How to cope with philosophy
Philosophy, perhaps above all other disciplines, requires persistence and determination to cope with. It is easy to put the book down when you get to a word you do not understand; it is easy to give up when it doesn't make sense to you. Some authors probably do wish to confuse their points and make themselves harder to criticise. The pretentious may write in pompous language to make themselves seem more intelligent than they truly are. We just have to live with these bad eggs and search after the philosophers who are writing for the sake of truth.
So, why read it? Why go to the effort of penetrating through the dry skin of a long-dead author when you can absorb the colourful pages of Voom! magazine and pass the time that way? I would not even begin to say that just because something takes more effort to complete it is more worthwhile; trying to cut the grass with a pair of scissors is the long way to go about things and often doesn't go very well. Philosophy, however, is always worth it. Philosophy gets you thinking, whether its thinking about why someone is wrong, or trying to figure out what someone is saying, or scaffolding your own world view by reading someone you agree with - it is worth it. Philosophy is always trying to say something; the author no doubt considers her writing the most relevant and inspiring idea in the world! Take the challenge and meet it head on.
Philosophy versus Life
The most common way to dismiss philosophy is to try and separate it from the 'real world'. Which real world is this: A world which exists independently of human perception? A world which we can only understand because we have hard-wired into us the means to make order out of chaos? A world which exists only because we perceive it? Make your mind up!
Dismissing philosophy as ivory tower thinking is an easy way to escape engaging with it; an easy way out of it; an easy way to escape challenging oneself! Many times in my personal experience has someone written off philosophy as useless without reasons being given as to why it is so (this is just bad philosophy). Stopping to engage in a dialogue isn't going to prevent you from living the rest of your life - the walls of your house will not fall in and the bailiffs will not tear your high-definition telescreen from the wall because you took ten minutes to ponder whether the mind had an infinite capacity to think or was limited by its experiences!
The last time I checked, being human was very much part of the 'real world'. There may be many explanations offered to you from the sciences, or from the religious perspectives, but no where will you find more clues to what it means to be human than in the humanities. And what is at the apex point of those humanities?
Ideas be our shield
Finally, ideas are our ultimate shield, more so than any physical armour. It is the triumph of good ideas, alongside our technological advances, that makes the real world liveable. It is easy to be angry at the academic philosopher for being this distant, elite figure, but we must respect these people for the stirling job they do in trying to better humanity, through the incredible medium that is language. Hard graft is not just a question of physicality - working the brain is just as tiring, just as frightening and requires just as much effort.
Philosophy is not the easiest thing to cope with, but it is worth it. We don't like being made to feel stupid, that is why Athens forced Socrates to leave or take his own life. Yet I must insist that we view ourselves with greater modesty than the worst of Athens and challenge ourselves, for the good of ourselves, and treat philosophy with the respect it deserves, and spend more of our lives engaging with it.
By Selim 'Selim' Talat
