• TheMadFool
    13.8k
    This is a spin-off from another thread that asks the question: is there more than matter and mind?. It got me thinking and I'm sure, given the right mood, it would've caused a normal person to give it some thought, you know, use faer imagination, think of possibilities, consider the options available, and so on. Using one's imagination is a good thing...or so we think and so people say.

    But is there truth in this?

    How much of philosophy is a product of the imagination or, to put it bluntly, how much of it is mere speculation?

    A whole lot I suppose - philosophy, after all, is, at its core, about the unknown. The knowns have promptly organized themselves, branched out and become independent subjects in their own right. The bottom line is that philosophy, precisely because it deals exclusively or primarily with the unknown, is, by and large, pure speculation, nothing but products of imagination if you will. This being so, debates and disagreement, arguments and refutations, are part and parcel of doing philosophy. I haven't said anything that should surprise/shock a philosopher; philosophers have come to believe that the seemingly endless back and forth between supporters of a philosophical position and their opponents is a normal state of affairs in their world. Not only that, philosophers have convinced themselves that this is philosophy itself.

    However, in all of this, this interpretation of philosophy, one small fact is being overlooked/ignored by all philosophers. This small fact is that silence is an option. It isn't necessary that something be written or spoken on a topic - if one doesn't know anything about a particular issue, and that's almost everything in philosophy, it's not only ok but also a good idea to keep one's mouth shut. This small action, inaction rather, will work wonders. The following desirables can be realized if philosophers adopt this habit:

    1. It'll put an end to evidently unproductive and tediously prolonged, sometimes over decades and centuries, argumentation on what are, in fact, figments of the imagination

    2. Time and energy thus saved can be channeled into philosophical activities that promise tangible results

    3. It'll educe/eliminate the risk of philosophers, and people in general, getting lost in what is a complicated maze of ideas, theories, arguments and counterarguments that are pure speculation and have little or nothing to do with the truth or reality

    4. The exponential growth of false knowledge - knowledge that is imagination-based - will be halted and reversed and this would make it impossible for people, philosophers, good people, to form erroneous worldviews that arise therefrom.

    5. Nothing else comes to mind. I'll take my own advice and shut up.
  • Jack Cummins
    5.1k

    I probably should have remained silent but it is so tempting to write little philosophy essays on my phone. I find myself looking at my phone for answers to what I have said and watch the latest threads pop up. Philosophy has never been so addictive as this.

    But yes, is it all imaginary? Everyone has their own individual voice in expressing thoughts on life, death and meaning. Does it is mean it is all a waste of time?

    I have wondered whether I will spend my whole life thinking, to the point where I barely live a life at all. But that was mainly when I used to take my books out with me and spend time reading them alone, in silence. I think that it is better to share thoughts with others. I have only been using this site for about 2 to 3 months and have felt that through reading and exchanging views, even though some might not like my ideas, that I have learned far more than many months of reading books by myself.

    Some people have a tendency or inclination towards the philosophical just like some people are inclined to any other activity. Perhaps philosophical discussion is as important as television but I am sure that many would laugh at this idea. But while it is best if we do get round to living life rather being locked up in Plato's cave while the non philosophers engage in real life, I think that 2020 should be the year for philosophy when people are being expected to spend alone. Besides, I am sure that philosophy in itself must be part of the purpose of life.

    Enough said, I will retreat to my bed and read my Kindle in silence.
  • Valentinus
    1.6k
    Philosophy is as also about what is known well, maybe too well.
    Familiarity breeds contempt. We are easily bored. The individual points of view require a lot of work.
    I hear the call to wrestle with oneself.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    I probably should have remained silentJack Cummins

    Me too! I should've stopped at "silence is golden" but I kept on writing, essentially contradicting myself but, in my defense, there's not an iota of speculation or imagination in the OP, at least not in the same sense or at the same level as some philosophies e.g. Platonism, Dualism, Theology, etc. It's not that legit questions don't exist in these branches of philosophy but the answers invariably require a theoretical framework and that's when/where philosophers' imagination runs wild.

    But yes, is it all imaginary? Everyone has their own individual voice in expressing thoughts on life, death and meaning. Does it is mean it is all a waste of time?Jack Cummins

    That's the problem actually. In philosophy, there's no such thing as an opinion. Come to think of it, the mistake philosophers commit seems to be treating opinions as facts and, now I realize, that's why they argue so much. The arguments aren't an issue in the beginning because then it's just philosophers trying to make sense of a topic - the definitions, the assumptions, etc. - but sooner or later answers need to be given and at that point speculation and imagination enter the picture for the answers need theoretical frameworks.
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