Okay so, do you all remember how I said awhile back how the Stone essay on the ethical quandaries pertaining to immigration was the most important Stone article we might read this year in my opinion? Well, while saying this article unseated it would be a point of debate, I can personally tell you this was my favorite Stone article this year if not since I became a regular reader. Everything this author said I needed to hear said in this way for so long. I have stressed multiple times on here and elsewhere that Philosophy needs to afford itself greater accessibility/participation to the general public. That is why I personally believe that contributions in Philosophy such as The Partially Examined Life and other podcasts, The Popular Culture and Philosophy book series, and the initiative to get Philosophy more integrated into the public school system (An initiative whose group you can find here: https://facebook/groups/359943900722949/) are so vitally important to the discipline as a whole. Why, you may ask? Well the article says it best: But I think the key difference between science and philosophy is that we need the results of science more than we need everyone in the body politic “doing science.” By contrast, we need everyone “doing philosophy” more than we need the results of philosophy. In other words, we don’t need to know or understand how the scientist has gone from the minute molecular intricacies of DNA to a public good like genetic counseling. On the other hand, the emulation of the critical thinking and logical argument of a philosopher is a virtue that can be applied to any area of life — from where you stand on the most important social and political issues of the day to how best to spend the rest of your days on this planet. I am gonna write this author and thank him. After I penned my essays for Dracula and Philosophy I tried to transition into studying Semiotics but felt burnt out. I honestly thought I would even slip into a hiatus period away from philosophical engagement, but this article stoked the flames of my passion. My philosophical beast has only covered a patch of dirt in the vast jungle before him, and I wont rest until my nagging starvation is satiated. I have been telling friends that I really want to put in time at an Elementary school or a state prison next year to instruct in Philosophy, now I definitely am committed to finding a place where I can put in the time. So to every animal in this jungle whether the animal inside you philosophically is a beast like a lion, or a caterpillar inching itself along the way, nurture the animal all the same and contribute something. Write to children, take Nietzsches ideology and create a book of poems, just create something! Even if it is doubt in another persons system. It is what I believe we were meant to do and that is why it is my favorite discipline in the world. Sorry for staying on my soapbox so long but that had been building for a while. Anyway, enjoy the article and if I dont post again, I hope each and every one of you has an amazing holiday. Youre all wonderful. opinionator.blogs.nytimes/2014/12/16/free-the-philosophical-beast/
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:49:58 +0000
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