A thankless task

"Being a social scientist is a pretty thankless job, though, particuarly among the ever-cynical English, who generally dismiss all of our findings as either obvious (when they accord with 'common knowledge') or rubbish (when they challenge some tenet of popular wisdom) or mumbo-jumbo (when it is not clear when sin has been committed, as the findings are couched in incomprohensible academic jargon)." (Kate Fox's "Watching the English", p201)

More on this fun book soon, though I thought this was worth its own post. Of course, there's no shortage of philosophers who have little time for some sociology. But we must sympathise with them in this respect at least. Trying to discuss philosophy with those who haven't studied it generally descends into claims that you don't do anything interesting (for arguing that common sense is correct) or that you're being absurd (for arguing that common sense is incorrect).

On the other hand, I've previously found it helpful to explain philosophy as the critical study of common sense. It's simplistic, but it sometimes gets the gist accross reasonably well.