One of the many branches of learning that I want to climb out onto is that of Philosophy. Three times I took the brief and not-to-be depended-upon Ethical Philosophy Selector, and rated closest to Emmanuel Kant. This was done a few weeks ago, and I was reluctant to reveal until I checked to make sure that the man wasn’t off the wall, thus casting a shadow over my own feeble mind.
But this is what bothers me, I want so badly to dig deeper than the barely-touching experience of Kant and all the philosophers I have had but one college course to learn about. These are the people who have done so much of our thinking for us already and laid out theories about all that we should be so determined to understand before we die. What does Spinoza say? Aquinas? I have an affinity for Aristotle, but either disagree or do not comprehend Plato. What answers have they come up with so far, what are their arguments, and which sound most plausible?
With the benefit of their writings, where do we take it from there? Is it something that just allows us to nod and say, “Yeah, that’s what I believe life is,” and satisfied, go our merry way, or do we use the knowledge to understand the world and life that has changed so very much and yet remained constant in many ways since the time of these great thinkers. Then the writers and poets, who understood life at a different level but still it is a form of philosophy. What did they learn, what did they tell us about existence, and where do each of us fit in?
There is so very much I need to learn.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
Do an Independent Study and you can go research those philosophers you mentioned.