Mr. Moderate

Let us begin with a quote from Bertrand Russell:

Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.

The above is from Russell’s 1912 book The Problems of Philosophy; in fact, those are the last words in the book. I think it is a pretty good ending.

Many religions teach humility as a virtue. But if you want to be humbled, then wrestle with the problems in philosophy. Those who begin full of dogmatic assurances are only in such a state due to their near-complete ignorance of the universe of possible alternatives. Of course, it is always possible to “shoot the messenger” and refuse to play at this game. Some are strong enough to get away with that without admitting defeat, even to themselves. Such people are driven by great egos, but have small minds.

The true philosopher knows that his task is much like that of Sisyphus, who was charged to roll a stone up a hill only to lose his grasp and watch it roll back down where he must begin all over again. The rare one will add a new twist here and there which will slightly lighten the task for subsequent generations. But no philosopher can really hope to come up with a comprehensive answer to all of the questions of philosophy. Just as the gods prevent Sisyphus from ever reaching the top of the hill, reality prevents philosophy from ever answering all of the questions. That is implicit in Russell’s statement that “no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true.”

But still, philosophy is a noble cause; perhaps the most-noble of all mental activities. Philosophy constructs the skeletal superstructure upon which all knowledge is positioned as it is discovered. There is no reasoning activity of mankind which does not have its roots in philosophy. When the Greeks began collecting knowledge, there was no other repository for them to place it within other than the vessel we now call philosophy.

Over the years, many areas of thought have separated themselves to one degree or another in order to try to make their own way. Among these are ethics, law, politics, religion, medicine, and all of the sciences. But all of these, and in fact every species of rational thought, is still connected to, and grounded in, questions of philosophy.

And each great philosopher picks away at and possibly reformulates some small piece of our overall knowledge about the topic. Ludwig Wittgenstein was probably the greatest philosopher of the 20th century, directly responsible for founding two of the three greatest schools of 20th century Western philosophy (and greatly influencing the third). And Wittgenstein was mostly known for picking away at questions surrounding language, meaning, how people communicate meaning through the use of language, and what all that implies as to the limits on what may be discussed. His most famous quote is this: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” But Wittgenstein had very rigid rules as to what things it was permitted to speak of. Thus, his rule (above) was to prohibit discussion of matters outside of the brightly-lit arena of permissible things. Philosophical problems are dissolved by declaring them to be “out of bounds” for their use of confused linguistic paradigms.

Minor philosophers contribute far less to human understanding, and poor philosophers actually increase confusion and thereby decrease knowledge. But still, mankind moves inexorably forward, at least through the dimension of time, if not otherwise.