Philosophy begins in ....

Moliere July 02, 2022 at 16:47 1900 views 7 comments
I believe philosophy begins in confusion.

Heidegger spoke of wonder... and perhaps that's where he began.

But for myself, I can trace back my philosophical path back to feeling confused and anxious about a world I did not know, or felt that others who said they knew didn't have it quite right.

And that theme hasn't been the only one, but a common one in my motivations for coming back to philosophy.


But that's just me.



I put this discussion in The Lounge because I want it to be more open to interpretation. Anything goes, mostly. (fascism, obviously, doesn't go round these parts)

Comments (7)

180 Proof July 03, 2022 at 07:40 #715035
Excerpt from a very old post:
Quoting 180 Proof
In ancient or Classical eras philosophy, it's said, began with / in wonder - that there is anything at all.

In this Modern era of the last half millennia, it seems to me, despair, not wonder, is the catalyst of philosophizing - despair that, despite the entirety of human knowledge, there isn't any (decideable, in/defeasible) Reason at all for any - let alone every - thing; to wit: Why is there no-Y-thing rather than some-X-thing? Apparently, 'this world' is The Most Arbitrary of All Possible Worlds à la the mediocrity principle (pace Leibniz).

This rambles on some more about (my?) despair ... :zip:
Moliere July 08, 2022 at 21:37 #716862
Heh. Yes, despair.

I had the thought this evening -- it also begins in anger. When things aren't right, but you can't articulate it -- philosophy begins in an anger that wants to understand itself.

Fanon (and on certain readings, Plato even!) come to mind here.
Moliere July 09, 2022 at 00:46 #716897
Though, I'll say just to give a little diversity here -- in the hopes that others will share where they began -- my first philosophical thoughts began in the old time religion. People said some stuff, but it wasn't quite like whatever else was up. And really to me, then, it was all the same: a child just learns from the people around them.

So, historically too -- philosophy begins in religion.
180 Proof July 09, 2022 at 06:36 #716980
Quoting Moliere
So, historically too -- philosophy begins in religion.

Very much so. The so-called "Presocratics" like Thales and Pythagoras who attempt to replace 'mythic-religious stories' about the origins/purposes of nature and morals with 'rational reflections on observations' of natural processes and moral conduct. 'Logos sans mythos'. :fire:

Btw, philosophizing began for me in encounters with (raw) stupidity of other teens and adults, then authority figures and institutions, finally profound failures and missed opportunities I'd discovered throughout the histories I'd studied. Recognizing stupidity as endemic to the human condition was my initial existential crisis (i.e. despair) at 16/17 from which, over four decades later, I've still not recovered. :sweat:
jgill July 11, 2022 at 22:17 #717852
Quoting 180 Proof
Recognizing stupidity as endemic to the human condition was my initial existential crisis


Years ago a French mathematician I knew made the statement, "The one thing I cannot forgive is stupidity".

I disagreed. A stupid move by an intelligent person, yes. Innate stupidity, no.
Paine July 12, 2022 at 23:07 #718145
Reply to Moliere
I started with a number of religious influences but understood them mostly in terms of psychology. That is to say, it was a desire to understand my experience as my experience.

My first encounters with philosophical writings began the wonder of where this experience was happening. So, I think Aristotle is right about how natural it is to wonder about our circumstances.

What is 'natural' beyond that is difficult to comprehend. I want things I am ill equipped to provide.
Agent Smith July 16, 2022 at 16:08 #719614
Quoting Moliere
philosophy begins in confusion.


Quoting Moliere
my first philosophical thoughts began in the old time religion.


Quoting Paine
I started with a number of religious influences


I sense a pattern...

:chin: