Afterthoughts on Philosophical Conversations

Greetings Fellow Philosophers,

Since our last Thinking Out Loud discussion on "What makes for a good philosophical conversation?", some of you have shared insightful afterthoughts with me. I would like to share some of those perspectives with the rest of you as well.

Here are some short answers to the question,
"What makes for a good philosophical conversation?":
1. A philosophical question.
2. A philosophical method.
3. A willingness to participate ("buy-in")
4. A willingness to listen for understanding.
5. A tolerance for disagreement.
6. A measure of humility.
7. An attitude of curiosity.
8. Brevity.
9. Clarity.
10. Civility.
11. Individual and collective self-discipline
12. Mindfulness.
13. Imagination.
14. A sense of humor.
15. A reverence for truth.
16. Authenticity
17. Restraint of impulsive criticism
18. Thoughtful reflection.
19. A desire to learn and grow.

Steve Whiteman in addressing item #1, "What is a philosophical question?", offered the following thesis:
"A philosophical question is one which cannot be profitably addressed by another discipline."

Steve Stokes offered three more perspectives to help us distinguish between what is philosophical and what is not:

Understanding 1
The Love of Wisdom: this is what philosophy means. But this only leaves us with the two or three new and possibly harder questions; what is love, what is wisdom, and what does it mean to love wisdom.

Understanding 2
Socrates tried to make philosophy clear, not by definition but by illustration. Like a zen koan, he makes the challenging statement that "the unexamined life is not worth living". I interpret this to mean that for humans, to live a life without examining that life as it is lived, is to live a worthless life. From this I gain part of what my understanding of what philosophy is, it is living the examined life.

Understanding 3
At the July (07/05/2007) Thinking Out Loud I introduced the group to my concept of philosophy being about what I refer to as the latent questions of life. Latent questions being those questions that are beyond immediate answers that can be firmly arrived at by the sciences and social sciences.

Here are some snippets of my own afterthoughts in this post-dialogue dialogue:

"I have heard science described as "both a body of knowledge and the process by which that knowledge is discovered." Perhaps philosophy could be described as "both a body of WISDOM and the process by which that wisdom is discovered.""

"I believe it [wisdom] may be THE key distinguishing characteristic of philosophy (certainly one of the key distinguishing characteristics)."

"Man is the "philosophical animal". Therefore, perhaps we need to distinguish among different kinds of thinking. Both man and other animals think. What kind of thinking does man do, beyond that of other animals? Reflective? Contemplative? Mindful? (well..Philosophical)"

"So perhaps we might say that philosophical questions are questions that lend themselves to (or even require) the philosophical process. Philosophical questions are questions that cannot be answered immediately, but rather require deliberation."

"As far as subject matter (as opposed to process) how do we identify the philosophical as opposed to the non-philosophical? I would suggest they are the questions that have to do with meaning as opposed to simple statements of fact. The "why?" and "what does it mean?" questions as opposed to "just the facts, Ma'am" questions."

"...philosophical questions tend to be timeless and universal. So I think it would be fair to object to a topic suggestion on the grounds of being too particular or too "dated". For instance, "Should we have invaded Iraq?" is dated but the more philosophical question "When is it ethical to go to war?" might be more suitable for a philosophical discussion group."

If you have any afterthoughts you would like to add, feel free to send them to me. In any case, I hope some of these ideas will help us become better philosophers, help us formulate good questions, and enhance the quality of our philosophical conversations. It is not too soon to start formulating one or more philosophical questions for our next meeting on June 4.

Enjoy,

Steve

******************************************************
Steve Donaldson,
Personal Growth Consultant,
Independent Educator,
Citizen Philosopher
www.citizenphilosopher.com