karene
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 Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:02 am Post subject: Philosophy: Wisdom from Truth and Reality |
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Philosophy - Love of Wisdom - Wisdom from Truth - Truth from Reality
       
(Buddha, 500 B.C.) Sabbadanam dhammadanam jinati - The gift of truth excels all other gifts.
The world is continuous flux and is impermanent.
I will teach you the Truth and the Path leading to the Truth.
(Plato, Republic, 380 B.C. ) And those whose hearts are fixed on Reality itself deserve the title of Philosophers. ... When the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence. ... What is at issue is the conversion of the mind from the twilight of error to the truth, that climb up into the real world which we shall call true philosophy.
(George Berkeley, 1710)
Philosophy being nothing else but the study of wisdom and truth, it may with reason be expected, that those who have spent most time and pains in it should enjoy a greater calm and serenity of mind, a greater clearness and evidence of knowledge, and be less disturbed with doubt and difficulties than other men. ... My purpose therefore is, to try if I can discover what those principles are, which have introduced all that doubtfulness and uncertainty, those absurdities and contradictions into the several sects of philosophy; insomuch that the wisest men have thought our ignorance incurable, conceiving it to arise from the natural dullness and limitation of our faculties.
Introduction to Philosophy
Many people understand philosophy to mean 'love of wisdom'. Yet the further realisation of philosophy - that wisdom comes from truth, and truth comes from reality - has been largely dismissed and forgotten. Because of the many errors currently found in Physics it is hardly surprising that Philosophy is also corrupted with many untrue and absurd ideas. Sadly, these errors do great damage to what is in fact a most beautiful and important subject. This is not trivial as the problems of Philosophy always manifest as problems for Humanity herself, and this largely explains why the modern world suffers such profound problems (such as the destruction of Nature, and the resulting change in the Earth's climate and ability to produce clean air, water, and food).
The main problem for Philosophy has always been to connect our Senses (which are limited) and our resultant Ideas/Language (which are Representations of our Senses, and thus deceptive) with the Real World of What Exists.
Unfortunately, because of many thousands of years of failure to correctly describe 'what exists', we live in a time of 'enlightened postmodernism' where the only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths. The problem with this attitude is the presumption that because we have never worked out reality, we never will (and that the nature of reality itself is 'unknowable'). It is important to have a skeptical mind and philosophy teaches us to critically think for ourselves. However, skepticism should not close our minds. When presented with knowledge, the philosophical mind is skeptically open (not closed) to its simplicity and truth. As David Hume and Michel de Montaigne express;
| Quote: | I cannot find, I cannot imagine any such reasoning. But I keep my mind still open to instruction, if any one will vouchsafe to bestow it upon me.
... I must confess that a man is guilty of unpardonable arrogance who concludes, because an argument has escaped his own investigation, that therefore it does not really exist. I must also confess that, though all the learned, for several ages, should have employed themselves in fruitless search upon any subject, it may still, perhaps, be rash to conclude positively that the subject must, therefore, pass all human comprehension. (David Hume, 1737) |
| Quote: | | Teach him a certain refinement in sorting out and selecting his arguments, with an affection for relevance and so for brevity. Above all let him be taught to throw down his arms and surrender to truth as soon as he perceives it, whether the truth is born at his rival’s doing or within himself from some change in his ideas. (Michel de Montaigne, 1592) |
The Metaphysics of Space and Motion and the Wave Structure of Matter is an elegant conception of the universe, far superior in its simplicity to the current paradigm of particles and fields in space-time. Such a simple language for describing reality, which explains and solves many existing problems of physics and philosophy, should be considered by mainstream science and society.
Philosophers Quotes on Truth, Wisdom & Importance of Philosophy
 (Plato, Republic, 380 B.C.) And isn't it a bad thing to be deceived about the truth, and a good thing to know what the truth is? For I assume that by knowing the truth you mean knowing things as they really are.
The philosopher is in love with truth, that is, not with the changing world of sensation, which is the object of opinion, but with the unchanging reality which is the object of knowledge.
Truthfulness. He will never willingly tolerate an untruth, but will hate it as much as he loves truth. ... And is there anything more closely connected with wisdom than truth?
 The object of knowledge is what exists and its function to know about reality.
And is there anything more closely connected with wisdom than truth? ...
The society we have described can never grow into a reality or see the light of day, and there will be no end to the troubles of states, or indeed, my dear Glaucon, of humanity itself, till philosophers are kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.
... it's quite true that the best of the philosophers are of no use to their fellows; but that we should not blame the philosophers, but those who fail to make use of them.
(Aristotle, Metaphysics, 340BC) It is clear, then, that wisdom is knowledge having to do with certain principles and causes. But now, since it is this knowledge that we are seeking, we must consider the following point: of what kind of principles and of what kind of causes is wisdom the knowledge?
... Finally, if nothing can be truly asserted, even the following claim would be false, the claim that there is no true assertion.
