I often wonder how people who have not interacted with any philosophy have survived. How does one find happiness in the daily course of his life when time goes on forever, and your actions, despite their effects, which yield a neuron in your brain to make you feel happy, are vain, pointless, and futile in the grand scheme of life? In philosophy, we call this perspective nihilism — that this world is but puzzles that are indifferent to us. The nihilists believe the world provides no salvation, nothing in the world that can redeem us from our suffering, living, essentially, for no purpose. Personally, I hate the nihilists. I do not find it reasonable to take on this perspective. And if you wonder why, look at my previous essay on Dostoyevsky and read Notes from the Underground. In all honesty, I have found many philosophers that have resonated with me deeply, which I shall introduce later in the essay, and some which I find tedious. As I explain, I will try to word things as simply as possible. I will not write formulaically, use big words that many have not encountered, and use unnecessary philosophical jargon. Imagine your friend writing a journal that you are to read. There will be typos and moments when you will not understand, but as long as you get the jist, you will be ok. I think that is all.
Philosophy is the study of learning things all over again — how to think, for instance, how to interpret morality, and my favorite, how to be. When I was introduced to philosophy, I was not fond of learning about any of these topics; in fact, I read my first philosophical book, The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche, without guidance. Now, if any of you know Nietzsche and have read his works, you are probably wondering how I survived. In short, I misinterpreted the entire text. I found the book excessively pessimistic, gloomy, and provocative. I understood the basis, and the thematic undertones of the book, but after finishing, I still wondered how one could be so unhappy with the world. In the book, Nietzsche claims the rich have created morality to overpower the poor, critiquing societies for their faults while providing no real solution to the flaws. I picked up the book for pleasure — yes, some people read Neitszhe for fun — and immersed, instead, into a world of gloom. Regardless, I liked the book, but looking back, this being my first choice was inappropriate. Instantly, I held the perspective that philosophy has to be sad because the world was sad, pointless, and stupid — that societies formed around constricted rules and that we could never escape this construction. I was unaware — as I had not understood philosophy as a whole — that the field could be beautifully artistic, fun, and reflective. After rereading the book a second time, I had learned more about philosophy — watching Micheal Sugrue on YouTube — yet I still felt that I had grasped the book only in chunks. And for a note for my budding philosopher, being confused while reading is normal. Many philosophers have quirks for writing long, illegible paragraphs and using allegories, metaphors, and other literary devices to hide their philosophy. Take this example: I like to have fun in the park (basic, understandable); now look at the same sentence worded differently: the imperative of sojourning to illustrious and verdant fields is consoling. While the latter uses big words, the former uses simpler words and gets at the message without disrupting the reader.
Nietzsche was amazing at bouncing between ideas and was known for his aphoristic style. I am forever fortunate that I was introduced to Nietzsche. Currently, I have read almost all of his works — at 17 — and am rereading Nietzsche’s completed works for enjoyment — yes, some people read Nietzsche for pleasure. I started the essay with Nietzsche, my favorite philosopher, to show that unreputable perspectives can influence your perfection. Many philosophers were controversial and had strange political opinions — think Heidegger. In fact, Misinterpreters credit Nietzsche for Nazi ideologies, when it was Nietzsche's sister who distorted his works and let editors furnish his unfinished works. Be that as it may, philosophy has redefined our perception of the world and our role in it.
Although you can use philosophy for consolation, more often than not, philosophy makes you question everything you encounter. Most teenagers use TikTok, and I am sure everyone has seen videos regarding the Stoic ideal and how to live as such. The Stoic Ideal, however, cannot solve your problems. Philosophers hated this philosophy because the Stoics did not want to deal with any of the problems — but reject that they existed in the first place. Philosophy is supposed to make you question your life, how you live it, and what purpose you live for. This easy solution, namely the Stoic philosophy, is not as easy a fix as it seems to be. It is not right that one form of philosophy is shown to be the only correct answer. Stoicism has many faults and can be very harmful to the wrong personalities: by rejecting the unfortunate aspects of your life, and not reflecting on your emotions, one can develop serious illnesses. Stoicism has worked to console many. But as a prudent philosopher would say, a personal philosophy can guide only an individual, not an entire society. Just because Marcus Aurelius abided by philosophy and lived by it does not mean it is the correct answer.
Philosophy has a legacy — the stoic philosophy is a part of the Hellenic school of philosophy. Stoic philosophy is still famous today due to the works of Epictetus, a slave, and Marcus Aurelius, a Greek emperor. Philosophical thought, however, spans farther than this one ideology. All it takes is to open a book, stop getting your knowledge from social media, and learn new things — what I try to advocate to everyone I meet.
Philosophy started with the Greeks. To learn about philosophy properly — not as I once started — I would suggest first watching a few youtube videos, introducing yourself to the basics, and then, once you feel that you have a good understanding, start reading some simple works. There are many resources online — one of my favorites being Micheal Sugrue — that can enrich your philosophical knowledge for free. The advantage of living in a digital world is the endless amount of resources available. To leverage the free resources available, I recommend staying away from blog articles — ironic — instead of watching lectures uploaded by professors. And when you become a profound philosopher, you can think of this anonymous blogger for the cause of your genius. Now that I am done with advertising philosophy I’ll try my best to introduce you to some basic concepts; in this sectionI do not intend to confuse any of you with confusing jargon. Imagine you are watching one of those simplified videos on youtube, cramming before an exam.
