Mortimer Adler, was correct when he made the statement “philosophy
is everyone’s business” because philosophy really is something
everyone engages in whether they realize it or not. Have you ever
shared your opinion and ideas with someone? Did you present and
defend the reasons for those ideas? If so, you have engaged in
philosophical reflection. Even without special training, it seems we
all have something to say about the proper role of the government in
our lives, justice and fairness in our economic system, and whether
or not a certain activity or behavior is morally correct.
For example, we
might read on a news site of a man in a coma or permanent vegetative
state whose family doctor ordered him to be euthanized. We read
further that some family members support this decision while others
do not. Then, in the comments and posts that inevitably come,
controversy rages about whether or not the physician’s action was
morally right or wrong. Even if we do not engage in the discussion,
we nonetheless form ideas and opinions of our own on the question.
If we look
carefully, we begin to notice that those who agree or disagree with
the doctor’s action give reasons for their position. When
challenged, they give further considerations for the reasons which
they think validates their position. Sometimes, we will even see
thoughtful people clarify or modify their position when opponents
point out inconsistencies or errors of exaggeration which is also an
important part of philosophical reflection. Much of philosophy is
simply sharpening one’s position through careful and thoughtful
dialogue. When people collect themselves around their basic reasons
for their position and appeal to their evidence for it, they have
begun the process of philosophy. In this case, we see the
development of a moral philosophy. Moral philosophy is simply
discovering and stating the reasons why an action is right or wrong.
Of course, we know of other controversies. Every day we hear of issues surrounding how we should best educate our children, or what constitutes good or bad art, or what makes a law just? When we engage in these issues, we are immediately developing a philosophy of education, a philosophy of art, or philosophy of law. When it really comes down to it, we all have a philosophy of something. The question arises, however, whether or not our given theory or philosophy is a good one or worthy to be accepted as true. As rational and thoughtful individuals we should always reflect and think about the reasons why we hold something to be true, an idea which Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle believed was the beginning of wisdom (according to classical philosophy, wisdom is the highest human good). Nonetheless, as we question whether or not our philosophical position on something is good or true, we immediately discover the value of logic and the rules for valid thinking which is a topic I will discuss soon in a following post. For now, it is important to understand that just as everyone engages in philosophy, everyone engages in logical reasoning whether or not it is done well. Philosophy is indeed everyone’s business.
A large part of this blog seeks to explore the intersection of physics and metaphysics from the standpoint of classical philosophy (I am not a physicist). Metaphysics is the study or theory of reality — what the ancient and medieval philosophers called Being. The questions metaphysics seek to explore are: What is reality? What can be counted as real? Are there things such as numbers, mathematics, or the logical axioms and propositions of all human reasoning that are not strictly empirical? In what ways do the physical laws and rules of logic point to extra-empirical, supernatural, or a transcendent reality?
Lately, I’ve been reading through this website called The Quantum Thomist by Dr. Nigel Cundy. If you are interested in how the study of physics points to metaphysics and transcendent reality, read this site. Dr. Cundy is a physicist who understands the connection between physics and metaphysics. I hope you enjoy it.
Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and the philosopher begins in wonder.
Plato, Theaetetus,
155
It
is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at the first
began to philosophize.
Aristotle, Metaphysics,
I, 2.
It is sometimes claimed that the borderlines between philosophy and all other disciplines are very blurred. After all, what was known in the ancient and medieval worlds as “natural philosophy” is now in the modern era simply called science. This is partly because what the ancient philosophers asked about the natural world has been answered through the course of time. In other words, philosophers set up the questions and through empiricism, trial and error, and eventually, the scientific method, those interested in questions about physical nature found answers. Does this mean, however, that science has discovered all the questions important to human existence? Furthermore, it is claimed that philosophy investigates the great questions of life—but doesn’t art, literature, music, and history explore the great questions of life also? After all, other disciplines are interested in these questions, so what makes philosophy unique? What is philosophy then, and why is it still considered an important and unique field of inquiry, at least for some?