 (Michel de Montaigne, 1592) Since philosophy is the art which teaches us how to live, and since children need to learn it as much as we do at other ages, why do we not instruct them in it?
Oddly, things have now reached such a state that even among men of intelligence philosophy means something fantastical and vain, without value or usefulness, both in opinion and practice. The cause lies in chop-logic which has captured all the approaches. It is a great mistake to portray Philosophy with a haughty, frowning, terrifying face, or as inaccessible to the young. Whoever clapped that wan and frightening mask to her face! There is nothing more lovely, more happy and gay- I almost said more amorously playful. What she preaches is all feast and fun. A sad and gloomy mien shows you have mistaken her address. (de Montaigne, 1592)
Philosophical discussions habitually make men happy and joyful not frowning and sad. (de Montaigne, 1592)
Those sciences which govern the morals of mankind, such as Theology and Philosophy, make everything their concern: no activity is so private or so secret as to escape their attention or their jurisdiction. (de Montaigne, 1592)
 (Gottfried Leibniz, 1670) Indeed in general I hold that there is nothing truer than happiness, and nothing happier and sweeter than truth. ... It is a good thing to proceed in order and to establish propositions. This is the way to gain ground and to progress with certainty. ...a distinction must be made between true and false ideas, and that too much rein must not be given to a man's imagination under pretext of its being a clear and distinct intellection.
 (Benedict Spinoza, Ethics, 1673) He who has a true idea, knows at that same time that he has a true idea, nor can he doubt concerning the truth of the thing. ... .. all excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.
(George Berkeley, 1710) Nothing seems of more importance, toward erecting a firm system of sound and real knowledge, which may be proof against the assaults of scepticism, than to lay the beginning in a distinct explication of what is meant by thing, reality, existence: for in vain shall we dispute concerning the real existence of things, or pretend to any knowledge thereof, so long as we have not fixed the meaning of those words. ... we are under an invincible blindness as to the true and real nature of things. ... Hence a great number of dark and ambiguous terms presumed to stand for abstract notions, have been introduced into metaphysics and morality, and from these have grown infinite distractions and disputes amongst the learned.
 (David Hume, 1737) And though the philosopher may live remote from business, the genius of philosophy, if carefully cultivated by several, must gradually diffuse itself throughout the whole society, and bestow a similar correctness on every art and calling.
The difference between a man who is led by opinion or emotion and one who is led by reason. The former, whether he will or not, performs things of which he is entirely ignorant; the latter is subordinate to no one, and only does those things which he knows to be of primary importance in his life, and which on that account he desires the most; and therefore I call the former a slave, but the latter free. (Hume, 1737)
The sweetest and most inoffensive path of life leads through the avenues of science and learning; and whoever can either remove any obstructions in this way, or open up any new prospect, ought so far to be esteemed a benefactor to mankind. (Hume, 1737)
(Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, 1781) It is the duty of philosophy to destroy the illusions which had their origin in misconceptions, whatever darling hopes and valued expectations may be ruined by its explanations. My chief aim in this work has been completeness; and I make bold to say, that there is not a single metaphysical problem that does not find its solution, or at least the key to its solution, here. Pure reason is a perfect unity.
 (Arthur Schopenhauer, 1818)
But life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.
... It is a ticklish question, the steering of the public, good and docile as it is on the whole. Although as a rule the absurd culminates, and it seems impossible for the voice of the individual ever to penetrate through the chorus of foolers and fooled, still there is left to the genuine works of all times a quite peculiar, silent, slow, and powerful influence; and as if by a miracle, we see them rise at last out of the turmoil like a balloon that floats up out of the thick atmosphere of this globe into purer regions. Having once arrived there, it remains at rest, and no one can any longer draw it down again.
 (Friedrich Nietzsche, 1890)
There is nothing more necessary than truth, and in comparison with it everything else has only secondary value. This absolute will to truth: what is it? Is it the will to not allow ourselves to be deceived? Is it the will not to deceive? One does not want to be deceived, under the supposition that it is injurious, dangerous, or fatal to be deceived.
... Do not allow yourselves to be deceived: Great Minds are Skeptical.
 (Albert Einstein, 1954) Somebody who only reads newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous. There are only a few enlightened people with a lucid mind and style and with good taste within a century. What has been preserved of their work belongs among the most precious possessions of mankind. We owe it to a few writers of antiquity (Plato, Aristotle, etc.) that the people in the Middle Ages could slowly extricate themselves from the superstitions and ignorance that had darkened life for more than half a millennium. Nothing is more needed to overcome the modernist's snobbishness.
(Albert Einstein, 1934) The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self.
(Bertrand Russell, 1948) Philosophy proper deals with matters of interest to the general educated public, and loses much of its value if only a few professionals can understand what is said.
 (Erwin Schrodinger, 1887 - 1961) The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists.
... What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space. Particles are just schaumkommen (appearances).The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist. |
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