Philos + Sophia • “…devoted to wisdom…” • “Philosophers have become experts in many of the things that make people not wise…”
• “They have the status almost of jokes. We call them ‘pretentious’ BUT… • “they matter deeply because only with sound answers to them can we direct our energies meaningfully. ” • “…the only really pretentious thing is to think that one is above asking big, naïve-sounding enquiries…”
• “…the stuff you take in without even thinking about it…” • “philosophy gets us to submit all aspects of common sense to REASON. ” “…interested in asking whether an idea is logical rather than assuming it must be right because it’s popular or long-established. ”
3.
• “ …we lack insights into our own satisfactions and dislikes…” • “we need to examine our own minds…” • “Know Yourself” - Socrates
4. We Have Muddled Ideas About What Makes Us Happy
• “We’re not very good at making ourselves happy…” • “Philosophers seek to be wise by getting more precise about the activities and attitudes that really can help our lives to go better. ”
5. We Panic and Lose Perspective
• “Philosophers are good at keeping a sense of what really matters, and what doesn’t…” • “ ‘Philosophical’… a by-word for ‘Calm’, ‘Long-term Thinking’ and ‘Peace of Mind’; in short, for ‘Perspective’. ”
“…the points at which our Un-Wisdom bites and messes up our lives are multiple, and urgently need attention… right now. ”