Why is Philosophy Important? The Nature of Philosophy Philosopher Kings Role of Philosophy in Ordinary Lives Know Thyself The Nature of Philosophy "The Value of Philosophy" by Susan J. Fleck. September, 1995. For those of us who study or practice Philosophy, we have come to this discipline from many different paths. Once we are within the realm of Philosophy, which often seems to be a world apart from everything else, most of us explore many different roads, never quite sure where they will lead us. Some of the territory along the way is familiar and comfortable; some avenues are delightful, others are dark and gloomy; some of the landscape is bizarre; other parts are rather boring; some roads are quite bumpy and uncomfortable, especially when they force us to throw out some cherished belief in order to continue our quest. It is unfortunate that the nature of what philosophy is, and what philosophers do, creates a boundary of a seemingly strange vocabulary and conceptual dialogue that makes it so undesirable for most people to explore. It seems, to the inexperienced traveler, as if the philosophers over the centuries have constructed a monstrous barricade in front of the highway leading to the City of Philosophy, with a large sign posted on it which reads: “TRESPASS AT YOUR OWN RISK.” There is not one clue on that sign about what one may find beyond this barricade of language and esoteric dialogue. Most of life’s travelers, then, bypass this rich domain and rarely understand the bases of their most general beliefs and feelings. They do not realize that behind that barricade there are men and women at work who produce ideas which have the power of either destroying or sustaining the very foundations of civilization. If philosophy has such power, and yet there are so relatively few philosophers in the world, and so very few that have had any lasting influence, then, just what is philosophy, and what do philosophers do? In a nutshell, philosophy is the world of ideas for which concepts, language and dialogue are its building blocks. Now, before you assume from this statement that I am a Platonist, who believes in a world of ideas apart from a material world, or that I am a Logical Positivist, who believes that language and logical constructs from empirical data provide the meaning for concepts, I must surely explain what I mean here. (Heaven forbid I should be called such names!) Philosophers have always been about the business of answering, or at least inquiry into, life’s Big Questions. These questions, or problems, as we are fond of calling them, generally fall into one of five major branches of philosophy: (1) Metaphysics attempts to answer questions such as, ‘is there a God?’, and ‘what is the nature of the universe?’ (2) Epistemology deals with issues like ‘what do we know?’ and ‘how do we know it?’ (3) Politics examines ‘how should we govern, or be governed?’ (4) Ethics is occupied with ‘how shall I live?’ and ‘how shall I treat others?’ and lastly, (5) Aesthetics explores ‘what is beauty?’ and ‘what is the nature of art?’ Philosopher Kings “Well, yes”, you might say, “these are always very interesting questions and may be fun to discuss late into the night once in a while (and probably only after a few drinks), but what do they have to do with every day living - earning a living and having a good time when we are not doing the ‘earning’ part?” It seems to the rest of the world as if philosophers just argue back and forth and never definitively get anywhere, or produce anything that makes a difference in the real world. For example, in my Aesthetics class after a whole semester, we could not agree on a definition of the concept Art, nor were we anything close to agreement about the nature of art. One could further argue that one could live his or her whole life, happily and successfully, without learning anything about philosophy per se, the great philosophers, or the many esoteric problems bantered about in this field. I would counter that, while I am sure that this holds true for the majority of people, contented or otherwise, that nevertheless, the way they generally operate and think in their lives has been influenced mainly as a result of one or more of the Philosopher Kings, such as Plato, Aristotle, or Kant. I believe that the five branches of inquiry stated above are connected such that if you would imagine a pyramid, then metaphysics and epistemology would be at the base of this pyramid, forming the foundation for the other specialties, with aesthetics being at the top, providing the crowning jewel to satisfy our quests for quality of life. The Philosopher Kings are those rare individuals who have synthesized these blocks of the pyramid and have connected them together into a coherent whole “system”. Although parts of any one of these Kings’ philosophy may get tossed out as we gain more knowledge about our universe, the general foundation of their total system is not destroyed. Role of Philosophy in Ordinary Lives If we allow for these general systems of world views, how does this relate to ordinary people? Let us compare an astronaut with a drifter. These two individuals, I suspect, have fundamentally different philosophies, even though probably neither of them has articulated specifically what is his or her philosophy. It is my view that the astronaut has an infinitely better chance to merely survive as a human based on the legacy from the likes of Aristotle, who, allowing for the primacy of existence, hold man’s mind and reason as the key to understanding and embracing this world. The drifter, on the other hand, operates on the primacy of consciousness (when he is conscious), handed down to him from Plato, who renounces this world in favor of another one of Forms, and from other influential thinkers, who are purveyors of faith, feelings and relativism. Why did I choose a job occupation, or lack thereof, as a differentiator of philosophies? This is an illustration to show that what one does with one’s life is a result of some fundamental beliefs about the nature of the universe, how one is related to it, and how one should live - the subjects of philosophy. While I can speculate about the kinds of careers and lifestyles different types of philosophies lend themselves to, I cannot pass judgment about whether any one or type of individual can be fulfilled or find happiness. However, I do feel strongly that it would seem impossible to find contentment if one went through one’s whole life in a kind of a muddled fog without any understanding of the world in general, other people, and most of all one’s own self. I think that most people never take the Socratic challenge to ‘know thyself’. Know Thyself To ‘know thyself’ is one of the fundamental reasons why some venture around the barricades to visit the City of Philosophy. They visit a while, find the harmony they were seeking, and move on to other endeavors. Others come to explore and hunt for definitive and new answers to some of life’s big questions. Others stay, believing there is no hope for finding any answers, or, if they do find them, they are never sure if these are the final solutions. For them, the fun is in the wonderment and the search. Some forget why they came, they become lost in a fog and disoriented, and never come out of that fog. Others think they have entered another world, and they forget about, or they never discover, the relationship of philosophy to ordinary living. Because I believe philosophy is so crucial for individuals, and thus for the world at large, I would like to help break down the barriers and make the world of philosophy more accessible and attractive. I would love to see a course developed about philosophy’s fundamental concepts and important philosophers - one that would be mandatory for high school students. Just think of the number of people who would then be exposed to so many ideas in a synthesized manner, and therefore many more of our brightest thinkers would venture into this field of study. This ultimately benefits others, as fresh new ideas and approaches filter down from the ivy walls of the colleges and into mainstream politics and the arts, which in turn carry the messages to ‘ordinary’ citizens.
