"With a little more deliberation in the choice of their pursuits, all men would perhaps become essentially students and observers, for certainly their nature and destiny are interesting to all alike".
Henry David Thoreau
-Walden- (1854)
-Walden- (1854)
So who is a philosopher?
A philosopher is any man who loves wisdom and knowledge. In Greek the word 'philosophia' means "friend of wisdom". Knowledge is often substituted for wisdom in our modern interpretation of the term philosophy. Is that right?
Wisdom is not necessarily defined as knowledge. Wisdom is in my mind more closely associated with scientific providence. It is the accumulation of experience through life, and the successful application of this experience, in addition to factual knowledge and educated estimate, in tackling and solving new problems, or anticipate and prevent future ones.
It is in this sense that wisdom does not absolutely describe a learned individual. The best word to describe such one is 'philomatheis'. Philomatheia is the Greek word for 'friend of learning'. But learning in its strict sense can happen through books too. However, no one would consider a librarian necessarily wise. It is one thing to read books and journals and quite another to absorb knowledge and readily use it in combination with current information to apply it to real situations. This is wisdom.
Philosophy is then for everybody. Everyone who has ever asked 'why are we here?', 'Is there a God?', and the likes of questions given birth to by the mind of a teenager is a philosopher. Philosophy is a necessity much like food and water. To evaluate our life in every stage, to assess who we are and where we are, where we come from and where we are going and how we will get there, are all questions answered by philosophy. Even in order to establish our basic needs and prioritize them we delve into philosophy (Thoreau did it in a great extent in Walden).
In the words of Bertrand Russell:
" To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy , in our age, can still do for those who study it".
A philosopher is any man who loves wisdom and knowledge. In Greek the word 'philosophia' means "friend of wisdom". Knowledge is often substituted for wisdom in our modern interpretation of the term philosophy. Is that right?
Wisdom is not necessarily defined as knowledge. Wisdom is in my mind more closely associated with scientific providence. It is the accumulation of experience through life, and the successful application of this experience, in addition to factual knowledge and educated estimate, in tackling and solving new problems, or anticipate and prevent future ones.
It is in this sense that wisdom does not absolutely describe a learned individual. The best word to describe such one is 'philomatheis'. Philomatheia is the Greek word for 'friend of learning'. But learning in its strict sense can happen through books too. However, no one would consider a librarian necessarily wise. It is one thing to read books and journals and quite another to absorb knowledge and readily use it in combination with current information to apply it to real situations. This is wisdom.
Philosophy is then for everybody. Everyone who has ever asked 'why are we here?', 'Is there a God?', and the likes of questions given birth to by the mind of a teenager is a philosopher. Philosophy is a necessity much like food and water. To evaluate our life in every stage, to assess who we are and where we are, where we come from and where we are going and how we will get there, are all questions answered by philosophy. Even in order to establish our basic needs and prioritize them we delve into philosophy (Thoreau did it in a great extent in Walden).
In the words of Bertrand Russell:
" To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy , in our age, can still do for those who study it".
John
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