Lost In The Fray


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Why Study Philosophy?

Why Study Philosophy? There are many reasons to study philosophy, from moral, to practical, to hedonistic/Epicurean (the philosophy of pleasure associated with 3rd century B.C. garden philosopher, Epicurus), to scientific, to even religious. Once we recognize that we don't know the ultimate answers to the most ultimate questions about how we should live, and the nature of the Divine and reality in general, the remaining desire to live a morally good life, a pious life, a happy life, of even simply an honest life, seems to compel us, as the great philosopher, Socrates, (who said 'All I know is I know nothing') famously maintained, to devote ourselves to this quest. In fact, as Plato famously argued, our ordinary, pre-philosophic beliefs are similar to living in a dark cave never having once glimpsed the light; we simply grow up acquiring beliefs much like an uncleaned shelf acquires dust over the years, never inquiring into the their ultimate basis. We are like a tree al...
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