]

... and it pisses the physicist next door off, even if he's polite and doesn't say anything, but everytime he hears it he thinks, "not a real doctor, just a physician."

 

[drrich2]

And a lot of people regard Physicians as the 'real' doctors. In modern culture, the term is not unique to Ph.D.s or Physicians. There are a number of other doctoral degrees out there besides those two.

I've known quite a few Ph.D.s & never noticed any of them expressing a view that Physicians weren't 'real' doctors.

Richard.