Know how to live well

Every weekly issue of MercatorNet is full of lively coverage of issues that face us globally – thinking outside the borders – and these articles always provoke more thought than regular media, which you know I don’t consider ‘mainstream’ in any way other than that they all swim in the same direction.

So, here’s one to ponder. Do you think philosophy is or should be relegated to university classrooms?

Almost every intelligent person will ask themselves about the origins of the universe, the meaning of life, the existence of God, the possibility of an after-life, the nature of good and bad, and so on. These are unmistakably philosophical questions…

Marx wrote that “the various philosophers have only interpreted the world differently what matters is to change it”. In this he was seeing a truth but through a distorting lens. It is important to understand the nature of reality but it is also necessary — and humanly speaking more important — to know how to live well. It is not part of the philosopher’s vocation to change the world but it may well be part of his duty to change himself. And when those who are not philosophers periodically adopt a philosophical stance they too must ask how they should live.

This actually has plenty to do with the post just below, on faith and politics. We’re all driven by some beliefs. Presidents and govenment leaders – and, say, Supreme Court justices and even entertainment elites – have the power to shape culture around those beliefs. The article points out currently popular criticisms of the values that have shaped civilization for over 2000 years.

If these radical and subversive critics are right then searching for meaning in life is like hunting for unicorns – both are pointless activities based on empty myths. Yet reflective people continue to ask questions about whether their lives, or life in general, has meaning. Like the ancients, the medievals and the moderns, I take these questions very seriously, much more seriously than I take the declarations of nihilism. But in order to refute the claims of the subversive critics one must first understand them.

Aha! That’s the point of this, and any other argument. In order to refute false claims, you must first understand them.

So, know the issues, the arguments and the reasoning. Be informed, and get engaged in the debate. Make a difference. Live irrefutably well.