The history of philosophy

Anyone else feel like philosophy has some stuffy academic connotations?

Can you jump into the same river twice?

I am not sure, and I don’t know what I gain from figuring it our either. This is exactly the sort of semantic question designed to spark ‘philosophical’ debate. But who cares?

Philosophy feels like it has evolved from a practical discipline to an abstract intellectual exercise. Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with fancy philosophical terms or dense academic jargon like the nonsense above. Instead, I'm going to explain how philosophy used to be, and why it's time to bring it back to its practical roots.

Philosophy has its roots in ancient Greece, where it was considered, a practical discipline aimed at helping people live better lives. The likes of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were deeply concerned with questions of ethics, morality, and human flourishing. They believed that philosophy had the power to transform individual lives and society as a whole. For them, philosophy was not an abstract intellectual exercise but a guide to daily life.

Fast forward to today, and philosophy has become a specialisation emphasising abstract theories and concepts, divorced from practical application. Philosophy became more about semantics than practical wisdom.

So, what happened? How did philosophy lose its practical roots?

Religion may have a part to play in replacing guides and toolkits with rules and doctrines. Academics got too caught up in their own heads, thinking too much and doing too little. They became more concerned with impressing their peers than helping people live better lives.

Society has become more complex, and we've lost touch with the practical applications of philosophy. We've become too focused on material success and superficial pleasures, and we've lost sight of what really matters - things like compassion, empathy, and morality.

But all is not lost. We can bring philosophy back to its practical roots. We can focus on questions of ethics, morality, and human flourishing, and explore how philosophy can help us live better lives and build a better society.

Here are a few ways we can bring philosophy back to its practical roots:

1. We can shift our focus from abstract theories to practical applications. One way to do this is by asking better questions. Namely, how philosophy can help us make better decisions and live better lives?
2. Philosophy needs to engage with real-world problems and issues. We need to apply philosophical concepts to issues such as inequality, justice, and the environment.
3. We need to recognise that different people and cultures have different perspectives on ethics, morality, and human flourishing. By learning about different schools of thought we can develop our own philosophy, our own process of thinking before doing and therefore acting in congruence with our own philosophy. There is plenty of ancient wisdom to be leveraged.

Philosophy has the power to transform individual lives and society as a whole. But we need to bring it back to its practical roots. We need to focus on questions of ethics, morality, and human flourishing, and explore how philosophy can help us live better lives and build a better world. Don’t be put off by academics trying to tie you up in knots. Instead, we can use ancient wisdom to provide the guide to the good life.

What can we learn from Thomas Edison?

In 1914 one of the most prolific inventors of all time suffered a great tragedy. His factory had burnt down. Reportedly costing Thomas Edison $ 1 million dollars approx. $29 million in today’s money. What a terrible low point. Chemical flames shot 100 feet in the air in a fire that smoked on for days. All of his workings, inventions and future profit streams were destroyed in one fell swoop.

But instead, it wasn’t any of these things.

Edison, while watching the blaze, reportedly turned to his son and said ‘‘Go get your mother and all her friends. They’ll never see a fire like this again.’ When his son objected in confusion he reassured him ‘It’s all right. We’ve just got rid of a lot of rubbish.’

This was a man at 67 years old that had no issue with starting again. An expert in choosing how he felt. A man that was able to see the silver linings in even the darkest of clouds.

Not allowing negative emotions isn’t something that comes naturally to all, in fact, quite the opposite. Human beings have evolved to be inherently negative. It is not the optimistic one that shrugs off the potential noise of an incoming lion that usually lives to pass on their genes. It’s the cynical one that is cautious and looks for the danger that survives. While we still need an element that is necessary so we don’t get hit by a bus, for most of us, the world is pretty safe now. 

We want to do more than just survive. We want to thrive.

So in a safer world, these negative emotions that saved us throughout history hamper us from enjoying life to the fullest and all it has to offer.

How can you reframe negativity?

One of the great ways you can stay away from our inherently negative nature and start training that positive brain muscle is to reframe events, setbacks or negative emotions.

You very much have the choice of how to view the world and the lens you adopt.

Sometimes your emotions may seem so strong or overwhelming that you feel your negativity is an inevitability. Just remember we are gifted to be the only naturally rational beings on this planet, part of this gift enables us to choose.

Like most things, this is a process the more you practise this the more you will conquer.

If you are choosing to be angry or upset then you can also choose the opposite.

A terrifying challenge that seems way out of your depth can become the opportunity to test yourself.

Edison could have chosen to catastrophise and mourn all that was lost and moan about how much he would be delayed. Instead by accepting it, seeing the upside and moving on he has practised tranquillity allowing him to remain in equilibrium despite outside forces.

This is someone that will be happy with something and nothing a lot alike.

Try and think of some of the things that you could reframe in your daily life. Look for the silver lining in your clouds. Or better yet don’t see them as grey clouds looming but just a magnificent part of nature. Without them after all, we would run dry. We would miss out on the natural beauty and the life that comes with them.