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Nothing is Hidden in Philosophy
Mystics say ‘there is a profound and mysterious truth that I know, but you cannot know because you are not a great master, like me’. But Epicurus says ‘anyone can know this’, and Socrates says not only that anyone can know this, but you already know this and have forgotten!
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Serious Contradictions
We have forgotten to take these things seriously. We lecture about how philosophers should not lecture but ask questions. We demand honours and titles for a discipline that claims to renounce honours and titles. We charge fees for something that we say is priceless. We live in contradiction with ourselves and then call ourselves logicians.
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What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? ‘The construction of arguments.’ You may as well say that music is the activity of plucking strings. Some musicians do this, of course, and it can be done well or badly, but that is hardly the point.
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Like Playing Music
Philosophy, when done properly, is like playing a musical instrument. The outsider only sees the music written down and thinks that this is all it means to play music. But the player reads the music and plays.
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Out of the Pit
Rousseau says we cannot complain that God does not drag us out of the pit because He has given us everything we need to not fall into it in the first place; but the philosopher has also been given everything they need to drag themselves out!
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Profit and Loss
Some philosophers treat ethics like it were a career in finance; wherein the primary measures are gross profit and what you can expect to earn in return.
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Good Enough
I am convinced that virtue is necessary for happiness. I am not convinced that it’s sufficient. But knowing that it is necessary to be good is good enough for me.
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Be More of What is Good
The goal in life is not to have more of what is good but to be more of what is good.
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Dirty Water
If you think you are swimming in dirty water, you get out. You don’t keep swimming, adding to the filth.
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Junk and Nonsense
A lot of philosophy and philosophers are junk and nonsense. But you can’t dismiss philosophy itself for that. There are a lot of bad musicians and bad music, but that doesn’t make music itself bad.
An experiment with philosophy as a way of life
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