There are probably 10 times the number of philosophical works that I vehemently reject than those I accept- but its still philosophy. Now, what will probably confuse your poor black-and-white mind is that many of the ones I vehemently reject I find to be most profitable to read, analyze and reflect on.

Then beneath that is pseudophilosophy, and beneath that is dogma, and beneath that is faith.

Really? And how do you choose between them? How do you put them into these categories? What standard do you use to select acceptable philosophies and declare others "dogma?" And where does that standard come from, if not from an overriding worldview about reality and human thought of some kind, i.e. a philosophy?

If philosophy is as subjective as everyone keeps telling me it is, convince me that there's more to it for most people than "I like this guy's ideas because they're pretty much what I think already."

If it's all such muddy ground, what are you standing on?

On another post I mentioned how rare epiphanies are, and how they're often preceded by trauma of some kind. How often has someone read a philosophical idea and been dragged kicking and screaming somewhere they didn't want to go? It has happened, even to philosophers.