Philosophy Phriday - Getting Lost on the Golf Course and Found a Tree
Post 3 – Getting Lost on the Golf Course and Found a Tree
I went on an internet trip looking for a “template on analytical discourse” and I found a lot of information about the analysis of master’s level papers and college communication. I also found a lot of deep-dive videos on the philosophy of Aristotle. I have to be honest; I was really looking for a list or a quick video on the basics of analytical discourse and what I ended up finding was a video on Logic, Propositions, and Syllogisms.
Five minutes of high-level philosophy explanation is my kind of philosophy. I like the idea of doing deep dives on all the philosophers I plan to look at over the length of this project but I don’t want to start looking through the long grass for a golf ball that has disappeared down a gopher hole. I can always come back another time or accept that some golf balls of philosophy will get away from me. Maybe I find a different ball or I find it on the way back to the clubhouse? The point is, that act of playing or learning should be the focus of the journey.
On to the video!
The idea of the video is to ask why we should study logic and why it’s important to use logic when we experience the world “against” the experience of others. The video defines propositions, premises, and conclusions. Put all three of those together and you get a Syllogism. A true major premise followed by a minor premise leads to a conclusion and the discussion between people revolves around the truth of any individual statement. This is meant to be a tool used during debate.
I can’t help but think about the current political climate where “alternate facts” is a term used without irony and the preferred method of debate is talking in an echo chamber of like-minded individuals and building anger rather than finding solutions. Syllogisms are a tool for a slower world with members who are willing to take the time and define truth. Not to sound like a defeatist, I think syllogisms can be used in the modern world but there are a lot of knots that need to be untied and massaged out society before real human progress can occur.
However, we’re not here for the political and social uses of this tool. We are on a personal journey to find our own philosophy and the question that needs asking is how do Syllogisms apply to any part of our own philosophy? I feel like my own philosophy lends well to the idea of logical thought and constructive conversation. Listening and empathy are great for hearing and feeling what others have to say. That doesn’t mean everything I hear is assumed to be true, but the thoughts of others are given the consideration they deserve. Take the other person out of the equations and how do I interact with facts that can be learned and turned into a premise? Being present puts my mind in the moment and considers how a premise applies to the world as the world exists. Empathy allows for the application of a premise to the people who would be most affected. Do I make the right conclusion is the real question?
As I’m re-reading this before hitting the publish button, I realize that it may come across that I am or expect a person like this to be an even-keeled stoic all the time. Almost like there is no room for emotion. Every word that is taken in is calmly considered. That isn’t human. We all live with variables that make information consumption and consideration more or less difficult. The cats may have decided to wake me up at 3 am and I wasn’t able to get back to sleep or I went to start the car and it won’t turn on. Does this mean we are building a personal philosophy with a constant backdrop of idealized life situations? Maybe. I think it is more important to build a personal philosophy against the backdrop of chaos. Our own philosophy is a truck of a tree that needs to grow and get stronger in the winds of life. Some days, the wind is quiet and we can focus on growing. Most of the time, the wind is blowing and sometimes, the leaves fall off or maybe even a branch breaks when the wind is really bad. The important thing is to take the expectation of perfection out of the journey and think about it as a lifelong pursuit of personal meaning and growth. Ok, back to the show.
The other question I have from this exercise is, did I find the right thing? Am I even going down the correct path of Aristotle? I’ve been sitting on the completion of this post for three days because I felt like I was doing something wrong. I should say now, I’m open to being called out as we go along. Mistakes happen and I’m not afraid to face my own. What I’m not going to do is get bogged down in an exercise where we can circle back. As we practice this kind of learning and self-reflection, we can revisit topics in the pursuit of confirming what we’ve learned along the way. Aristotle wrote books, I’ve looked at bullet points so far. The surface isn’t even scratched, it’s observed…..through a paper towel tube.
What’s Next?
In the process of looking for videos to watch, there were some details on Aristotle the man that feel like they’re worth learning about. His views on women jumped out the most. Frustrating that someone who can seem so reasonable is ok with cutting out half the population and a major component of the human experience. I’m not planning to hitch my wagon to any one particular philosopher or thinker but knowing a little bit about the people generating these ideas will help draw better conclusions knowing the context in which these thinkers constructed their own experience of reality.
CHR;)
