Commonwealth Forums

CMcQueeny,

I am glad to see you engaging in some of the national dialog. You said something, possibly in an off-handed sort of way, in the thread "Science VS Religion" which I believe could seriously derail that thread if followed up there, so I copied it here.

If you mean this forum rarely has tangible benefits, well, you might be right.

But if you mean the study of Philosophy is without benefit then we part ways.

From my experience philosophy is the study of how we make decisions. It helps us shine the light inward to inspect our assumptions, values and motives. By knowing these things we can know ourselves.

That is not some metaphyiscal hokus pokus I'm talking about. Knowing yourself helps you to better manage being who you want to be versus who you currently are.

By knowing ourselves we can better predict our reaction to situations which have not experienced yet. We can then begin to manage our viewes to, hopefully, a better person.

Those are benefits you can point to and say "Before philosophy I was that way, and now I'm this way."

I admit it's not like making a bicycle, but it does seem real to me.

Regards,
HM Alexander of Hanover

Your Majesty,

The use of the word 'tangible' in my sentence is really more important than the rest of it. In the post to which I replied, you gave examples of benefits with an emphasis on material gains. To that end, my reply was intended to concede a lack of material change directly resulting from the examination of Indian remains, while pointing out the intangible intellectual gain.

To me, the value of Philosophy is unquestionable. In fact, I defy anybody here to present an argument to the contrary. Unless one approachs the study of Philosophy with deliberately tenacious and stubborn viewpoints, it is virtually impossible to retain all of one's original beliefs. Indeed one could almost say that Philosophy is more significant than the tangible, for it has influence over both mind and body.

I trust that no parting of ways shall take place?