A Mind for Philosophy
A mind for
philosophy, or a philosophical mind, is a mind ready to discover and is a mind
ready to enquire. It needs to be empty, so to speak, of preconceptions. When
Socrates said ‘All I know is that I know
nothing’, he was talking about the incredibly massive and wide universe of
experience which is life. When we compare our knowledge to the whole of that
experience, then we really know nothing. And to experience anything, to learn
anything, to know anything in this universe, we must look at it fresh, as it
is. Why? Because if we come to an experience with a preconception, we are going
to shape the experience in such a way that it fits our previous knowledge. If
you want to experience something new, you have to empty your mind of your
projected ideas first.
Philosophy,
in principle, is an opportunity to look at the world fresh. With the eyes of a
child, but with intelligence; but not the intelligence that is bred with
reading books and studying subjects, although that is good technical knowledge.
In order to really discover, to really investigate and to really see, we need a
type of intelligence which is free and unafraid. This would be an intelligence
of awareness, not an intelligence of limitation. Think Leonardo Da Vinci, a
well known and recognised genius. It is a known fact that Leonardo did most of
his research and discovery by himself. How? By observing the world with eyes of
wonder.
I am not
saying that we should reject all the knowledge that we have historically
accumulated. Well, I am saying that in a way, yet I am not, I am speaking in a
more fundamental way. Each human being has the capacity and right to experience
the world for itself and thus, find his or her own truth. My point is that a
real curious mind, a philosophical mind, looks at life without the frame. It is
a fallacy of modern philosophy to conceptualise experience and to build on
blocks of complex confused language and claim that knowledge lays there, in the
high land of the ‘specialist’. If we are to look at the past, let it be as an
example, not as a cage. Think of Descartes, thinking the world all anew, all by
himself, inventing mathematical methods and philosophies.
We know the
world through ideas, it’s true, but some ideas are the product of tradition,
prejudice and habit. That is why it’s important to question them, truly. To
‘know’ can be very isolating; when you think that you know, sometimes that
makes you unwilling to investigate and listen and learn from others. The more
you know, the more complex it becomes.
Philosophy
can be a great opportunity to step back and really have a good look at what is
going on. For that we need a simple mind.
To have a simple mind, a true philosophical mind, is to break your ‘I’m
convinced’ state and let your mind be truly observant and truly creative.
So, observe
but don’t judge. Observe, but don’t condemn. Observe, but don’t believe. Don’t
believe anything that is not soundly true to your most inner being (the one you
ultimately can’t lie to). A real philosophical mind does not deceive itself.
But don’t get me wrong, I know why we sometimes do it; for comfort, for
security, or simply in order to make sense. Truth cannot come from lies. That
is why I say, we need to keep our minds simple, in order to observe the world
as it is and not through the lens of our prejudices, because at the end of the
day, Socrates was right and all I know is that I know nothing either, so why
pretend we know it all?
Eliza
Veretilo
The
Philosophy Takeaway Issue 51 'Open Topic'