So there were pretty much these guys called the presocratics — before Socrates — and they developed philosophies that dealt with life. Dealing with limited resources, pre socratic philosophers formed around dealing with life as it was — and some even touched on pessimism. Then came Socrates who changed philosophy for the next two thousand years, and counting, without ever writing everything. Socrates was known for the Socratic method, where he talked to people and used his wisdom to make people find the truth. And if you wonder how we know so much about this guy, it is all thanks to Plato, who wrote about Socrates extensively. Plato summed up, is an idealist, believing that we can have a perfect society by developing perfect people. It was a lot, but Socrates, in essence, taught us that reason and the truth are what we should strive for. Then Aristotle was born and wrote works about the soul and morality, commenting on poetry and critiquing his former teachers. Remember the succession if you are ever at Jeopardy: Socrates, Plato, then Aristotle. Pretty much every single philosopher that has lived after these three giants have read their works.
After the big three came to Christianity, solving all the problems the
Greeks dealt with it because of the option of eternal salvation (aka purpose). Socratic philosophy went dormant and philosophy intertwined with theology — the study of religious texts. Then came the Enlightenment period attempting to merge G-d with reason — think Spinoza. The Enlightenment was a period of great intellectual progress. Our American Government was formed because of many ideals developed by Enlightenment thinkers — the republican form of the government you look at the Republican form of the government — not the modern party — this idea was first developed in the Social Contract. Freedom of speech and opinion was also advocated during this time. Pretty much people got tired of the Church because some of the people running them were crooks, and so many thinkers, such as Voltaire, voiced their opinions about this. If you have studied philosophy, I am specifically being very vague so that you guys, my inexperienced readers, can get a whole view of how philosophy has functioned.
Now I’m going to get into my favorite part of philosophy — namely, Existentialism. Existentialism pretty much acknowledges that the world is useless and that there is nothing to console us, but if we work hard on something, and make it our entire purpose, we can make meaning of our existence. The first writer that develops existential ideas is Kierkegaard — this guy that thought that the only meaning of life was devoting himself to G-d. The entire purpose of life is to work toward G-d. That is it. Shakespeare is also credited with developing existential philosophy through his characters. If you have ever read Shakespeare, think of Hamlet and his famous soliloquy: “To be or not to be: that is the question.” The reason why existential thinkers are so dope is because they are like a crossbreed between romantic thinkers and philosophers. A lot of really great literature comes out of the Romanticist and Existential movements — and for a very good reason. One of the famous contemporary philosophers who wrote existential works was Camus, a personal favorite of mine — in addition to Sartre. Novels that deal with philosophy are cool because they implement philosophical thought into people’s lives and see what happens as a result of someone’s opinions.
Now, let us go back to Nietzsche — it just wouldn’t feel right to end off without my favorite philosopher ever living. I don’t think I have ever been as amazed with someone’s writing as I was with Nietzsche. Many people, including my parents, think that Nietzsche’s thoughts are radical and obstructing. I find, however, the exact opposite. What I love about Nietszhe’s existential thought — anyone who calls Nietzsche a nihilist simply has misunderstood his message — is that despite anyone’s race, color, or ethnicity you can become the greatest version of yourself. I hate people, too, thus calling Nietzsche a racist. He is one of the most profound thinkers of all time and is the best critic to ever live until now. He criticizes what he finds wrong about culture, perhaps everything, and makes no exception for his own culture, Germany. I would personally not read Nietzsche first, if you are just new to philosophy, but keep in mind that every philosophical method that you have read, every imperative, will, soul-abiding philosophy is eradicated under Nietzsche. If you truly understand Nietzsche’s message you will realize that he takes on an artistic form of life. He acknowledges that life is not fair and advocates all of us to become the best version of ourselves — what he coins the Ubermensch in German, or Superman in English.
Philosophy is beautiful. It teaches you how to not only be a better person but to understand what you are as a human being and what it means to function. In learning about philosophy you will be introduced to amazing works of literature, learn about history, theater, culture, morality, and so much more. I look forward to all the people who are to experience philosophy for the first time. It is beyond amazing. Many people hate philosophy, especially in the modern age, because it teaches us nothing practical. The only practical thing we should learn is how to make money, as some may preach. But here is a philosophical counter to that: money is temporal, it last only unto death, and is fueled by pride and ego; by gaining money, you get a substance that is finite and only fuels greed; living by that standard, your life becomes only a lust for something that doesn’t matter. Amazing. Isn’t it?
I am still a student. I have only been reading, if you can believe this, for about 9 months now. I read a lot — I can concede that — but the only reason I do it is because I love what I am doing. I feel that without philosophy I wouldn’t understand many things that I can laugh over now. Life is not this massive code that we need to understand; there are some things that we will never understand; and that is what makes this life beautiful. We have our bad days. I don’t want to get controversial now and talk about religion, as faith is something one must take on for himself. But a lot of philosophy revolves around religious thinking and how we can incorporate this. This quote by Oscar Wilde sums it up well: “Education is an admirable thing, but it is good to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught.” I can write a prodigious number of journals, tutor somebody, and give them all the resources they need, but it is up to the person, in the end, to put in the work.
Even now, I feel that I have not even touched on any philosophy. I have scratched the surface, and that is that. I hope, for the people who got to the end now, that you enjoyed this essay. I know a lot of my essay topics are sporadic and don’t have any correlation to each other, but to be honest, I write what I love. And some things that I write I don’t format, or think about, I just write and see what happens — as with this best essay. Nevertheless, I hope you got something out of this essay and maybe are even now inspired to read philosophy. If not, that is fine, too. There are no truths, after all, only opinions. Ok. I think that is enough philosophy.
Stay inspired, Stay a learner
D.P
