Why I Am Going Back To Philosophy.

[pljames]

I have studied philosophy for so long it hurts. I have studied psychology and theology, but I always go back to philosophy. I am seriously thinking about living (my) philosophy. I have always looked at the discipline as understanding, what it stands for but never (living it as an experience). The word experience means it's an active always learning experience in my life. I add my experiences into my philosophy/knowledge and apply the wisdom to it.

 

How far off am I? Paul

[Eclogite]

Philosophy and "my philosophy" typically have quite different meanings. The latter seems to imply the way one views ones day to day life, often arrived at by organic growth through ones life. The former relates to a deeper logical assessment of philosophical questions approached in a systematic manner. What are your definitions?

[pljames]

Eclogite,

My definition of philosophy is "the love of knowledge and how others understand human nature"! Living my philosophy is sharing what I know with others. The words are not ambiguous for I believe in the unambiguous ones. The word philosophy has so many definitions, it's hard to interpret all there personal meanings as a singular meaning. I am a simpleton and despise complex rhetoric when writing. I love to share (my philosophy) experience with others.

 

When Aristotle was asked a question by one of his students he knew that the student didn't understand the lesson, so he would requestion the original question to the student with another question to make the student see the lesson another way. A man called Jesus used moral parables, so the hearer could vision in his/her mind a picture of what he was talking about. Two different teaching styles yet they made the point. I feel all the disciplines are (arms) from philosophy.

 

We think the cave man also thought about his/her environment, they painted pictures on their cave walls as to tell us they existed. They shared there

experiences with us how can we not share ours of today with others? Paul

 

 

 

 

Philosophy and "my philosophy" typically have quite different meanings. The latter seems to imply the way one views ones day to day life, often arrived at by organic growth through ones life. The former relates to a deeper logical assessment of philosophical questions approached in a systematic manner. What are your definitions?

[pljames]

Eclogite,

My definition of philosophy is "the love of knowledge and how others understand human nature"! Living my philosophy is sharing what I know with others. The words are not ambiguous for I believe in the unambiguous ones. The word philosophy has so many definitions, it's hard to interpret all there personal meanings as a singular meaning. I am a simpleton and despise complex rhetoric when writing. I love to share (my philosophical) experiences with others.

 

When Aristotle was asked a question by one of his students he knew that the student didn't understand the lesson, so he would requestion the original question to the student with another question to make the student see the lesson another way. A man called Jesus used moral parables, so the hearer could vision in his/her mind a picture of what he was talking about. Two different teaching styles yet they made the point. I feel all the disciplines are (arms) from philosophy.

 

We think the cave man also thought about his/her environment, they painted pictures on their cave walls as to tell us they existed. They shared there

experiences with us how can we not share ours of today with others? Paul

 

 

 

 

Philosophy and "my philosophy" typically have quite different meanings. The latter seems to imply the way one views ones day to day life, often arrived at by organic growth through ones life. The former relates to a deeper logical assessment of philosophical questions approached in a systematic manner. What are your definitions?

[Eclogite]

You note that you deplore complex rhetoric, celebrate clarity and avoid ambiguity.

 

Despite this, perhaps because I too am a simpleton, I have no idea what your point was in your last post. It has something of the feel of James Joyce about it. Now Joyce is much admired, but has so far failed to move me.

[Guest MacPhee]

Is Philosophy what Science used to be, before Galileo and Newton started in with the damned maths?

[pljames]

Eclogite,

Sorry I tend to babble. My point was " To take what I understand the name philosophy means personally to me, add my experiences and live it". Thanks for listening. Paul

 

 

 

 

You note that you deplore complex rhetoric, celebrate clarity and avoid ambiguity.

 

Despite this, perhaps because I too am a simpleton, I have no idea what your point was in your last post. It has something of the feel of James Joyce about it. Now Joyce is much admired, but has so far failed to move me.

[pljames]

MacPhee,

Science is knowledge.To me philosophy is the study of mans nature covering all disciplines. Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is Philosophy what Science used to be, before Galileo and Newton started in with the damned maths?

[Eclogite]

Eclogite,

Sorry I tend to babble.

Well, no problem. Thanks for clarifying. I was just checking it wasn't me. :)

[Guest MacPhee]

MacPhee,

Science is knowledge.To me philosophy is the study of mans nature covering all disciplines. Paul

 

To me Philosophy is like Literary Criticism. You can debate the merits of Shakespeare versus Racine, endlessly. But where does it get you.

 

If I say that one author's works are better than another's, who can prove me wrong? For example, I think Dostoevski's "Crime and Punishment" knocks the socks off anything Dickens wrote. I can read C & P over again, and gain new insights at every reading. Whereas Dickens' stuff bores me (except possibly for "Pickwick Papers")

 

The whole thing is far too subjective. Like Philosophy.

 

As you say, Science is knowledge. But surely it's more than that - it's knowledge plus some X factor, which I can't quite pin down.