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Morgan Curry

April 29, 2016

PHIL 1013

The Value of Philosophy

The aspiration of knowledge can be applied to most any human on earth. That is why

human beings continue to search for answers. As children, a human beings are wired to know

everything asking why and what does this mean to everything. As people grow, this does not

change. Many people from the about the age four until about age 22 are in school, constantly

learning new things and increasing their wealth of knowledge. People pursue careers to learn and

know more about the things they are interested in. It is common for one to underestimate

philosophy in the scheme of growing knowledge. People easily let philosophy become an

outdated idea that cannot apply to current times. However, philosophy continues to have validity.

Philosophy has value in that it aids in the pursuit of wisdom by providing resources to expand

ones knowledge through the examination of ones wisdom, providing the very definition of

knowledge, changing ones outlook, and in turn then teaching one to express their new found

perspective of what they have found to be true.

The pursuit of wisdom can mean many things, but I believe that in philosophy, it includes

the effort of altering ones mindset on knowledge in general. Most people can agree that the

aspiration to know more than you did before is a crucial part of living and growing. Philosophy

helps this aspiration through Philosophers and their writings that give guidance for the pursuit of

wisdom. Philosophers have continuously written about the ways that one can solidify their

knowledge whether its like Socrates in The Apology by examining his wisdom by recognizing
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the things that he doesnt know, Rene Decartes in The First and Second Meditations by taking

his knowledge and questioning if what he knows is true, Mary Midgley in Trying Out Ones

New Sword by changing her perspective in order to refrain from judgement, or Audre Lorde in

her work The Transformation of Silence to Language and Action by expressing how important

it is to not stay silent about things that matter. All of these writings help to enhance ones wisdom

for the end goal of attaining knowledge.

In The Apology, Plato is reporting the speech that Socrates gives against the charges

brought against him of corrupting the youth and of not acknowledging the gods the city

acknowledges (122). In his speech, Socrates faces these charges and tries to validate the

philosophy he had been teaching about living a good life. The good life for a human includes

living an examined life. Socrates goes as far as to say that the unexamined life is not worth

living for a human being (Plato 136). Socrates begins his personal pursuit of wisdom after the

Delphic Oracle claimed that there was no one wiser than Socrates. However, Socrates didnt

believe this so he set out to find someone wiser than him. He examined one of the politicians of

the time, as he was thought to be wise. However, upon examining his wisdom, he found that he

was not any wiser than Socrates (Plato 120). I am wiser than this human being. For probably

neither of us knows anything noble and good, but he supposes he knows something when he

does not know, while I, just as I do not know, do not even suppose that I do (Plato 120). Here,

Socrates is giving an example of someone that is falsely identified as wise. This politician is

considered wise for what he knows, but Socrates is pointing out that he is simply assuming he

knows something that he does not and that does not make him wise. Socrates is showing that it is

much wiser to recognize and understand the things that one certainly knows nothing about. In the

quest for more knowledge, philosophy like that of Socrates examined life aids human beings by
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changing their viewpoint and give them more of an epistemic humility. This can be a stepping

stool for someone that is looking to increase their knowledge. This example shows how

philosophers and their writings can help one change their perspective on what knowledge and

wisdom truly is in order to then learn more.

In The First and Second Meditations, Rene Descartes goes over what he believes to be

true. He does this first by recognizing that many opinions he had in his youth were false. Once he

sees that he has untrue beliefs, he then decides to go through all of his beliefs in order to rid

himself of all of the opinions he has previously had (Descartes 57). He starts with his senses. He

cannot deny what he feels. There are many other matters which one certainly cannot doubt,

although they are derived from the very same senses: that I am sitting here before the fireplace

wearing my dressing gown, that I feel this sheet of paper in my hands, and so on (Descartes 58).

