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Shouting from the Sidelines
I’ve often thought there’s something absurd about a philosopher shouting from the sidelines of society, accusing everyone of being miserable. Most people seem quite content to go about their business; they don’t seem particularly tormented by being in ordinary society; it’s only the philosopher that is. Who is more miserable here? The one who is happy in the world or the one who lives outside of it? But then I look at the brief biographies of famous and successful people, or our leaders, the great and good, the paragons of ordinary society, the pictures of success, and although it is…
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Look Beyond the Body: The Phaedo
‘It’s easy to get caught up in material reality and forget what really matters. Caring for a newborn infant is a particularly clear example of this. Your life is made up of activities necessary for the care and maintenance of a body: feeding and cleaning and sleeping, inputs and outputs; these are all material measures. It’s easy to let those measures dominate your perspective and determine what you see. That would be a mistake. It only takes a moment’s philosophical reflection to see that your baby is more than just their body. They are not only a physical thing but…
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Philosophy is a Fruiting Tree
Whenever I consider introducing philosophy to people, it always seems like it’s the wrong time: too late for the old, because they don’t have time or inclination to change themselves, and too soon for the young, because they don’t understand why it could be needed. Only the young person who has suffered knows why you might need to defend yourself against life with an art of living. A philosopher can only offer what they have, which is philosophy. But philosophy is made of ideas and ideas are only seeds. Seeds are not fruit. Some of these seeds might take root…
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The Call of Callicles
‘Is he serious or is he joking?’, asks Callicles, having heard Socrates philosophise. Socrates says he is serious. But for Callicles it’s all too absurd to take seriously. To prefer to live miserably under a tyrant than happily as a tyrant? To prefer to suffer wrong than to do it? To prioritise wisdom and ethical excellence over pleasure, money, reputation, popularity, and power? No one in their right mind would choose this, says Callicles, and he’s heard enough. It’s time someone told Socrates some home truths. What follows (in the Gorgias) is a damning tirade against the philosophical life. Callicles…
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It is better to be better than feel better
Anyone who has lived with depression or anxiety will be very accustomed to getting a lot of advice. People want you to feel better, so they will talk to you about what makes them feel better. They don’t understand that you live in different worlds. It is the ‘let them eat cake’ of mental health: talk that advertises ignorance. And yet there is a paradox, because what they say is both ignorant and true: they will say that these things will improve your mood, and they are right, because cake is nice.
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It’s not about the gods: The Euthyphro
Socrates talks to a lot of different people about a lot of different things. In each case, Socrates meets people where they are, on their terms, and tries to move them one step closer to a better understanding. Mostly this movement is towards a better understanding of goodness and ethical excellence, regardless of the subject matter at hand. If you want to understand Socrates, understand this: It doesn’t really matter what they are talking about, Socrates is talking about virtue. A clear example of this is what we see in the Euthyphro. Socrates is talking to Euthyphro, who is busy…
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The Lighthouse Keeper Simile
There is an old philosophical simile that says: we are in this life like a sentry at their post. The underlying thought is that we have a moral duty not to commit suicide. I have always found it to be a provocative and challenging thought. We have a personal duty to hold the line against the forces of despair, because if we break, the enemy will break through and the battle will be lost. Our comrades will fall. We will have let them down. You need to stand your ground. Over time, I have come to question the militaristic connotations…
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The Plan of Life: The Timaeus
Everything makes more sense when you look at the plans. Like assembling flat-packed furniture. Open the box and it looks, at least to the untrained eye, like chaos that makes no sense. You study the parts and see no meaning in them. But study the plans and now you can see that this particular shape is the front of a drawer, these the sides, these the runners, etc. You follow the instructions and try to make it look like the image on the box. The plans enable you to build order from chaos. A trained eye can see things differently.…
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The Ship
Imagine you are a ship. The hull, mast, and sails are your ‘body’; your feelings, thoughts, ambitions and aversions, wants and fears, everything that makes up your ‘soul’, are the crew. The ship needs to sail, but in order to do so the crew needs to be organised. You need to hoist the sails, plot a course, catch the wind, and navigate the seas. The ship needs a captain. Who do you put in charge? Who tells the ship what to do and where to go? Each of the crew members thinks they have the best claim to the captaincy.…
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Relationship Advice from Socrates: The Phaedrus
The Phaedrus is an outstanding example of a Platonic dialogue. It is really a dialogue about the dangers of trying to achieve philosophical understanding through listening to (or giving) grand rhetorical speeches or writing extended philosophical theses in essays or books. Socrates is predictably sceptical about these methods. They are far removed from the ideals of Socratic conversation. In speeches and writing, the truth is liable to distortion. The speechmaker or author gets carried away with rhetoric and style, prone to telling the audience only what will impress or flatter them, with the audience only hearing what they want to…
An experiment with philosophy as a way of life
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