[lit-ideas] Re: Why Philosophy?
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 12:40:52 -0700
John,
Your approach to philosophy is one I recognize and more or less agree with.
I had some trouble, on the other hand, with a statement made the other day
by Walter which may (at least it seemed to me to) imply a different
approach, and I wonder if you did as well. It was,
"I try to avoid autobiographical reflection; it interferes with the
philosophical project of inquiry and analysis."
Does he mean that he never feels a personal connection to the subject of his
inquiry and that he never makes a personal application? Or does he mean
something like the modern historian would mean when he says that he attempts
to be as objective as possible while recognizing that utter objectivity is
impossible?
I recall a statement made about people who study psychology along the lines
of the following: they begin their study because they have problems and hope
to solve them through their study. Some of them are so persistent in
seeking help through study that their studies qualify them to practice, and
they do. Couldn't something like that be said about people who study
Philosophy?
In Hindu Philosophy there is a teaching called "Maya." The world is
illusion. This is not so very different from what Plato taught and I read
(long ago) arguments suggesting a connection. Wisdom consists of seeing
past the illusion to the truth, and don't all philosophers, or rather
shouldn't all philosophers seek the truth? Isn't that the goal of the
philosopher, to seek the truth? And if that is true, that all, or at least
all serious philosophers seek the truth no matter where that search leads
them, shouldn't we suspect that this search is motivated by a personal need?
Would we be amiss employing Collingwood here and examine a given
philosopher's "constellation of presuppositions" and perhaps suspect that
there is a strong autobiographical connection, a personal need to find this
"truth"?
Lawrence Helm
San Jacinto
-----Original Message-----
From: John Wager
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 11:37 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Why Philosophy. (Was: On Nip Thievery)
wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote:
> . . .What is the role of philosophy in these postmodern, internetized,
globalized,
> multicultural, post 9/11 days? Why do we continue to teach this
discipline? Is
> it for its relevance to contemporary problems and issues, or is there a
> timeless, intrinsic worth to philosophy independent of any promotion of
> interests and consequences for states-of-affairs in the world?
>
Both for its results and because it's a noble human quality to think
about life, regardless of the results.
(I went to a conference in Leeds, England a couple of years ago at which
a French philosophy teacher led a room full of British philosophy
teachers through some exercises in thought. The room got more and more
angry and argumentative--even combative--as the French session leader
just took the conversation as it progressed and continued to ask
philosophical questions about their reactions. Quite a few of the Brits
got up and left, complaining that the whole session was a waste of time;
the conversation didn't "get anywhere."
The French session leader left with a smile on his face; it had been an
enormously satisfying exploration of some interesting issues of the
nature and limits of different kinds of philosophical discourse.)
My personal history may be relevant: I started in pre-med, because I
thought that would be a good life, and it would do some good in the
world. I thought that people needed help being healthy. But in college I
saw lots of people suffering because they didn't stop and think much
about what was important to them, what obligations they had, what made
something important, or what kinds of things were real and what were
illusory. I saw philosophy as a kind of intellectual therapy. But the
more I got into it, the more it because an interesting pursuit
regardless of how far one got in answering fundamental questions; it
became important to raise the questions and try to answer them, as a
worthwhile activity in itself.
The first year I taught philosophy, a student committed suicide over
Christmas break, leaving behind a note saying that his reading of the
Phaedo (done in my intro philosophy class) had convinced him that a
"better place" awaited him. (As in most cases, there were other suicide
attempts, so I don't really blame my course as "the" cause.)
His death disturbed me greatly, but I saw that the consequences of
getting philosophy wrong, or not taking it seriously, could literally be
deadly. The opposite would also have to be true: Doing philosophy well
might "save" someone from various kinds of death.
The main problem with philosophy is that the results are almost always
too remote and too unpredictable to be calculated and appreciated.
Someone who is cancer-free for five years is often counted as a
successful outcome, but it's impossible to know how much influence
Kant's focus on dignity and respect of others has had on a student.
It probably takes more "faith" to teach philosophy in this spirit than
it does to preach the Gospel; at least preachers have some evidence of
the success or failure of their efforts.
> All of us who work in the discipline have made significant sacrifices in
order
> to contribute to the philosophical literature and/or to help others
develop
> philosophical skills and dispositions - sacrifices similar to, if not
identical
> with, sharing living quarters with lizards. We all, surely, have our
"lizard"
> stories. But what is it that motivates you to pursue and promote this
> discipline? ("Discipline" here not simply as a distinct scholarly form of
> inquiry and analysis but also in the Greek sense of a way of life, an
acquired
> and educated attunement to the world, others, and oneself.)
>
>
--
-------------------------------------------------
"Never attribute to malice that which can be
explained by incompetence and ignorance."
-------------------------------------------------
John Wager john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Lisle, IL, USA
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