Rav Nahman from Breslov did not hold from learning philosophy. That even includes the Guide and the Ibn Ezra or even other books of great sages of Israel. Rav Nahman held they were are all not very good since it is best to depend on faith, and go with simple faith. Thus when I became aware of the opinion of some geonim and rishonim about the importance of Physics and Metaphysics, I choose to go into Physics. Metaphysics might be worthwhile in my opinion, but that fact that Rav Nahman was against leaning it influenced my decision to look into it as an area of interest, but not to study it in an intense way.
[I mean that philosophy is more than just any old area or interest but still I take it that Rav Nahman was probably right that it seems impossible to get it right. Dr Kelley Ross's web site on the Kant/Fries approach was certainly helpful for me to clear up some major issues and questions but I still think that Rav Nahman was right that philosophy is best avoided,
One reason to learn a bit of philosophy is what Steven Weinberg said--the main advantage of government for most of human history was to save one from other governments. Not to provide benefits. Same with philosophy. The main advantage of philosophy is to save one from other philosophies.
And that applies to people that imagine that they are immune because they do not learn philosophy at all. That simply makes them susceptible to half baked ideas that sound good at first with their poison hidden.
