The life of the instinctive man is shut up within the circle of his private interests: family and friends may be included, but the outer world is not regarded except as it may help or hinder what comes within the circle of instinctive wishes. In such a life there is something feverish and confined, in comparison with which the philosophic life is calm and free.
The private world of instinctive interests is a small one, set in the midst of a great and powerful world which must, sooner or later, lay our private world in ruins. Unless we can so enlarge our interests as to include the whole outer world, we remain like a garrison in a beleagured fortress, knowing that the enemy prevents escape and that ultimate surrender is inevitable. In such a life there is no peace, but a constant strife between the insistence of desire and the powerlessness of will.
In one way or another, if our life is to be great and free, we must escape this prison and this strife. One way of escape is by philosophic contemplation. Philosophic contemplation does not, in its widest survey, divide the universe into two hostile camps—friends and foes, helpful and hostile, good and bad—it views the whole impartially. Philosophic contemplation, when it is unalloyed, does not aim at proving that the rest of the universe is akin to man. All acquisition of knowledge is an enlargement of the Self, but this enlargement is best attained when it is not directly sought.
It is obtained when the desire for knowledge is alone operative, by a study which does not wish in advance that its objects should have this or that character, but adapts the Self to the characters which it finds in its objects. This enlargement of Self is not obtained when, taking the Self as it is, we try to show that the world is so similar to this Self that knowledge of it is possible without any admission of what seems alien. The desire to prove this is a form of self-assertion and, like all self-assertion, it is an obstacle to the growth of Self which it desires, and of which the Self knows that it is capable.
Self-assertion, in philosophic speculation as elsewhere, views the world as a means to its own ends; thus it makes the world of less account than Self, and the Self sets bounds to the greatness of its goods. In contemplation, on the contrary, we start from the not-Self, and through its greatness the boundaries of Self are enlarged; through the infinity of the universe the mind which contemplates it achieves some share in infinity.
For this reason greatness of soul is not fostered by those philosophies which assimilate the universe to Man. Knowledge is a form of union of Self and not-Self; like all union, it is impaired by dominion, and therefore by any attempt to force the universe into conformity with what we find in ourselves.
Notes are arranged in response to the questions stated above in reference to Russell's chapter "The Value of Philosophy" edited from The Problems of Philosophy available on this site: "Enlargement of Self.
The practical mind is a Philistine: a person deficient in liberal culture, according to Russell: someone whose interests are material and commonplace. The instinctive man is practical as is the man of self-assertion described later. He is not interested in providing for society and not interested in "goods for the mind. The practical person is more interested in "the answer" rather than how one obtains an answer.
He has a "them against us" mentality. The practical person recognizes material needs; he is less aware of goods of the mind. For example, philosophy can give a different kind of value to life—not something superadded to material value, but a value intrinsically different. Consider what Socrates said about "tending your soul. The philosophical mind has an awareness that goes beyond the daily round to an understanding of life and the world.
While not calling it by this name, Russell describes the intellectual consequences of the security blanket paradox vividly:. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason.
The life of the instinctive man is shut up within the circle of his private interests. In such a life there is something feverish and confined, in comparison with which the philosophic life is calm and free. The private world of instinctive interests is a small one, set in the midst of a great and powerful world which must, sooner or later, lay our private world in ruins.
The primary value of philosophy according to Russell is that it loosens the grip of uncritically held opinion and opens the mind to a liberating range of new possibilities to explore. The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom.
Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never traveled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect.
Here we are faced with a stark choice between the feeling of safety we might derive from clinging to opinions we are accustomed to and the liberation that comes with loosening our grip on these in order to explore new ideas. The paradox of the security blanket should make it clear what choice we should consider rational. It belongs in the lives of everyone.
It helps us solve our problems -mundane or abstract, and it helps us make better decisions by developing our critical thinking very important in the age of disinformation. Philosophy is a set of ideals, standards or beliefs used to describe behavior and thought. An example of philosophy is Buddhism. The study of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning. The general principles or laws of a field of knowledge, activity, etc.
Philosophy is the study or creation of theories about basic things such as the nature of existence, knowledge, and thought, or about how people should live. A philosophy is a particular set of ideas that a philosopher has. The study of philosophy helps us to enhance our ability to solve problems, our communication skills, our persuasive powers, and our writing skills.
Below is a description of how philosophy helps us develop these various important skills. Philosophy is difficult to understand because it sometimes talks about subject matter to which one cannot relate to some direct, practical experience. The point is that philosophy is just as technical and full of jargon as other sciences are, and simply cannot be reduced to some bite-sized inspirational quotes.
Philosophy was a way of life. It also helps us improve our thinking by improving our ability to be reasonable. Philosophy helps assure us that manipulation and poor arguments will have a lower impact on our beliefs, and good arguments and evidence will have a larger impact on our beliefs.
Philosophers, those who do, tend to be employed in very limited fields, traditionally academia. These are university professors and authors. They make their money by teaching others philosophy in classes and through media books, videos, whatever.
Re: Philosophy is useless Therefore, aside from some entertainment value, philosophy serves no useful purpose. Ijn fact, it is rather harmful, because the time and energy one spends in studying philosophy could be better put to use studying math and science. Philosophy majors are commonly found working for non-profit organizations where they can pursue their interest in ethics and social or political philosophy and practice their writing and speaking skills.
Being accepted to a decent grad school for philosophy is hard. Harder than most humanities majors, actually. Degrees higher than a PhD The US does not have a system of higher doctorates and offer the titles solely as honorary degrees. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Generically, a PhD is a Doctor of Philosophy, not a doctor in philosophy. Almost a quarter of a million dollars. The top philosophy majors at U.
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