What is Philosophy?

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy, at its best, is the best of good advice. It’s care for the soul. It’s the art of living. 

Etymologically, the word simply means the love of wisdom. And what, then, is wisdom? Good guidance, a proper perspective, the truth about living well, discernment, the ability to see beyond appearances to the realities beneath.

Philosophy is, globally, our collective treasure of great insights about the human journey.

It is, individually, every person’s responsibility to wonder and think and act well.

Philosophy, to the ancients, was a way of life, not just a mode of thought.

In our universities these days, philosophy is often presented as a fairly esoteric and abstract enterprise of rigorous thinking about human life, language, logic, and the world. It can become intricately difficult and immensely precise in its expressions. But untethered to the real issues of life, it always becomes a game, or a sport, for those who enjoy exercising their minds on the highest levels.

Throughout history, there have been two major traditions of philosophy, in the east and the west: Theoretical Philosophy, and Practical Philosophy. I believe that the purpose of theory is first and foremost to enhance practice. Because of that, I’ve taken it as my job for the past twenty-five years to rediscover and reclaim the relatively forgotten practical side of philosophy, sadly neglected for nearly a hundred years in favor of what, on the surface can look more like science, or mathematics. But scientists and mathematicians, like grocers and salesman and executives, and all the rest of us, are people living an adventure. And we all need good guidance for what comes next, whatever it may be.

That guidance is given by philosophy at its best. Philosophy, done right, and lived, can help us steer through our adventures properly, day to day.

How BIG Is Your Mess?

"Good order is the foundation of all good things." Edmund Burke.

When I was a philosophy professor, my office as was once described in Notre Dame Magazine as perhaps the messiest on campus. I liked to claim that the apparent disorder was just an extremely subtle and complex form of rational order beyond the comprehension of the casual glance. I was one of the early exponents of chaos theory. I was also a great rationalizer.

When I left the university and set up my own Morris Institute for Human Values, I quickly came to appreciate the value of order. A quirky, eccentric professor lost in the physical world can be not only tolerated, but even enjoyed within the safely protective environment of a major university. Out in the world, it’s a different matter. Any of us who are determined to create new forms of success have to respect the need for efficient access, clear records, and orderly procedures. If Architectural Digest wanted to photograph my office, it would still take me a few minutes, or - ok - maybe a few hours, over a period of days, to get it really nice looking, but it’s not the waste dump of resource materials and old book drafts that my chaotic professorial den once was.

How’s the order in your life? The degree of order and clear structure that you need will be a function of the person you are. Not everyone has to have labels on all drawers and a system for everything. There's a spectrum. But on the total mess end of the spectrum, I do believe that a measure of potential effectiveness is seriously inhibited, regardless of what absent minded creatives may think when they're ignoring it. 

Are you often wasting time looking for things that should be more rationally organized and more readily available? Would an uncluttered desk help you think better? And how about that old closet? Do you really have any idea what's in there? 

Philosophers have often been the closet organizers of the mind. We help people straighten up their thinking, get their ideas well ordered, and discover the treasures that may be hidden away within the deep and cluttered storage of their own minds.

Creativity flourishes best within a context of good order. So do we as people. Organize something, anything in your life, and enjoy the results that will come.

Today.