Whenever
one begins a study of something it is always best to begin with the
name of the thing itself. This will also help us understand how the
field of philosophy is set apart from other disciplines. The word
“philosophy” comes from the Greek word which means “the love of
wisdom.” It is a combination of the Greek words “philia”
(love) and “sophia”
(wisdom). It is said that the ancient philosopher Pythagoras (about
600 B.C.) was the first to use the term “philosopher” and likened
philosophers—pursuers of wisdom—to spectators at ancient games:
“…when
Leon the tyrant of Philius asked him who he was, he said, “A
philosopher,” and that he compared life to the Great Games, where
some went to compete for the prize and others went with wares to
sell, but the best as spectators; for similarly, in life, some grow
up with servile natures, greedy for fame and gain, but the
philosopher seeks for truth.”1
Pythagoras certainly captures the spirit of the philosophical enterprise as one who seeks wisdom and truth. But what can we know about this project of discovering and loving wisdom? The first philosophers who left us a large body of work which we would now call philosophy were the ancient Greek thinkers, Plato and Aristotle. Plato and Aristotle held that philosophy—the love and pursuit of wisdom begins with the human propensity to wonder. After all, it is due to wonder that humans explore their world, discover new things, and create works of art, culture, and technology. In the ancient Greek world, however, sophia (wisdom) came to be known as the quest for the first principles of the world in which we live. As discoveries were made and conclusions were drawn, it became apparent that not all kinds of answers were the same. The inquiry into what a thing is, for example, is very different from the question of how to do something. Aristotle was the first to recognize that particular fields of investigation had to be separated out into geometry, biology, physics, and psychology (to name a few) because the kinds of questions each field seeks answers to has uniquely different starting points and methods. As Aristotle explains in his Metaphysics, wisdom is knowledge about the first principles and causes of the universe and is different from the arts of production and other fields. Ultimately, the term wisdom became reserved for the inquiry into the first principles of all reality. Philosophers seek the wisdom of the fundamental reality of things, where things come from, why there is anything at all, the truth or falsity of moral claims and whether or not humans can genuinely know anything, and one of the ultimate questions of all, is there a God or creator of the universe? These are among the greatest questions central to all of human experience. Philosophy seeks answers to the most general questions of existence. These questions have been the pursuit of humankind for many centuries, going as far back as to the beginning of written language and possibly further.
It should be clear by now that philosophy is a uniquely human enterprise. The philosopher Ed Miller defines philosophy as the attempt to think rationally and critically about the most important questions. I would add two words to the last sentence—of life. I am not an existentialist but philosophy, if it is going to be meaningful and important, needs to reflect on the nature, significance, and purpose of human existence and mankind’s place in the world. That is why Socrates said at his trial, “the unexamined life is not worth living for a man.” Humans are the only species that create libraries, schools, and hospitals. Cephalopods might have the most advanced brains and nervous systems of the animal kingdom, but they do not write books, program computers, or engage in rational self-reflection. The unexamined life is perfectly fine for a squid or cat but humans have the unique ability to engage in discovering truth through evidence, examination, reasoned evaluation and thoughtful analysis. The impulse to apply reason and to seek understanding, knowledge, and wisdom are uniquely human traits. It is always a tragedy when someone rejects their rationality or declines to develop their rational potential. That is why the UNCF correctly adopted the motto, “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Only humans have intellectual capacities. Philosophy seeks to understand the meaning, purpose, and significance of all fields and human inquiry.
Philosophy then, seeks to develop human potential through logic, the formulation and study of the principles of correct reasoning, and is one way it is different from other fields. It is true, that all other fields use logical reasoning in one way or another but in these cases it is used secondarily. Other fields, such as science and history are primarily empirical. It is philosophy, however, which lays out the principles and axioms that make deduction, inference, and valid conclusions possible to begin with. A rational argument is the attempt to show something to be true, well-founded, and coherent, by providing evidence for it. Philosophers examine the truth or falsity of the premises of an argument and what it means to come to a valid conclusion. Philosophy examines the nature of explanation. The laws of logic such as the law of non-contradiction, the law of identity, and the law of excluded middle are philosophical tools that the historian, scientist, and even the novelist have to assume and rely on to make their work comprehensible and conceptually coherent. Done appropriately, it is logic that provides the historian and scientist their methodology. The philosopher examines the principles which make logical and rational argumentation possible. Logic is simply a tool that anyone can use to sharpen their thinking through correct reasoning. Unlike history and the empirical sciences that use uniquely physical investigative methods, philosophy is thinking and inquiring about the ultimate questions of life through rational inquiry, logic, and argumentation alone. You will never find a philosopher researching the nature of moral values in a chemistry lab.
As we have seen, the content and methodology of philosophy are what makes it different from other fields. Philosophy centers itself on the great questions of life, questions which humans have been searching for answers to for thousands of years—moral questions, questions about the nature of reality, and what it means to be authentically human in what seems to be a physical universe. When human beings increase and develop their understanding of these great questions, they and their culture will ripen into what is most distinctively human.
1Diogenes
Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, VII, 8, tr. R.D. Hicks
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1925), II.
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