I don't "get" philosophy. I mean, why waste time thinking about issues that you can never actually prove when you could be out living your life? (this, by the way, is a plea for enlightenment)
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10:33:53 PM
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Philosophy and politics aren't really the same thing, but you seem to have described more what politics are about. I'll admit that I discuss both openly, but philosophy is more akin to the "let's find out what it all means" sort of vibe. Sure you get plenty of people who can't accept other opinions, like in politics... but a good discussion usually tries to reach a general agreement (if only all discussions could go this way). Of course you do get pseudo-intellectuals that just think they're too cool, and make up all sorts of hokey "philosphical" ideas, feelings real "deep" and whatnot... but philosophy is just about ideas. Yeah man... ideas.
I think the original post is really hilarious, in an ironic way.
"Let me waste my time thinking about why people waste their time thinking..."
Philosophy happens when people and often don't have a religion at the moment or are having doubts (although I guess that religion is kind of like philosophizing) and they wonder what the purpose of their being on earth and alive is. This leads to other things about human nature too.
Philosophy (literally the love of wisdom) used to mean everything having to do with investigating the world. Before specialization in the sciences, if you were investigating medicine, physics, astronomy, or ethics you were a philosopher. What we think of as philosophy today all began when a cool guy named Socrates started asking questions. Instead of wondering about silly things that really didn't make a difference in our lives (distance between the earth and the sun or what the stars are made of) he started asking things like, "What is Justice?" "Holy crap!" everybody said, "we really have no idea", because no one had thought to ask or question their beliefs about things as simple as "Bravery" or what it means to be "good".
This eventually developed into the idea that "the unexamined life is not worth living". If you don't question popular beliefs, if you don't sit down and ask yourself why you think and act the way you do then how can your life really have meaning, how can it be justified if you're just following a script? Through discussion and debate we can learn more about ourselves and how the world works and actually improve the things around us rather than merely settling for what we've got.
This is not to say that you should trade real living for just thinking about living (many philosophers have "lived" more than you or I could ever hope), but if you -do- sit down and think where you stand on issues, how you relate to others, and who you are as an individual then every action counts so much more. You may think you disagree with...a flat tax, but why? There are so many complex social, ethical, and economic issues at hand that taking one side or another is never something to be taken lightly. If you never take the time to discuss why you believe that a flat tax is right then you very well may be making a horrible mistake and supporting something completely irrational all because mom and dad, or your teacher, or the church told you to.
In the end, just think if no one had thought to question the world, if no one had loved wisdom enough to compare their inner world to the world around us. No one could ever make a list of all the things philosophy has affected in the modern world because a world without philosophy is almost impossible to imagine. Without Locke, Marx, Bacon, Newton and the empiricists, Plato, St. Augustine, Jefferson, Rousseau, we would, in a word, be utterly screwed. No social contract, no public education, no scientific method, no modern Christianity (or any other religion), no democracy, no medicine, gah! You don't "get" philosophy?! Read some books, talk to your peers, take some classes, and then sit down and think about that for a long, long time. You'll be better for it I promise.
"(this, by the way, is a plea for enlightenment)"
Just a heads up, the Enlightenment would never have happened without philosophers "wasting time thinking about issues". Without them, I'd give you a 9/10 chance of being a feudal serf right now.
Pretty much everything
I was going to say has been said here, so I'll just add this:
"Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy" (from Romeo and Juliet)
In other words, maybe you don't "get" philosophy because you don't really need it.. yet.
"Philosophy happens when people and often don't have a religion at the moment or are having doubts (although I guess that religion is kind of like philosophizing) and they wonder what the purpose of their being on earth and alive is. This leads to other things about human nature too."
WHAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?!?!?!?!?
Have you never heard of the first existentialist? And I'm not talking about the "existentialism" that we generally think about (called Atheistic Existentialism actually) but Christian Existentialism. The movement that came up with the allegory for a "leap of faith."
Philosophy is generally about taking a few things for granted, and then based on whatever logically branching off of that. Every philosophical school makes sense within itself, even though holes can easily be poked in it if you don't take the same things for granted.
^^This is mainly western philosophy, philosophy and lit has just barely made it into the upanishads on the easter side of things.
^Saint Augustine also had no trouble with his religious beliefs, and without him Christianity would be completely different from what we've got today. By imbuing the jumble of historical accounts of the bible with classical philosophers like Plato he made Christianity into a religion of the mind not just the soul (ie. he made it make actual sense)
Aha! That's pretty much what I was looking for guys. Thanks. And T.F., I do love your observation on the hilarity of my post. It is funny, now that you mention it. Still not sure that I buy the whole "Life inherently has meaning" thing, but the rest of it gave me something to think about.
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