But it’s boring, you say. Cicero said, ‘there’s a medical art for the soul, and its name is philosophy’. Stopped supporting animal-industries. Philosophy in Life Philosophy have always been part of human development and improvement in most many aspects like in moral, ethics, business and others. It tries to discover the nature of truth and knowledge and to find what is of basic value and importance in life. In fact, I can conceive of no single piece of knowledge is universally beneficial. To understand more about the role of philosophy in our lives, I spoke to Jules Evans Policy Director of the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary University of London. The question is does our culture has enough outlets for healthy ecstasy? It’s hard to understand, you say. It helps you create new ideas to improve your life. Understanding our context, our place in that context as individuals and as societies has been an ever-present part of our intellectual discourse for thousands of years forming the basis of practically every aspect of our culture. It’s only really in the past few decades that that idea has rather declined, and been marginalised. When you do this, you will … There’s an end of history fallacy where you can take this kind of secular humanism as the end point of human history. In our culture, particularly in the last 300-500 years in Western culture, people have become much, much more ambivalent (if not hostile) to ecstatic experiences. arriving at rational decisions - logic. We get cocooned into this rumination, and I think there are two ways to get out. We can use our minds to explore different aspects of life. It also seems to me that learning about 'naive'/'folk' theories is philosophically relevant, making me interested in the non-academic opinions of people on philosophical subjects. Most knowledge in every dis… I guess I’m still searching now. Aristotle’s Highest Good What do we actually want from life? By continuing to use our site, we assume you are OK with that. People, artists and scientists have sometimes used kind of ecstatic techniques for their muse or inspiration. People sometimes talk about these being religious experiences (which is how William James described them), but that’s not quite right because they don’t always happen within a religious context, and they don’t always involve encounters with Gods. To help you go on toward your destination or path in life. We’re a culture that’s very much about individual autonomy, and ecstasy is (in some ways) the opposite of that – it’s about surrendering control. Philosophy is embedded in everything. These impressions might only be due to my limited experience with academia, however. but it's something that needs to be said in these sorts of discussions, which are (typically) initiated by someone who's got at least one foot out the door from academia. However, we never have to feel that life is boring. Philosophy as a named activity, is quite recent in human history- and is the attempt to examine these instinctive and automatic motivations and say, ‘is this definitely wise?’, ‘is this coherent?’. For example, one could be indecisive about whether he or she wants to ditch class and hang out with friends or go to class and miss out on it. It gives you the ability to step out of it, and that can be extremely healing, it can be extremely connecting because you suddenly feel deeply connected to other people that you’re sharing this ecstatic experience with. I went to interview the people who invented CBT, two psychologists called Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, and found that their inspiration for this therapy, which now helps millions of people, was Ancient Greek philosophy, and particularly the ideas from Stoic philosophy, Socrates, and the Epicureans. I use philosophy in my everyday life in an attempt to understand objective truth. I have the impression that academic philosophers specializing in some fields, e.g. This is where the bottom-up approach of philosophy I mentioned in the previous chapter becomes pertinent. without logic we would be doing just that. Q:  What is the role of ecstatic and extreme experiences in our lives? It can actually be stimulating and fun. One can’t be certain of the existence (or non-existence) of these things if one doesn’t have a firm grasp on one’s methods of knowing things but, even then, it can be difficult to prove or disprove the existence such things. Our sense of time, and ability to communicate across it with language means that our perspective of existence is lacking in the immediacy of other species. Q: What is the role of ancient philosophy in our well-being? He is also a consultant and advisor to numerous entrepreneurs, business and organisations globally. This can take a number of forms including reflective practice, personal philosophical thinking and philosophical counselling. PHILOSOPHY is a study that seeks to understand the mysteries of existence and reality. In Christianity, one of the … Using Philosophy in Daily Life. It’s disconcerting to remind ourselves of that. Applications of Philosophy. I think there is a point to human life, which