Philosophy for Laymen
I was doing research in Chemistry for my PhD at the University of London when Bertrand Russell was alive and used to give lecture on Philosophy in different colleges. I had great passion for Philosophy and was great admirer of Bertrand Russell . This essay is from his book called UNPOPULAR ESSAYS .
These essays were meant to combat the growth of dogmatism , whether of the right, or of the left, He called this book UNPOPULAR ESSAY because he thought some sentences in the book will not be understood by many ( he said unusually stupid children of the age of 10 )
That being the reason , he said the book will not be popular , that’s being so Essay will be unpopular. Surprisingly the book became very popular.
This essay – Philosophy for Layman is one of the essay from this book
The Need of Teaching Philosophy to People
In this essay, Russell explains very briefly the uses of philosophy. Philosophy, he says, means a love of wisdom. Philosophy in this sense is what people must acquire if the new technical powers achieved by man are not to plunge mankind into the greatest conceivable disaster. However, the philosophy which the ordinary people should be taught is not the same thing as the philosophy of specialists.
The Theoretical Function of Philosophy
Philosophy has always had two different objects: to arrive at a theoretical understanding of the structure of the world; and to discover and propagate the best possible way of life. Philosophy has thus been closely related to science on the one hand and to religion on the other. On its theoretical side philosophy partly consists in the framing of large general hypotheses which science is not yet in a position to test. (When it becomes possible to test such hypotheses they become part of science, and no longer belong to philosophy,) There are a number of purely theoretical questions, of everlasting interest, which science is unable to answer at present. Do we survive after death? Can mind dominate matter, or does matter completely dominate mind? Does this universe have a purpose, or is it driven by blind necessity? To keep alive the interest in such questions is one of the functions of philosophy.
The Practical Aspect of Philosophy
On its practical side, philosophy can greatly increase a man’s value as a human being and as a citizen. It can give a habit of exact and careful thought. It can give an impressive breadth and scope to the conception of the aims of life. It can give to the individual a correct estimate of himself in relation to society, and of man in the present to man in the past and in the future. It can offer a cure, or at least a palliative, for the anxieties and the anguish which afflict mankind at present.
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