A glimpse of philosophy
I used the past few months for a first glance at philosophy, and so far, I’m enjoying it greatly. It’s not what I had expected.
Before I enrolled, I didn’t really know what philosophy is. In some ways, I took it for just another science: growing, evolving, forever piling insights on the shoulders of previous thinkers, inching ever closer to answers that—once proved—stand the test of time. But this field is different. Its topics often lack clear answers, and its members are mostly connected through disagreement. They’re all philosophers, yes, but what even that means seems unique to each. In this field, everything is contestable.
Thus, philosophy is a lot about perspectives, with the greatest minds having found fascinating views of problems. In many cases, they simply realised that things are a lot weirded than first expected: We can’t prove anything without at least some referential foundation, so what builds the first ground? How can we know what’s out there, if all we perceive is skewed by our biology? Can we even assume that something is out there? Or is reality a hallucination? And if so, what hallucinates and why?
The field’s biggest questions also change over time. What is crucial at one point may well be derisively dismissed by later generations, only to be picked back up even further down the line. Consequently, there are a lot of perspectives for students to learn and that is precisely what’s interesting. Nobody guides you to ultimate answers and you’re not given truths or maxims. You’re led through ways of thinking. You uncover views that make sense of things in a certain way, then jump to the next. Ultimately, you let the arguments clash, hoping to gain a finer understanding, content to never arrive.
It’s not for everyone. Many colleagues struggle with the necessarily abstract thinking, and for good reason. Philosophical texts are challenging to read and hard to grasp. The voiced ideas are often strange and convoluted. It’s not easy to heave one’s mind to such unfamiliar elevations, but now and then an insight manifests, making it well worth the effort. The reason philosophy is so filled with unintuitive thought is simple: their intuitive counterparts have long been dismantled. Reality, it turns out, is simply not plain.
Which poses another challenge: The mind is quick to dismiss what goes against conviction and it rapidly finds reasons to do so, all of which appear undeniable at first. Yet, philosophy, though contentious, aims not to destroy views, but to clarify arguments. Flaws are revealed not to collapse intellectual edifices, but to strengthen their walls. They are entry points for contemplation. What first appears doubtful, may make perfect sense upon closer inspection. Many ideas shine bright only after careful consideration, and once they do, they may illuminate blind spots and highlight flaws in our current reasoning.
Consequently, it is not about tearing down others, but inviting all to think. Instead of attacking, it is key to dismiss existing notions or convictions, and to join stranger perspectives, if only for a moment. It is much more fruitful to join forces and explore whatever questions arise together. So, no matter what you find, everyone will walk away wiser.
