Interestingly, prominent agnostics, atheists [1] and Christians of various persuasions agree on at least one thing, philosophy is of little worth. Other Christians are afraid of the enterprise. Our Western culture downplays classical education – such as philosophy. Even so, philosophy is pivotal, yes pivotal. Especially for our days.
We all have a philosophy and use it, the question is do we do it well? Simply, philosophy is the love of wisdom, it stretches back millennia, notably from the Greeks. However, one can’t ignore the elegance and power of Scriptures support for knowledge and wisdom from Proverbs 4:5-11
Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
The great and monumental birth of the sciences in the mid 1800’s shook the foundation of education. Philosophy was the progenitor of the physical sciences. However, in the words of Einstein “…the man of science is a poor philosopher.” Sadly, students of the sciences, many times, stare back at their “senior” snickering with sarcasm. Many pontificate against philosophy, ignorant of that fact that they are philosophizing. Ignorant, yes ignorant. You see, this is indicative of a disjointed and deluded philosophy, it’s self-destructing. Many in our culture have a ragtag philosophy, pasted together from incoherent worldviews.
However, one does understand why people are skeptical of philosophy in general. Philosophers from the past to the present promoted strange views, views that are void of common sense. Including silly notions like there is no truth – which it seems one is making a truth claim in saying that. Many say morals are subjective – but watch them as one steals their money.
Another philosophy that has been tantalizing philosophers for ages is materialism – a worldview that postulates all that exists is the physical. Matter and motion. But again, it is self-refuting, the essence of existence, rationality and reality rises from the non-material: such as love, information, thought, mind, trust, justices, morality, mathematics, logic – and yes even the worldview itself, materialism. It is a concept and not tangible. Even the scientific method is non-material. While the physical sciences play in the tangible world, the rules that govern it reside outside.
I agree, many philosophies are fallacious, some are just silly and others are downright dangerous. However, we need to know proper philosophy, at least for no other reason than to defend against pathetic philosophy. However, those skills cause a bane to emerge, one no longer feels the “bliss of ignorance.” Shoddy math skills madden a mathematician. Atrocious grammar summon the grammar police. Poor philosophy is a nuisance to those who are rigorous in their reasoning.
In other words, good philosophy is good and while it may be painful, good philosophy is the cure for bad philosophy.
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What reasons have you heard that philosophy was wrong? Please post below!
[1] Such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking
Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Value of Philosophy
