Midterm Post

 

Andrew: Thank you for meeting with me today. Could I ask you some questions to help with my philosophy class?

Nigel Warburton: Of course; you came to the right place. I am just having coffee with Julian Baggini and Kurt Anderson. I am sure they will be glad to help you too.

Andrew: The first question for my class is, “"Do you think philosophy can help people learn to respect truth, facts, reality, and one another, and to reject falsehood, superstition, selfishness, polarization, partisanship, and mutual hostility based on differences of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, belief, etc.?

Nigel Warburton: Good question, that is a lot to ask of any idea or group of ideas. Human history has been plagued by these problems, since the beginning of time. Philosophers from the time of Socrates to modern day philosophers like Peter Singer have addressed the same basic questions because humanity changes on the surface but human nature stays basically the same.

Kurt Anderson: I don’t think people can overcome being mired in falsehoods and superstitions unless they are willing to set aside their dearly held fantasies. The fantasies that people surround themselves with make them feel good and safe, but they also hold them back. Maybe learning more about philosophy could help them see new ways of looking at the world. Whether people can reject falsehoods put aside biases depends on whether they are willing to be uncomfortable in order to grow. People, especially Americans, are so ties up in the idea of “Do your own thing, find your own reality, it’s all relative.” (Anderson 9)

Julian Baggini: That sounds a lot like something I wrote in my book How the World Thinks, Kurt. I wrote, “Your chances of finding the right way are improved if you are willing to see the world as it is, independently of your values. And your chances of making the most of the truths you discover are higher if you constantly try to bring those truths to bear on what matters most for human life.” (Baggini 101)

Andrew: How do you think that people would find the right way, especially when Mr. Anderson thinks that people just stick with their own fantasy versions of the truth?

Julian Baggini: Even though modern technology is the source of a lot of falsehoods and a platform for some off the wall ideas to be spread, it also brings people access to the philosophies and ideas of people all over the world. If people start to accept that they have something to learn from other people and cultures, they might let go of some of their biases, over time of course. Nothing happens instantly.

Andrew: That makes sense. Thanks. The other question I would like to ask for my class is, “How would you answer William James's "really vital question for us all: What is this world going to be? What is life eventually to make of itself?"

Nigel Warburton: I think that the world will be. It will just be. We students of philosophy will continue to try to understand the world and our place in it. We will get some things right, whatever right means, and some things will elude us. Life will just go on without regard to what we think or do.

Kurt Anderson: I think the world is going people will continue to live in their own fantasies because most people aren’t smart enough or don’t care enough to look past their small viewpoints. What ever ridiculous thing that someone want to believe, you will find an internet group to cheer you on.

Julian Baggini: Maybe the outlook isn’t quite that dim, Kurt. People are looking for a sense of belonging. In America, it has been so ingrained in us to be autonomous that we are, maybe subconsciously looking for others who agree with us, so we can feel a sense of community. “Greater intimacy or belonging can be created if the gap between the left-behinds and the prosperous is narrowed, if local and regional identities can be expressed without excluding outsiders, if common values can be asserted and shared.” (Baggini 216). The internet has more than its share of garbage, but it is also a place where ideas can be shared and people can get that sense of belonging. The world may surprise us all and life may eventually be better.

Andrew: Thanks for your time. You gave me a lot to think about. I am sure that will help me in class.

 

Andersen, Kurt. Fantasyland. Random House UK, 2018.

Baggini, Julian. How the World Thinks: a Global History of Philosophy. Granta, 2019.

Warburton, Nigel. A Little History of Philosophy. Yale University Press, 2012.