[lit-ideas] Re: Why Philosophy. (Was: On Nip Thievery)
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 08:54:20 +0700
Walter O. wrote:
"But what is it that motivates you to pursue and promote this
discipline [i.e. philosophy]? ("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.)"
For myself, part of the answer would be that I am inclined to be
philosophical. I have the unfortunate, in the view of my
long-suffering wife, habit of picking up on philosophically
interesting points that arise in ordinary conversation and will
occasionally mention them. This, of course, usually kills that thread
of conversation, but my attention is caught by philosophically
relevant issues and how these issues bear on the conversation. I will
leave aside the matter of why mention of philosophical points tends to
kill conversations.
For myself, I am not sure I can say more than that I am simply
inclined towards philosophy. I find it interesting, meaningful and
even fulfilling.
But I am also convinced that doing philosophy is important. It is not
important in the sense of solving problems. Heidegger talks about
recognizing the gods only after they have passed by, and I think that
is right. I am teaching a graduate course on the relationship of
religion to democracy, human rights and civil society. I am in no
position to tell people how things ought to be, and certainly not in
Indonesia, but my goal in the course is to have the students engage in
philosophical reflection on their situation. What makes democracy a
preferable form of political association in Indonesia? How can
Islamic beliefs be reconciled with human rights? What is the role of
religion in Indonesian civil society? None of these discussions lead
to solutions or answers. We are following the trail of the gods,
discussing issues that have already presented themselves. My hope,
and my belief, is that this sort of reflection opens up the
possibility for a kind of wisdom that manifests itself in a better
life for both the individuals and the larger society. What that
better life is, can't be determined in advance since we are always
following the trail of the gods.
Certainly the pressure is on to make the teaching of philosophy
'about' something topical. But, in my opinion, sometimes a course
should simply be about thinking. I was asked to teach a course on
postmodernism. What I decided to do was pick three issues, language,
truth and reality, and then use a variety of writers associated with
postmodernism to think about these topics. My goal was to encourage
the development of thinking about the way things are. Can we just
stop and look? And are we better off for that? In my opinion, yes.
I don't think we are better off in the sense of having specific skills
for solving particular problems, but rather when we stop to think, it
is possible we may become better people. Now what is meant by
'better' here is open to discussion, philosophical discussion, but
surely that is an important discussion to have as well.
I certainly do not have the experience of Robert, nor do I have the
training of John and Walter in the area of teaching philosophy, but I
throw the above out as a personal response to Walter's query.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
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