GAVDIVM PHILOSOPHIAE - The joy of philosophy
ESNE CVPIDVS COGNITIONIS? - Are you eager for knowledge?
Then, philosophy is for you!
Philosophy (from Greek: φιλοσοφία - φιλεῖν “to love”, and σοφία “knowledge”) is the love of wisdom.
Don’t be put off. Philosophy is about the systematised study of general and fundamental questions, such as those on existence, the meaning of life, reason, knowledge, values, religion, logic, politics, economics, science and maths, sociology and language.
Philosophy is about life, about you.
How often have you reflected on these fundamental issues?
How often have you a clear stand, but you find it difficult to express it in words?
The philosophers are not really different from you, it’s what they did for thousands of years, in all civilisations.
Only, they have documented their thoughts (mostly) in writing.
Just a few examples: monumental treaties (Aristotle, Avicenna, Kant, Hegel), dialogues (Plato, Galileo), dictionaries (Voltaire), letters and diaries (Augustine), short essays (Erasmus, the Greek atomists), fragments and one-liners (Epicure).
They all contributed to the development of mankind.
You may feel overwhelmed when you read their works.
But, that is only because of the terminology used, the assumption that the reader knows other philosophers they refer to, the basic concepts taken for granted.
And yet, if all this was written in concise “layman” terms, I bet your reaction would be:
* Of course, that’s what I always thought, or
* Of course, that’s what I always thought, and I must add that…, or
* Of course, but I disagree, I think that…
Each year, millions of students study philosophy in high school.
But, they study the history of philosophy, they are not stimulated to debate about they learn.
I was very fortunate to have a great teacher, professor Fraccari. He spent no more than 10 minutes to introduce the topic of the day, and then he told us: you can read the rest in your text book.
For the rest of the lesson, he stimulated us to have a Socratic debate on the topic, to live philosophy, to grow with it. I was simply marvellous.
You can do the same, at home, in the pub, wherever.
No need to refer to philosophers and schools of thought.
Just state your thoughts, and see the reactions. Contradict, involve more people, add another angle, provoke, but respect all other views.
These books can get you started. They are all in public domain at various sites.
Glossary - Glossary of Philosophical Terms
ESNE CVPIDVS COGNITIONIS? - Are you eager for knowledge?
Then, philosophy is for you!
Philosophy (from Greek: φιλοσοφία - φιλεῖν “to love”, and σοφία “knowledge”) is the love of wisdom.
Don’t be put off. Philosophy is about the systematised study of general and fundamental questions, such as those on existence, the meaning of life, reason, knowledge, values, religion, logic, politics, economics, science and maths, sociology and language.
Philosophy is about life, about you.
How often have you reflected on these fundamental issues?
How often have you a clear stand, but you find it difficult to express it in words?
The philosophers are not really different from you, it’s what they did for thousands of years, in all civilisations.
Only, they have documented their thoughts (mostly) in writing.
Just a few examples: monumental treaties (Aristotle, Avicenna, Kant, Hegel), dialogues (Plato, Galileo), dictionaries (Voltaire), letters and diaries (Augustine), short essays (Erasmus, the Greek atomists), fragments and one-liners (Epicure).
They all contributed to the development of mankind.
You may feel overwhelmed when you read their works.
But, that is only because of the terminology used, the assumption that the reader knows other philosophers they refer to, the basic concepts taken for granted.
And yet, if all this was written in concise “layman” terms, I bet your reaction would be:
* Of course, that’s what I always thought, or
* Of course, that’s what I always thought, and I must add that…, or
* Of course, but I disagree, I think that…
Each year, millions of students study philosophy in high school.
But, they study the history of philosophy, they are not stimulated to debate about they learn.
I was very fortunate to have a great teacher, professor Fraccari. He spent no more than 10 minutes to introduce the topic of the day, and then he told us: you can read the rest in your text book.
For the rest of the lesson, he stimulated us to have a Socratic debate on the topic, to live philosophy, to grow with it. I was simply marvellous.
You can do the same, at home, in the pub, wherever.
No need to refer to philosophers and schools of thought.
Just state your thoughts, and see the reactions. Contradict, involve more people, add another angle, provoke, but respect all other views.
These books can get you started. They are all in public domain at various sites.
Glossary - Glossary of Philosophical Terms
Western Philosophy - Lord Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
Chinese philosophy - Fung Yu-Lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy
Islamic Philosophy - History of Islamic Philosophy
Have a go at it, discover philosophy, open the doors to a whole new world.
It’s just like an ice-cream parlour: what’s your favourite taste?
LONG LIVE PHILOSOPHY!
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