During the course of our last post,
we established that though philosophy involves thinking, not all thinking is
reasonable as such not all thinking is philosophy. Thinking “rationally” is
what philosophy is rather associated with. That is a sort of a prelude to our
discussion today – the Marks of a true philosophy. In addition to thinking
reasonably or rationally, philosophy has five (5) other clear characters or
otherwise marks. First is that true philosophy begins with wonder, not doubt.
Secondly, philosophy is dialectical, not mathematical. Thirdly, an authentic
philosophy is clear, not cryptic. Number four, authentic philosophy is
perennial, not just contemporary or modern. Fifth, philosophy is open-ended and
not closed.
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Philosophy begins in wonder not doubt
When man is confronted with mystery,
or with something whose causes are still unknown, he wonders why. What is this? Why is this so? Such, for
Socrates, is the beginning of wisdom. Plato quoted Socrates in the Theaetetus as saying, “wonder is the
feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder”. Aristotle agrees with the point,
saying: “it is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at the first
began to philosophize.”
What does it mean to wonder? To wonder
could simply be seen as to realize/notice that there could be something
extraordinary about the ordinary things we perceive. For example, we are so accustomed
to seeing that after “daylight” comes the “night-time”. However, it takes ‘wonder’
to question and investigate the relationship between ‘daylight’ and ‘night-time’. Does the daylight
necessarily cause or bring about the coming of night-time, or vice versa? Are
the night-time and daylight two separate entities?
Rene Descartes, the father of modern
philosophy made a mistake of thinking that “doubt” not “wonder” was the
beginning of philosophy. According to him, one must doubt every fact and
opinions to rebuild philosophy on a new foundation: doubt. The result of his “methodic
doubt” was “I think, therefore I exist” (corgito ergo sum)- existence of the self (later including
others and God) from the simple fact that he realized that he was certainly doing the doubting.
It is true that "wonder" like "doubt" implies the absence of perfect
knowledge and certitude. Nevertheless, it does not, like "doubt", leave us with no
desire to seek further. Implicitly, it is "wonder" that motivates us to search
further. If a man for instance knows that human beings always die and he does not know what the
cause is, he wonders about it and from there proceeds to inquiry. This inquiry that is motivated by wonder most likely leads to some level of knowledge and understanding that is equal to wisdom.
Wonder is the principle, source and wellspring
of philosophy Joseph Piper once remarked. Wonder is not the starting point of philosophy in the simple sense of initium, a mere beginning. It is rather a principium, a source of philosophy. There is always something to wonder about or to know, so "wonder" motivates the philosopher to keep on searching and asking more questions. There is no end to this search because truth like being is inexhaustible.
Our next post on THE MARKS OF PHILOSOPHY will be philosophy as dialectical.
Stay tuned to this blog until I come your way again next time. Meanwhile, think (and act) just for the love of wisdom.
For further readings see;
- Theaetetus (Plato)
- Metaphysics (Aristotle)
- Some Problems of Philosophy (William James)
- The World as I See It (Albert Einstein)
- Summa Theologica (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
- Leisure - The Basis of Culture (Joseph Pieper)