I have the honour to offer you
a few words "of a philosophical nature,"
as suggested by the editor of a new spin. The word "philosophy"
tends to tear
at the heart of many people. It often comes laden with experiences
and feelings
such as fear, feeling humiliated in front of others for not
understanding something,
hearing words that have no meaning to me, and other unpleasant
associations.
I am a poet, and it is very akin to me to appreciate Gilles
Deleuze's statement that
"terminology is the poetry of philosophy." Poets appreciate
words above all else,
even above meaning. Words as living things, words with roots,
words with intention
(toward the sun, toward the demon.)
Let us look at the word "philosophy."
The word comes from Greek, and from two words: philo
(phili), and sophos.
Philo (phili, is the masculine),
means "friend."
There is something of friendship in philosophy.
At some point, we will see this as a conversation.
"Sophos" means "wise."
We could say philosophy means "wise
friend."
Another meaning of philosophy is the love of wisdom.
It is useful to think of philosophy as conversations among
friends.
Friendship is an important container or vessel
to allow these conversations to take place.
The Question
Rainer Maria Rilke, the great German poet,
advised us to love questions.
The work and thought and attention that needs to go into formulating
the question,
is often more than half way to the answer. All that preliminary
effort clarifies much of the ground ahead.
This "formulating of the question"
is a major part of a philosophical inquiry.
Calling this philosophical conversation an "inquiry"
emphasizes the seeking,
searching nature of philosophy.
Answers, as the requested responses to questions,
are always partial, and
subject to great suspicion (rightly so).
Answers are good for "now," tomorrow
the answer may be quite different.
Carl Jung made the useful observation that while we all do
experience a "moment of truth,"
alas, we tend to hang on to it, as if that truth held true
for other times, other places,
even for other people.
To take this experimental approach (philosophy
is always experimental),
focus on the question, the answer is only of "occasional"
use.
This questioning stance toward the world is
fundamental to the
philosophical approach. I have shown the usefulness of looking
at words themselves, where they came from,
what context they are used in. This is part of the beginning
of an
inquiry, the definition of terms, the terminology.
We will always return to define our terms.
(This wordplay can also become an ironic, a comic part of
philosophical thinking.)
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