Sunday, June 11, 2006

The use for Philosophy

Continuing from the spirit of my previous post, I've come to realize that all the great philosophers of our time have had to deal with extraordinary circumstances in their lives. I've directly experienced the fact that triumph over adversity has been responsible for the greatness of any individual. It is highly unlikely that people like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela would have been the people they were if not for their adversities. Every challenge is an opportunity to claim your greatness. The lessons you need to learn come through the situations that life throws at you, sometimes when you're least prepared for it.

The question I'm trying to answer is this: how did philosophical thought come about? Socrates is known to be the first ethicist the world has ever known. His teachings were a response to his political trial and accusations of "corrupting the youth". Our troubles make us more philosophical, and one of the first questions we ask ourselves is "Why me?" I believe this question to the heavens, nature, God, or whatever you want to call it, has been the seed of the origins of thought.

A lot of students I've talked to say that there's no use to Philosophy. There's no proof for anything and conjecture is all you can succumb to. Its true! But individuals have become great because of their thought process and philosophies.

The ultimate philosophical question for me is "What is Real and what is right"? Philosophy might be useless and you might get lost, but ultimately you will find yourself in the questions you pose. Its no mystery why my tagline for this blog is Get Lost and Find Yourself. I truly mean it.

As human beings we posess a natural tendency to question, but there are few who stick to it. In fact, as we live out our days, we tend to resign to our fate. That's right, most people have already resigned before they even get to their first job.

How can we get to that point of questioning everything? You might laugh when I say this, but the way to start is to observe children. They are the most pure and non self-conscious beings. Yet, they differ from animals because of their inquisitiveness and curiousity. When I play with my little niece and nephew, I am more aware of my potential as a person. Children are the best role models because they are genuine, love to enjoy each moment, they wonder about a lot of things, and love asking questions because of their insatiable desire to know. Its high time we use our intellectual prowess to realize our child-like potential.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mubie: Once in a while,perhaps more often than you do, get off the thinking horse. Walk your way along Mother Earth. Feel her, breathe her,grasp her--embrace her! Lie in her lap as you did when you were a child.
The philosophy mode is your metier;don't make it your box. Its a forest of notions; in its soil nothing grows but seeds of your thoughts planted.
Where will you play with feelings?

Wednesday, 19 July, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mubie: You say imagination is 99% of knowledge. Just asking: is there lots of imagining in philosophy?
Me, I find universes of imagining and feeling--not to say thoughts--in LITERATURE, esp Poetry and Drama.
You have a garden of thoughts,yea but I sense no wild undergrowth,no crawling insects nor climbing vines.Are butterlies flying about? Do crickets split the air with cries. And where is the nightingale?

Wednesday, 19 July, 2006  

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