Philosophy

How does a study of Philosophy assist your understanding of the activity of helping and of the relationship between self and other that is involved in this undertaking?

Comments

That depends on what one is

That depends on what one is studying philosophically. This term I am conducting a seminar with senior undergraduates in which we are reading the work of Cornel West and Iris Murdoch. They both compel us to think critically about matters of race and our individual responsibility to renounce narcissistic preoccupation and devote ourselves instead to the good, the true, and the beautiful (this is Iris Murdoch's central values as a Platonist), not merely as abstract, theoretical ideals, but as persons who are engaged in confronting racism and sexism. I am also offering two sections of a course, Environmental Ethics with about one hundred students; the goal of the class is to sharpen our understanding of our relationship with nonhuman animals, to live more fully in response to enormous human needs, including future generations. This is a scholarly and scientifically informed undertaking, but it is not intended to be of only academic interest, but to encourage each of us to be active in confronting environmental injustices and to promote ecologically responsible living (economically, politically, religiously, and personally).

If philosophy is true to its etymology (which comes from the Greek philo for "love" and sophia for "wisdom") as the love of wisdom, the practice of philosophy will always include resistance to "ivory tower" thinking in which the challenges of our day are seen as remote and irrelevant. Still, not every area of philosophy is principally concerned with ethics and social and political activism. The philosophy of mathematics, logic, some dimensions of epistemology and metaphysics, the philosophy of language, etc, have (in the view of many of us) intrinsic fascination even if the link to matters of social urgency is not immediately apparent. Even so, the way philosophy itself is practiced in these domains in which persons and their reasoning are treated with great respect, there is a huge premium set on being impartial and fair, and there is no resorting to censorship and force (except perhaps in the most extreme circumstances in which one needs to protect the innocent), there is (ideally) the model of what we hope will be the kinds of general practices that marks a culture in which there is a democratic republic.

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