a philosophical thought...

a few nights ago i read Plato's Apology (Socrates' defense of himself at his trial, for those of you who don't know) and it got me thinking: Socrates' approach to philosophy was very unique in that it focused on asking questions to lead the other person to a truthful conclusion rather than making an assertion and trying to prove it to be true. Socrates himself compared it to the role of a midwife who assists in the birth of a child not her own instead of giving birth to the child herself. anyway, i have begun to wonder if maybe the reason we as humans have so much difficulty in figuring out philosophical dilemas and ultimately finding truth, could it be that our problem is not that we do not know the right answers, but that we are not asking the right questions? thoughts, anyone?

 

You're absolutely right. The way I see it, philosophers are bound by certain rules like logic, dialectic, etc. Philosophers (well... good philosophers, anyway) must follow these rules; so then why can one philosopher come to a completely different conclusion than another? Methodology is one reason, I think. The other is one's starting point, which is arrived at by asking a particular question. In these two areas, philosophers have almost unlimitted freedom, and I think this explains the diversity of ideas in the field. I can't stand it when someone tries to turn philosophy into a science, whether it's Comte or Husserl. It's precisely because of this multiplicity that philosophy can never become a science; it is an art first and foremost.

 

Plato's 'method' in the Socratic Dialogues is in general to propose an argument, or sieries of arguments, and then demolish them, leaving the truth of the matter revealed. By this means, most of the common theories of the day are given an airing, only if later to be shown to be untrue. It also makes for interesting reading - compare to the works of Aristotle, which are arid and dry by comparison.

 

oh absolutely we are often not asking the right questions
because we keep coming up with otherwise rediculous vested
excuses to persuade ourselves and each other not to ask them

=^^=
.../\...

 

Socrates (as told by Plato) is much nicer to read than many other philosophers. If possible, I would suggest reading his work in its original Greek. It's much better that way.

 

You can be right. My philosophy professor told us in class that Socrates once talked with a slave and that very own, untrained man (who never went to school) could give the answer to √2, just because Socrates used that same method. Wunderbar, nicht ?
I think that it was Plato who quoted that philosophy is about searching knowledge, not having it already (but correct me if I'm wrong ). That says it all, don't you think.
But what are the right questions...

Love!

 

perhaps that is the first question that must be answered.

 

It has been refered to as refutation. Many are those that actually hold firmly to no belief, but will gladly mire another who holds steadfast to just such a thing with contradiction, thereby simply holding up a mirror and saying "take a look at yourself." I salute them, for at the expense of appearing themselves to be the initiators of conflict, they have done the greatest service for unification.

much love

 

The Socratic attitude is what I most admire here. One who asks questions is similar to the seeker, who interacts and listens.

A philosopher who is not Socratic is a one-way dispenser of assertions, a sage in a tower making declarations and theories.

Figuring out a world best comes about by interacting with that world....

 

One of the best classes I ever had was a philosophy 101 class taught by David Houston at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA. It was very much a question-oriented philosophy class. Each week we were assigned a group of three or four or five readings from various philosophers concerning a specific question. When class met, we would spend the first hour discussing what the philosophers wrote, the second hour discussing the question(s) they addressed, and the third hour actually addressing the question ourselves.

Over the course of the semester, our ongoing assignment was to come up with five good questions. The process involved finding (or creating) the right question, developing it and then wisely and clearly phrasing it so that anyone (especially you, the asker) might understand what you seek and then, hopefully, offer some truth for your question, or at least guide you in your search for truth.

What did I learn? There (at least) two types of questions. There is the request for specific information such as "what is your name?" "how old are you? "would you like to get naked and have sex with me?" and "can we do that again?"

Then there is the philosophical question that is not necessarily a request for The Answer as much as it is an open but focused request for truth. A good question often yields a better answer every time you ask it properly. Some of the best questions I have heard are:

"Where do stories/music/ideas come from?"
"When we speak of God, what are we referring to?"
"What is the true nature of reality?"
"What is . . . Peace? . . . Love? . . . Truth? . . . Wisdom? . . . Happiness? . . . Beauty? . . . Good (and Evil)?"
"Is there an afterlife?"
"If there is an afterlife, a life after death, is it the same or different (and how?) than the life before birth "the beforelife"?"
"What should we know that we do not yet know?"

And, of course,

"Would you like to get naked and have sex with me?"