Beginning philosophy
Why are questions of greatest importance?
No doubt you’ve used the word “philosophy” without knowing what it means. I expect you’ve sometimes said—or heard others say—”my philosophy about [blank] is…”. That’s what I’m talking about. “Philosophy” is NOT an opinion, a theory, or a judgment about this or that. So what is it? I’m looking forward to writing about that, but also to answering questions.
First, a little biography. I’m a retired philosophy professor. I ended my 35yr teaching career at the University of Wisconsin. That was back in 1996, when I was sixty. Instead of waiting while you do the math, I’ll just tell you: I’m 85 this year. Older than the grandparents of most people, maybe even you. My children (3) are in their sixties and my grandchildren (4) range from 24 to 30.
I won’t go into detail about my specialties as a professional philosopher and you can see from the bio line that I did my undergraduate work at Stanford and that my PhD is from Penn State.
So much for background. I’m happy to talk some more about it if anyone’s interested. But here’s the first interesting stuff: philosophy is about questioning.
Asking a question is the most significant thing humans do. Lots of people suppose answers are what is important, but they aren’t. Answers are a dime-a-dozen, but the right question can open into something new. There’s an old claim: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s wrong. The right word is worth the most. Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens] once pointed this out: “The difference between some word and the exactly right word is like the difference between a lightning bug, and actual lightning.”
So one of the aims of philosophy is to create that lightning bolt. It’s happened over and over in the course of history. When one of us comes up with the right question, history is altered. I’ve got lots of examples and I’ll get to them over however long I have to write about this stuff.
But first, what do you think of this so far? Another aim of philosophy is arouse questions. So I welcome any you have. When you submit them, I’ll repeat them (maybe with a little editing) and devote some time to their discussion. Once again, the important thing is not merely to answer questions but to consider where they lead.
Some examples of this process next time…
Sam: my 1st commentator! Yay. Glad you’re noticing connections with your own work. (Also glad to see you have the energy to write!) I’m learning about EBM from you: I like your comparison with defenders of medical “art” & plan to use it. OK? Looking forward to conversation again someday too: a few of us meet after riding at Ren Coffeehouse patio, around 11am now (probably inconvenient for you, but you’re welcome!). Meanwhile, cheers... jb
I am so glad I found your newsletter! I truly believe that we must question with frequency, although this can lead me to uncertainty fatigue. My brain has a way of going on pause to rest and recover (sometimes too long). Evidence Based Medicine is an approach to practicing medicine that encourages questioning, searching for evidence (in the scientific literature) to answer the question, critiquing what evidence is found and the applying the answers (which all come with varying strength) to a patient's predicament (medical issue). Essentially translating a scientific discover to a real-time personal dilemma. Some physicians do not accept EBM because it challenges the "art" of medicine (aka, their chosen dogma). I think the beauty and positive impact of EBM, like science, is to strive toward the most scientifically valid answers not THE answer, as that is not 100% achievable. Maybe there are little lightning bolts and bigger ones?