So what should philosophers be like? And how can philosophy help ourselves and our world? Philip Rorty said that philosophy “began with Plato’s notion that the rigor of mathematical argumentation exposed, and could be used to correct, the pretensions of the politicians and the poets”. This is still an important part of philosophy; to hold to account those who hold influence over people. Philosophers should be like gadflies. Plato described Socrates as a social gadfly. A gadfly is a fly which stings and irritates cows and horses. Socrates stung and irritated the Athenian populace (who Plato compared to a slow and dim-witted horse) by posing difficult questions which challenged the very basis of their individual actions and social set up.
Nietzsche said we should be ‘life affirming’, as opposed to society affirming. We should use philosophy to support our own quest to live well and challenge social restrictions and conventions. Not just in terms of how we should act, or structure the world, but also how we should see and know the world and ourselves. All these things are surely interlinked. We should honestly and openly question all the doctrines that drain life’s expansive energies, however socially prevalent those views might be. Diogenes of Sinope lived in a barrel and shunned social norms to the point where he frequently masturbated in public and barked like a dog. You don’t have to go that far; just try and think outside the box. Do as Robin Williams did in Dead Poet Society; stand on your desk every once in a while to remind yourself to look at things from a different perspective.
Demand reason of yourself and others. Not necessarily at the expense of emotion but at the expense of selfishness and short sightedness. Transcend egocentricity. We should continuously interrogate ourselves. It should be obvious that what is convenient, or in ones self interest, is unlikely to always coincide with truth. Even if you are more like Hume than Kant and don’t value reason as much as some, ‘even to argue against reason, you still need to use reason’ – as the Indian Emperor-scholar Akbar said. Seek to abolish parochialism and partiality. Aim for the full story, which is usually more sophisticated than it first seems.
Aim for wisdom. The Chinese philosophers, in both the Taoist and Confucian traditions, tend to say that we should aim for ‘sageliness within’ and ‘kingliness without’. This means we should search for a synthesis of other-worldliness and this-worldliness. The sage is content with their beliefs; they are coherent, informed, deep, sophisticated and spiritually cultivated. The kingliness aspect reminds us that it is of vital importance to be in touch with this world and day to day living. Performing day to day tasks well, with virtue and morality, is vital. We should aim to be as excellent and inspiring as kings, and ready to serve our society, like a good king. A philosopher should go about these deeds conscious of their being not just a citizen of their own country or community but, as Mencius put it, a ‘citizen of the universe’. Philosophy is not just an attempt at acquiring knowledge, but an attempt to develop this kind of character. Philosophy is not just something to be known, but something to be experienced.
Never be too full of yourself. Chaerephon, a friend of Socrates, asked the Oracle of Delphi “is anyone wiser than Socrates?” to which she replied “no human is wiser”. Socrates didn’t let this get to his head though. He responded that if he is the wisest man in the world then it is only because he knows one more thing than anybody else – that he knows nothing. Everyone else on the other hand foolishly thinks they have knowledge, when in fact they don’t. Philosophy began, all those years ago, in humility and wonder, and that is how it should remain.
It is true that philosophy bakes no bread; it cannot be our only pursuit in life. I’m not saying that people who dedicate their lives to philosophy are any better than the rest. I am saying, though, that everyone does a little philosophy in their lives and maybe they should just do a little bit more.
Elliot Brice's musings. 