is not something just invented by humans but more like a kind of cosmic point- perhaps to develop consciousness and wisdom. We’re not just critical, reflective agents, most of the time we’re on automatic pilot. Philosophy, in the sense I am discussing it here, is the sustained, systematic, reflective thinking about concepts and beliefs in any subject to see what is clear (i.e., intelligible) and reasonable to believe about it, and why. because I think humans always do. /r/askphilosophy aims to provide serious, well-researched answers to philosophical questions. Jules has talked about philosophy on BBC 2’s Newsnight, the Culture Show, on BBC Radio 3 and 4, RTE-1 and ABC Australia; and am a BBC New Generation Thinker. You’re part of a three millennia old tradition of wisdom that you know, thousands and thousands and thousands of people have read the same book that you’re reading, and found it therapeutic in very dark times. How to find a useful life philosophy. You go to some kind of festival, or ritual at church, together and you feel bonded at a sub-rational, emotional level. early analytic, Wittgenstein, continental, psychoanalysis, continental, critical theory, Phil. The Uses of Philosophy in Today's World Rick Garlikov. We’re in the very early chapters of a long journey and we’ll be constantly surprised on that journey. Within the context of Higher Education, people might think ‘that sounds very strange, a new wishy-washy idea’ but when you look back at the history of Higher Education, and the history of universities going all the way back 2400 years to Plato’s academy or the university of Nalanda, India, which was even earlier – it’s been an accepted that one of the roles of universities is to help people flourish, and to develop their character. You might just be barking up the wrong tree: looking to "live one's philosophy" in academic philosophy is pretty much guaranteed to be fruitless because academic philosophers are rarely ever in the business of doing that. I don't have any of those. Jules is the Policy Director for the Centre for the History of the Emotions, and co-editor of the History of Emotions Blog. This also involves going out and practicing in real life situations. We should keep reminding ourselves of what we don’t know, because we’re going to be hugely surprised along the way. There’s an end of history fallacy where you can take this kind of secular humanism as the end point of human history. Philosophy as defined from its Greek etymology is the love of wisdom and lot of civilization have its fair share of having its own principle as philosophy in life. British culture now is extremely kind of secular, but I try to kind of develop a model of the good life which is a meeting place for both theists and atheists and agnostics. His philosophy is outdated and not applicable to our current human condition. Our imagination is utilized all the time, whether we realize it or not. One can indeed discover provoking insights from analyzing daily activities. We’re aware that a lot of people who joined communes ended up brainwashed in toxic cults. We can use philosophy to help us figure out how to improve the world, improve ourselves, and have better relationships. I’ve been looking at universities, and the idea of what a university is for which is actually not a question that is asked that often. Question: How is philosophy valuable in our daily lives? This question gets asked a lot, and very often the replies are basically to the effect of "philosophy doesn't impact my everyday life besides to the extent that I do philosophy every day." Of course, we then make decisions based on this philosophy and we become a great success or failure in what we do based on how we deal with this. It’s a moment where you go beyond your ordinary sense of self and feel connected to something great and new; that could be god, it could be nature, it could be some kind of deeper state of mind, it could be other people. Just asking yourself questions, ‘why am I reacting so strongly to this?’, ‘what’s going on?’, ‘what’s the belief or opinion underlying this strong emotional reaction?’ and ‘is it definitely true?’ can change your beliefs or opinions or your attitude, and that will change your emotions. It can cost people a huge amount of money, and yet there’s not always a clear understanding either in students’ minds or in the institutions’ minds of what they are actually trying to do here, what is the university for? And I think philosophy helps to keep us wondering and to remind us about what we don’t know. Even if we are not doing a fun activity, there is so much to think about. Studying philosophy sharpened my critical thinking skills and gave me a solid toolset to approach things I read, evaluate what I hear, etc. thinking about yourself and how you can put essence in your life - existentialism. Although I'm not an expert on ethics, I think some familiarity with philosophy changed my buying habits, especially regarding food. When you recognise that your emotions attach to your beliefs, your opinions and your interpretations, then you can start examining your beliefs and your interpretations