Philosophy

In most introductory Philosophy courses, we begin with the ancient Greek philosophers. One of the most important of these was Socrates. There were other important thinkers in Greece who lived before Socrates, but they are usually addressed in courses at the upper level, with titles like "The History of Philosophy" or "Pre-Socratic Philosophy." Socrates is seen as one of the first philosophers because he addressed the "love of wisdom" in many different ways, addressing knowledge of the physical world and knowledge of ethical concepts. One of his students, Plato, wrote about Socrates in a variety of different discussions, giving us a body of work that has given Socrates lasting importance in philosophy courses throughout the Western world.

Socrates lived from 470-399 BCE. He referred to himself as a philosophoi, in part to distinguish himself from the Sophists, who were teachers of rhetoric in ancient Greece. A stonecutter by trade, he was not wealthy, but he was a military hero due in part to his service in the Peloponnesian War. He did have enough money to own a suit of armor when he was a hoplite in the Athenian military (which not every hoplite would have had.)

The Peloponnesian War lasted from 431 to 404 BCE, and was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. The war had a profound effect on how Socrates saw Athens. He had fought in the war, and many of the members of the Athenian military force had perished. These had been the men he thought would be better rulers of Athens than those in power.

Socrates' mother was a midwife, and in his later years he would often describe his role in Athens as being a “midwife to the truth” – he would discuss issues with an interlocutor, and help them to see the truth (or their own ignorance or misunderstanding of the truth.)

Socrates spent much of his adult life in the agora (the marketplace) conversing about ethical issues with anyone who would talk with him, but especially with the alleged “experts” who rose to power after the war ended. He wanted to expose ignorance, hypocrisy, and conceit, false experts, and false leaders among his fellow Athenians, particularly in regard to moral questions.

Sophists were like speech writers or spin doctors used by politicians today. They would be paid to teach students how to argue any side of an issue, especially political and ethical issues in the courts of Athens and other Greek city-states. Note that the name of the Sophists is connected to modern expressions “sophistry” and “sophomoric” (as in immature, juvenile, appealing to the lowest common denominator).

The influence of the Sophists, and the fact that they argued any side without regard for the truth, influenced Athenian thought in three major ways that affected opinions about Socrates:

1. Nihilism - the belief that nothing is true, nothing is right or wrong. There are many kinds of nihilism. Below, we define three kinds.

1. Metaphysical Nihilism - the belief that nothing is true

2. Moral Nihilism - the belief that nothing is right or wrong

3. Epistemological Nihilism - the belief that nothing can be known

2. Humanism - the belief that man alone is the measure of all things and that might makes right.

3. Immoralism - the teaching that justice benefits others while injustice benefits the self and, consequently, only the weak and the foolish act to benefit others instead of themselves. These values were in conflict with those of traditional Greek morality.

Socrates was very unhappy with the bad influence that the Sophists had on Greek ethics and political life. He felt that there were many alleged “experts” who had achieved notoriety by arguing for Sophistic, immoral beliefs. Socrates challenged such experts in the streets of Athens, publicly, and showed himself to be better at arguing than they were. He wanted to spur Athens on to recover its former greatness but saw Athens as being like a lazy horse that needed inspiration to move. He was proud to call himself a “gadfly” (an annoying pest) that spurred Athens on to a greater ethical standard, the way a fly makes a horse move and run. Socrates always sought objective facts and specific ethical standards, such as the truth, beauty, and goodness.

Various children of the defeated experts soon joined Socrates and became his students. This caused great jealousy among those within the leadership of Athens. To make matters even more difficult, the Oracle at Delphi told Socrates that he was the “wisest of men.” Many of the Athenian leaders understood this to mean that Socrates worshiped false gods or that he expected to be worshiped himself, but Socrates interpreted the Oracle ironically.

