Can studying philosophy help you improve as a trader? Maybe Nietzsche's perspectivism could be a microscope to constantly antagonize your own methods in order to improve yourself and your trading results? ? scalp "Know thyself" - Socrates
Anything you study is useful. Philosophical essays, especially of the Existentialism era that you mentioned and later periods, like Positivism and Phenomenology, are very difficult to understand because the authors use a difficult language and convoluted argumentation just to make things sound very important and to also manufacture an elite (not trader) that supposedly understands more than common people. Most of these philosophical essays deal with the same problems ancient philosophers dealt with but provide no answers other than esoteric approaches founded on certain doctrines. Most essays are waste of time. They were written by people with an ego problem and a very dogmatic view of life, science, religion, language, logic, you name it. If you have time to waste it is better to study psychology. It is more relevant to market behavior.
A lot of different fields can be applied to the market in their own way. Traders do not only develop profitable trades, they develop profitable perspectives
The 20th century philosopher Michael Polanyi's concepts of tacit and explicit knowledge are admirably applicable to trading.
It might, it might not. Same holds true for Fibonacci, candlesticks, fundamental analysis, risk management, programming, astro, tea leaves, ad nauseum.
Learning philosophy will slow you down if you are weighing it against simply learning the risks and mechanics of real day to day and longer term trading. You should only view it as a kind of entertainment or exercise at best. I went through a long period from about 18 to 25 that would have been much better rewarded trading then wasting time reading heidegger, derrida, husserl, merleau-ponty, zizek, jabes, braudel, jameson, lukacs, and so on... You need the ability to make decisions based on risks and measure them in real time. Philosophy can't do that. I just saved you a lot of time, I hope.
Learning philosophy will probably make you realize you should be doing something better with your time, other than trading and learning philosophy. I know this because I am doing both right now, but I will probably continue for a while anyway.