On Philosophies of Life

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

First off I will introduce myself (I’m new here and it is relevant to my topic of discussion). I am in no way a philosopher. In fact, I am an engineer who just happened to take ethics as a “blow off” general elective class in his senior year. Thankfully my professor taught straight from the source, so we read (among others) Socrates, Aristotle, Hume, and Kant; and we had real discussions which he used to highlight key concepts. I never imagined that a required gen-ed class would be among my favorite classes, or that it would have such a profound impact on my life and my thought process. I have since become enthralled by ancient Greek philosophy - in particular the Stoics. I started looking into Stoicism due to one of Aristotle’s comments about Stoics (they weren’t even mentioned in class), and I ended up with a copy of Irvine’s “A Guide to the Good Life”, which led me to the works of Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, etc.
This brings me to my main topic.

As you likely already know, in ancient times philosophy was viewed much more practically than it now is; the reason to study it was to develop a philosophy of life which one would follow in the hopes of ultimately living the best life possible or achieving the greatest good. The Stoics were, judging from my limited studies, the largest proponents of practical philosophy, and during Stoicism’s heyday in Rome it became even more so. They more-or-less ditched the abstract pursuits (physics/metaphysics) and formal justifications for their ideas in favor of the actual applications of them to live the best possible life. It seems like many great historical figures were students of philosophy in one form or another.
This is all in stark contrast to modern times, where philosophy is an almost purely academic pursuit. Philosophy is not seriously taught in schools until the college level, and then it is a possible choice for a general education elective and not a requirement.

What are your thoughts on philosophies of life in the modern world? Why do you think that philosophy has seemingly lost its practicality? Are there any hidden forms of “applied philosophy” I may be missing?

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I’m all about practical philosophy.

I don’t read philosophy books, mainly because when I read them, I feel I have to solve them. They bring in new problems, that don’t directly relate to my interest. Thus, to me, they’re abstract in the present, because their relevance is generally applicable to a distant future self, and not the present self.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and those who seek philosophy, do so with intent. Due to the influence that pushed me towards philosophy, I have to prioritize my attention. Thus, instead of seeking out the philosophies of others, I’ve slowly built a patchwork philosophy of life for myself.

Do you mean philosophies of life applied to the modern world?

They’re just as relevant today as they’ve ever been, if not more. As our capacity increases, wisdom is demanded if we’re to flourish.

We ignore them at our own peril.

Or philosophies of life built in the modern world?

No idea. Don’t keep up to date.

I don’t think it has.

I look at philosophy as being a foundation. Once the a strong foundation is built, it’s often hidden underneath the structures built on them. Yet, when you seek to understand how these structures come to be, that’s when you discover these powerful foundations.

Most organisation have a philosophy. It guides the direction and values of the organisation. So I would say these philosophies are very practical.

I believe disillusionment comes into philosophy when the individual can’t bridge their beliefs and ideals with their day to day life. They lose faith in philosophy, when they’ve been practising it wrong.

No idea, if there are, I’m missing them too. Or the philosophies of life I have heard, I’m ignorant as to how to apply them to my life.

3

You should try the stoics (at the very least the Meditations and/or Enchiridion); they are very practical and do not often speak of abstract concepts or distant future selfs. They might bring up the “sage” every once in a while, but this is just a form of “ad infinitum” thinking to gain perspective on a certain issue, and is in no way talking of a realizable state of being/thinking.

For the first question I just want to know any thoughts you have on the subject, with no particular focus. For the second question I didn’t mean to imply that philosophy is actually less practical now, but that it is no longer used practically by the majority of those who study it (its main purpose used to be practical application to better one’s life, now it is a primarily academic pursuit).

For “hidden” philosophy I have come up with a few of my own observations. The first is that a large number of people subscribe (possibly without realizing) to materialism as a philosophy. The second is the use of ancient philosophy in cognitive behavioral therapy.

4

I’m not a philosopher either. I haven’t read any relevant works nor have I taken relevant courses. The reason that I’m here is because I have an inherent interest in philosophical issues and ideas. I wholly agree with you about the practicality aspect, as it seems to best encompass my own situation.