Above the entrance to Oracle’s chamber, the words “Know Thyself” were carved. Socrates took his wisdom to be that he knew himself, i.e., Socrates knew what he did not know, he was aware of his own ignorance and his own limitations. This is what we now call “Socratic Wisdom.” Socrates never claimed knowledge or expertise that he really did not have.

In the Socratic body of work, he often used irony and employed terms whose meaning was the opposite of what he intended, such as words like "wisdom" and "apology."

We have seen one model of the philosophical life in Socrates. Now we turn to a more modern example in Bertrand Russell, the 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, born on18 May 1872 and died on 2 February 1970.

Russell was born into a family with great wealth and status. The Russell family had been prominent in England for several centuries and generations, coming to power and the peerage with the rise of the Tudor dynasty. They established themselves as one of Britain's leading Whig families. However, Russell's parents were radical for their times. Russell's father, Viscount Amberley, was an atheist who consented to his wife's affair with their children's tutor, the biologist Douglas Spalding. Both were early advocates of birth control at a time when this was considered scandalous.

Russell wrote on a wide range of philosophical topics over the course of his lifetime, including logic, marriage, women’s rights, and critiques of war and political leaders of his time. Even though he was from “the Establishment,” he was willing to criticize it.

In the essay “The Value of Philosophy,” Bertrand Russell argues for the value of philosophy by trying to dispel the myths about philosophy. Philosophy is not just hair-splitting distinctions, or being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative. To understand its value, he argued that one must look at the effects it has on the lives of those who study it: philosophy develops critical reasoning skills. It gives an ability to reflect on deeper questions. It aims at genuine “knowledge” rather than mere opinion. Knowledge has to have some kind of justification, reasons why you think what you think. Opinions can be very misled or unjustified.

To gain knowledge with evidence or back-up, you have to ask good critical questions. In other words, philosophy allows us to be skeptical in a positive way; asking good questions allows us to not be fooled by advertising or fallacies. (Nine out of ten dentists recommend a particular brand of gum, but does that mean I should buy it?)

Philosophy enhances our mental lives, rather than our physical well-being. If you practice critical reasoning it becomes more natural and fluid, like a golf swing or batting with follow-through! Being uncertain is actually a good sign…most philosophical questions are highly uncertain/undecidable; to Russell this is an asset, not a liability. It is good to have debate over issues that may be difficult, like the deep ethical questions Socrates asked about piety, holiness, virtue, the Good.

Philosophy is not meant to be like math or science, in which specific, quantitative answers are either right or wrong. We must question our ordinary day-to-day beliefs. Russell finds that habits of thinking can be limiting and misleading, and he is encouraging us to be skeptical about the views of the so-called “practical man.” Russell says it is imperative that we liberate ourselves from prejudices. Note that this is not necessarily what we think of in the sense of racial or sexist prejudices, instead it could be everyday habits of common sense, culture, and custom.

People get into habits of thinking they are right, and they get stubborn – this stops progress and critical reasoning from happening. Our habits might lead us to make bad decisions – a new way of doing things might be better.

Bertrand Russell says we must inquire about the universe. Philosophy might not be able to tell us definitively how things are, but it shows us the many different ways they might be. Philosophy encourages us to have a sense of wonder about the world and the physical universe. Having a sense of wonder is behind all advancement, discovery, invention, and creativity.

Philosophy liberates us from the tendency we have to interpret things in terms of “self.” Think about the history of how humans have looked at volcanoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Philosophy gives us the critical reasoning skills to understand natural events and to develop a scientific perspective on the world around us. Russell encourages us to try and see the universe as it is, not merely how it affects us. When we do this, we enlarge ourselves, enlarge the sphere of our actions and affections, and we appreciate the greatness of the objects studied. When Russell discusses “expanding the self,” it means acknowledging and philosophically considering experience in a grand sense and realizing how small we are in the grand scheme of things.

Philosophy is a way to gain a sense of wonder and appreciate the greatness of the universe, this, in turn, means we expand our intellect.