Philosophy For Dummies. Tom Morris

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СКАЧАТЬ the outside world and the poor dim shadow world in which he had been imprisoned, he returns to the cave to convince the others there to break their chains as well and ascend into the light of reality. Philosophy is all about escaping from the cave of illusions where too many people are trapped.

      The philosophical Houdini

      The man who first escapes the cave of illusion that Plato thinks we live in is the philosopher, the one among us who comes to realize that we are all in some way living lives of illusion, held captive by shadows and chains not of our own making. When he brings back into the cave his strange tale of other things and greater realities, he is cheered by some and jeered by others. We have a way of becoming comfortable with our illusions when they are all we’ve ever known. And so we are easily threatened by any strange reports of greater realities. But the true philosopher tries to free as many of his fellow captives as possible, liberating them to live in the broader, brighter realities that lie beyond the narrow confines of their customary perceptions.

      That is a vivid image of the ultimate task of philosophy. Its goal is to free us from illusion and help us get a grip on the most fundamental realities of our world.

      PLATO AS THE SOURCE

      Plato is seen by many to be the ultimate source of all western philosophy.

       Out of Plato come all things that are still written and debated among men of thought.

       — Ralph Waldo Emerson

       The safest characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.

       — Alfred North Whitehead

Think about any illusions you could be living under right now. There may be things you value that really lack the importance you attribute to them. There could be matters you’re ignoring that are really of immense value. You might be making assumptions about your life that are based on mere appearances and not the realities of your situation. Most people are chained down by all sorts of illusions. It’s the goal of philosophy, well done, to help us all break those chains.

      

We actually have no choice of whether to do philosophy or not, of whether to be philosophers or not. We inevitably operate out of some philosophical worldview, however well-formed or incomplete it might be. Our choice is between bad philosophy, either unreflectively absorbed from the culture around us and the prejudices of our time, or done sloppily without guidance, and the vastly preferable alternative of good philosophy built on critical questioning and sustained thought.

      Everyone has a choice. We can be poor thinkers or good philosophers. But quality comes only with care. Careful thinking makes for the best philosophy. Does your philosophy of life imprison you or liberate you? Are you a careful or careless thinker? In this book, I try to dispel some of the myths and platitudes of our own age and get out of the cave of our false assumptions. We seek philosophical enlightenment, philosophical liberation.

      The first day of the rest of your life need not begin and end in Plato’s Cave.

Plato helped to launch the activity of Western philosophy, as we know it today, by writing lively dialogues featuring his teacher and mentor Socrates. Someone would have a party, and Socrates would show up. As the wine was being passed around, he’d start up a conversation, asking others present what they thought about some important topic. They’d answer, and he’d gently question what they said, investigating the ideas they brought up, and they would then reply. Then the philosopher would dig even deeper. Or Socrates would be walking down the street and see a friend, who would greet him warmly. A conversation would begin. And philosophical thoughts would soon emerge. The old man was always in action, thinking, probing, testing, and rethinking.

      Philosophy is meant to be an activity in several ways. It’s a form of intellectual self-defense as well as discovery. The philosopher works to get beyond mere appearances to the important realities beneath them. The determined thinker actively works to discover new ideas, analyze, and refine those concepts, and then find new ways to put them to use, creatively and well. And this is a part of the activity of philosophy that’s often overlooked. Philosophy isn’t just about thinking hard about big ideas; it’s also about living in the constant light of those ideas that matter. It’s meant to be an adventure in living, a way of proceeding well and wisely in the world. And when you do it right, I like to think you make Plato and his mentor Socrates proud.

Chapter 3

      The Love of Wisdom

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Grasping the three skills that philosophy cultivates

      

Analyzing the nature of philosophical analysis

      

Assessing the importance of assessment

      

Appreciating the power of good, logical argument

      

Understanding the role of wisdom, the true goal of philosophy

       Things have their seasons, and even certain kinds of eminence go in and out of style. But wisdom has an advantage: She is eternal.

      — Balthasar Gracian

      As you delve deeply into philosophy, you find there to be many reasons to read, study, and practice it in your life. Philosophy, as a way of thinking, for example, cultivates three particular intellectual skills that are very important for any of us to possess in the modern world. In addition, and most vitally, it can cultivate genuine wisdom.

In this chapter, you get the scoop on the three skills of thought that philosophy cultivates. Then I say a bit more about wisdom — in particular, what it is and why it matters. You’ll see that philosophy is, simply put, primarily a way of thinking about things that matter. It’s also a way of living connected with that path of thought. More precisely, it is a bundle of ways of thinking that involve a set of distinctive mental tools. And that fact is directly relevant to the question of why we study philosophy. After reading this chapter, you’ll view philosophy as more than just something you can use to amaze your friends with profundity, perplex colleagues with a newfound depth, or irritate family members with crazy-sounding questions (although first-year college students seem to value that last possibility the most). You’ll want to study this ancient art of thought because of the mental skills it cultivates in your life, as well as for the deeper and broader new perspectives it can give you.

Identifying Some Skills of Philosophy

      Some colleges and universities still require students to take a philosophy course. But confronted with such a seemingly odd demand, the students are often perplexed. They wonder: Why should a pre-med or business major waste any time at all in a philosophy class? Isn’t such СКАЧАТЬ