Why we do philosophy...

How and why do we live our lives? In what way do we relate to those around us, the world we live in, the cosmos of which we are part? Do we believe in a 'God', 'Truth', 'science', ourselves, or perhaps nirvana? The context in which we make decisions, the basis of our beliefs about that context and so on. All this is what one might call philosophy.
Since prehistory man has considered his place in the world. For many thousands of years, until the advent of the Copernican heliocentric solar system, humanity believed itself to be at the centre of the universe. More often than not, this anthropocentrism was based upon religious writings of one sort or another, Genesis, perhaps, or the Koran. Both as individuals and as 'humanity', we think of everything as it relates to us, at the centre of our 'bubble'. Modern cosmology, however, has changed this picture more than anyone can have imagined. The universe is expanding. Even better, it is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Oh, and another thing: It's bloody massive, immense beyond all the powers of conception of our tiny imaginations. Cosmic scales put anthropocentrism to shame. We are not, when it comes down to it, very important. Earth orbits an average star, in a pretty average galaxy, which is only one of billions in the known universe. So, now that I've thoroughly depressed everyone, we can move to building our self-esteem back up.
You can think, cogitate, meditate, rationalise, plan, reflect, argue and more. No species but us (that we know of) can do these things, not to the incredible extent that you can. And with this incredible ability comes philosophy. Not just philosophy, but every other endevour in human history. Yet I would argue that these are subsets, results, of the core pursuit of human thought. 'Obvious!' you might say. But this core pursuit is philosophy. Everything we do is based upon our beliefs: about our relations to other 'individuals', to ethics, values, the environment, government, religion, science, and truth. Philosophy as a discipline is concerned with sorting out all this crap that we carry around and trying to say something meaningful about it. Not only this, but this discipline tries to suggest ways in which we might live better lives, based, perhaps, upon some principle, some measure of truth, justice, interpersonal relations, mind, consciousness, value or whatnot. We all operate on such principles, most of the time unconsciously. Thus are we all philosophers, even if we don't know it. The man deciding whether or not to give up smoking is truly reflecting on the relative values of life and pleasure; the woman learning a language is discovering a new mode of perception and expression; the boy who drops rubbish is expressing an attitude towards the environment; and the scientist in the laboratory is endeavouring to discover, to move closer to, the nature or reality. They are all philosophers.
With no dusty books in sight.

© Alan Bowden 2006