using what is called in cognitive therapy the Socratic method. That's not exactly a criticism of academic philosophy (heck, I am in academia at the moment!) A Conversation with Kalki Koechlin – Actress, Writer, Producer & Activist. Throughout history, ecstatic rituals and ceremonies have been important ways in which people have bonded, particularly in cities where they might otherwise feel rather alienated. caring for others - ethics and phenomenology So, true philosophy is to love wisdom, grow in wisdom, and apply this wisdom in the context of school (your case), and work. For me as an individual, having messed myself up quite early in my life, philosophy definitely helped me get out of a hole. We are taught life philosophy through popular media; through TV, magazines, blogs, YouTube, social media, etc. Did you ever whip out the quadratic formula on a napkin in a restaurant to help calculate the tip? I try to build it as a big church for people who believe that that flourishing involves god or some kind of higher power, and people who don’t. By Thomas M. Miovas, Jr. 04/27/2012 . I'm not a professional philosopher, but every time my friends would visit a psychotherapist to be indoctrinated with badly interpreted dubious theories, I just read Epictetus. The same may be said of the others. We can sometimes think we’re very late in human history, but we’re still just at the beginning. are academic, and you'd get that same answer if you asked economists how they use economics in their everyday life. The Ancient Greeks believed philosophy was a medicine for the soul. ancient phil., medieval phil., and modern phil. I have to disentangle a ton of philosophical assumptions, because many popular science writers, in particular, subscribe to a particular philosophical view and then present it as the Holy Gospel, because Science. Some philosophy will be negative and this has such a detrimental effect on our lives that it destroys ambition and therefore life can be deemed to be miserable. feminism or some french philosophy, tend to very directly (and not rarely) incorporate some sort of activism in their routine. In the context of philosophy, Tao (the Way) is the natural order of the universe. Secondly, Stoicism notes that you can’t control what happens to you, you can only control how you react to it. Thought Economics is a journal of intellectual capital, now read in over 120 countries. Jules also helps to run the London Philosophy Club, which is the biggest philosophy club in the world, with 6,000 members. His first book, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, explored how people are rediscovering ancient Greek and Roman philosophies and how Greek philosophy (partiularly Stoicism) inspired Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). asking ‘to what end are we doing this?’ – ‘why are we doing this at all?’. After all, self-reflection and examination can transform an enjoyable day into a frustrating one. [Jules Evans] If you dig deep enough into the history of any public institution, you uncover some kind of philosophical ideal, or a response to a particular kind of cultural problem-  the reason for the institution, and what it was formed to do. Over time, this purpose gets drowned in habits and in bureaucracy- things just run on automatic pilot for decades or centuries, and people can easily forget what the point of that institution was. That piece of wisdom is very useful because it gives you some ability to have control over your emotions. dphilo November 30, 2020 No Comments Ancient philosophy Arguments Aristotle Happiness History of philosophy There is a passage (Nicomachean Ethics, Book I) where Aristotle is concerned with finding out what “the good” is. skills are holistic and can be applied in every domain of our life. So that’s an empowering thing, to feel part of this long, great tradition of wisdom. I use the word ecstasy, which people think means being very, very happy- but in Ancient Greek it means ecstatic, which means standing outside. Every time you have utilised any form of intelligent thinking as far as remembering to tie your shoe laces; wiping your self after using the toilet, putting on your shirt first before wearing your jumper…basic as they may seem, you are utilising philosophy in some way. It is difficult to talk about the "practical use" of almost any piece of knowledge out of context. The Tao just is, and understanding it comes to an individual through their own learning experiences. We’re now in the era of mass Higher Education where close to 40% of the population goes to university. Abraham Maslow called them peak experiences, that doesn’t quite work either because sometimes these experiences happen to people not when they’re totally sorted, but actually the opposite when they’re a real mess. Studying ethics can help you arrive at clearer positions and arguments on real life issues — and can help you apply them, too. I masturbate and annoy everyone around me by quoting Kant too often. We, as humans, can get stuck in loops of self-rumination and negative thoughts about ourselves and about the world. It is a movement from thinking about life to