Here, Descartes is essentially going over his feelings with a fine tooth comb. He is setting a

foundation of what he can assume is undoubtedly true and building his opinions on that. The

issue, however, is that he cannot be completely certain about his feelings and senses. He goes on

to talk about his dreams because although he knows that he is sitting next to fire he also knows

that his dreams have, in the past, persuaded him that he is somewhere when really he is sleeping

in his bed (Descartes 58). This example of Descartes going through his beliefs to be sure that

they are knowledge. Philosophy like this, that makes people doubt and question things they hold

to be true, can help one in their aspiration for knowledge as well because it gives them a

foundation to build knowledge on. By questioning all previous knowledge, people rid themselves

of any false opinions and instead can be completely certain of what they know. Once people have

found concrete knowledge and have begun to build on that, philosophy also assists in the pursuit
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of knowledge to change perspectives in order to broaden the thoughts that people have always

held.

Mary Midgley does this in her writing Trying Out Ones New Sword. In this piece

Midgley gives insight on how to deal with social changes in a persons lifetime in order to keep

oneself from passing judgement. She gives an example of a custom that a Samurai would have to

try out his new sword to make sure that it worked properly. This means that the sword must cut

across from a persons shoulder to the opposite flank. In order to test this, a random person had

to be sacrificed (Midgley 161). This brings up immediate feelings of injustice. People can

quickly judge this and say that its not right to kill people in order to test out a sword. The point

that Midgley tries to make is that people cannot pass judgement on the Samurai because they do

not have enough information to justify understanding. They are outsiders of this culture and

therefore the only opinion they can have is one of respect and tolerance. So, while the testing of

swords on human beings may seem wrong, as humans, people should pay enough respect to that

culture to not pass judgment. The issue that arises, then, is if one cannot criticize a culture due to

a lack of understanding, how can they be justified in praising a culture? The way that Midgley

puts it is that certainly we may need to praise things which we do not fully understand. We say

theres something very good here but I cant quite make out what it is yet (Midgley 162).

Using this method helps pay the cultures that people are not a part of the respect that they

deserve. In this respect, philosophy has value in that people can become more understanding

and open-minded after expanding their perspective.

In the pursuit of wisdom, philosophy has taught a person to examine their wisdom, make

sure that their knowledge is concrete, and begin to show different perspectives; they then should

be able to communicate their ideas. Self proclaimed warrior poet, Audre Lorde writes in her
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book Sister Outsider a chapter named The Transformation of Silence into Language and

Action in which she outlines the issues that come with staying silent. She speaks about how

staying silent can help her feel more safe but there is no protection in staying silent. I was going

to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not

protected me. Your silence will not protect you (Lorde 41). She is expressing here the

importance of communicating your beliefs because there is no point in keeping quiet about it.

She believes that the ultimate silence will be death which could be coming soon so one must

speak what needs to be said before they cannot say it anymore (Lorde 41). In the pursuit of

knowledge, one must know the importance of speaking out about what they understand to be

true. This kind of philosophy teaches people to speak up even when they are afraid. Lorde shows

that she has similar feelings. And of course I am afraid, because the transformation of silence

into language and action is an act of self-revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger

(42). She is saying here that its normal to feel unsafe when speaking up because that requires

one to expose part of themselves. This is a part of expanding ones mind because had people like

Lorde not spoken up when they wanted to, people could not learn from them. Philosophers like

Lorde can teach people how to express their knowledge and new perspectives.

Philosophy has value in that it aids in the pursuit of wisdom by providing resources to

expand ones knowledge through the examination of ones wisdom, providing the very definition

of knowledge, changing ones outlook, and in turn then teaching one to express their new found

perspective of what they have found to be true. Although philosophy teaches all of these things

to people, there is so much more about philosophy that can lend to the pursuit of wisdom. There

is philosopher after philosopher that have writing after writing that can help expand a persons

mind in the same way that these pieces can. So, while philosophy has been around for as long as
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Socrates and Plato, it is certainly not outdated. Philosophy is a living study and will continue to

have value for as long as people continue to hold interest in it.

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Citations

Cohen, S. Marc., Patricia Curd, and C. D. C. Reeve. "The Apology." Readings in Ancient Greek

Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1995. N. pag. Print.

Descartes, Ren, and John Cottingham. Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from

the Objections and Replies. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986. Print.

Lorde, Audre. "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." Sister Outsider:

Essays and Speeches. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing, 1984. N. pag. Print.

Midgley, Mary. "Trying Out One's New Sword." Heart and Mind: The Varieties of Moral

Experience. New York: St. Martin's, 1981. N. pag. Print.