The Purpose of Philosophy?
Reading notes & reflections from ‘Philosophy in 40 Ideas’ by The School of Life
'Socrates summed up the purpose of philosophy in one simple phrase: ‘know yourself’. In giving this motto such importance in his thought, Socrates was alluding to a big problem with being human: we normally don’t know ourselves very well, although, fatefully, we might feel as if we do.
We are governed by forces we rarely pay attention to: envy, disavowed anger, buried hurt, ideas from childhood that have come to frame our outlook but that we hardly realise we possess.
As an antidote, Socrates recommended systematically asking ourselves, ideally in the company of a patient & thoughtful friend, questions like: what are my priorities? What do I really fear? What do I truly want?'
——————————————————————————————————————
One of my 2021 resolutions was to ‘gain clarity on life as it goes’, as we approach the end of the year, I can confidently say that I hAvE nOT achieved this goal. Some personal struggles include having little to no energy at times to track down what went on, and lacking the motivation to look into myself on a regular basis. Philosophers’ ability to slow down, inquire and do the latter makes me admire them greatly. Hopefully this book will shed some insights and inspire me to put what I learn from philosophers into practise.