letting thought be thought by life. A Conversation with Jacqueline Gold CBE, Chief Executive of Ann Summers & Knickerbox. Psychology is particularly of great importance as it relates to the study of mental processes and behavior at the same time. What do exist are philosophical studies of essentially autonomous topics, such as our behaviour and our attitudes to others; what is valid when we use our faculties of deduction; the problem of knowing anything for sure; our tastes; and our need for meaning in life – corresponding to what are called the ‘branches of philosophy’: ethics, logic, epistemology, aesthetics and metaphysics. Not a philosopher here but I'm answering in hopes to encourage whoever you are -- a janitor, a scientist, a lawyer, or a single mother -- that even some light reading in philosophy allows you to consider a position in an argument from a perspective that you would normally deem absurd. Greek philosophy is full of these little sound bites which you repeat over and over until they become part of your automatic self-talk. Psychology is also applied in our daily lives and in many things. [Jules Evans] I’m from a tradition called virtue ethics in philosophy, which is this idea that philosophy can help people flourish, and that in some sense, the aim of human life is flourishing. Practical Philosophy is also the use of philosophy and philosophical techniques in everyday life. What decisions would be different if you didn't study philosophy? It’s called things like hysteria, psychosis, enthusiasm (which was a kind of bad thing in the enlightenment, it meant an accident). Most of the ideas in contemporary cognitive therapy come directly from Ancient Greek philosophy and it gives us three simple ideas which I can describe to you. of Communication, Ancient, Continental. Signup to my newsletter. You’ve got to practice your principles daily so that they become ingrained into what they call your automatic, self-talk and actions. He has spoken at events including the Month of Philosophy in Amsterdam, the Hay-On-Wye festival, the Galway Arts Festival, the Faculty of Public Health, Latitude, the Sunday Assembly, the British Museum and the RSA. Like, in the sense of having a personal philosophy qua maxim for living, e.g. How we feel about them depends on what we believe they mean. Although we do not always make the right decisions, we make the … Or perhaps just less communist. (I'd probably also hedge my bets much less.). This was the period when humans changed from ‘we do this because this is the way it’s always been done, this is the way the gods told us to do things, this is the way your elders did it so therefore that’s just how it is and you’ll be punished by the gods if you don’t do it that way’, to an active, conscious rational way of thinking: ‘Why?’, ‘Why like this?’, ‘Is this definitely the best way?’ and that’s a radical moment in human history… Socrates didn’t last very long when he started doing this kind of questioning and was sentenced to death. It helps us solve our problems -mundane or abstract, and it helps us make better decisions by developing our critical thinking (very important in the age of disinformation). Philosophy in our daily lifes Essay This kind of essay can discuss just how can we apply metaphysics to our daily life since students, which includes activities and … So, I think where we are as a culture, and what I was asking in my book is, the question is not should humans have outlets for ecstasy? Let't say you're debating the taboo topic of child pornography or the subject of hate speech, now most of us would resort to our emotional responses, which cloud rationality and reason (which in itself is not always necessarily a bad thing), but with a philosophical approach it really allows you to address the questions in a calm manner, considering alternative solutions without allowing your anger to simply jump to your instinctual response. 3 - Respect our lives and the lives of others . New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the askphilosophy community. Examining these beliefs and saying, ‘is that definitely true?’ and kind of unpicking that cocoon. We are recognised for our exclusive one to one interviews with the individuals who have shaped our world, are shaping our future, and impact every aspect of our lives. Coming from my interest in ancient philosophy, I love the idea that university can be a place to help people to flourish and to think about how to take care of their souls and how to set their goals for life. We all have philosophies which form the basis for our motivations and what we do with our days. It has to be a kind of, daily practice. The idea of losing control is seen as dangerous and shameful and ignorant… the idea of connecting to some kind of spiritual dimension has become seen as ignorant and embarrassing. And you just break out of that loop. Ancient philosophy almost hasn’t been bettered as a kind of therapeutic toolbox in 2400 years, and have a certain aesthetic to them which makes you feel part of a long tradition, not just some therapy invented 10 years ago. 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