Can You Be Too Curious?

With the title, you may be reminded of the saying, "curiosity killed the cat", and you would be right on topic with that saying. Would being too curious lead to worse outcomes than to simply leave the question alone? A particular line Phillips includes catches my attention, "Maybe it's a question we shouldn't try to answer,'...'But I can't help it. If someone asks me a question, or if I think up a question , I feel like I have to try to answer it. I'm too curious!" (Phillips 199). This is from the perspective of an elementary school student thinking about the question posed. Phillips goes on about how Socrates eventually got executed for his "heretical" standpoints, and if that was for the better or worse, specifically in the curiosity that got him killed.

 This is this kind of question that seems to get back at the roots of what philosophy is really about. Though i cannot get a definite answer, this question has opened my mind to other possibilities that I may have not seen before.

Finding Yourself & Philosophy

What am I doing, or rather where am I going. Of course I mean in the context of general life, these questions have to have brought up sometime in a person's life. Christopher Phillips approaches these questions in his own Socratic sort of way, though this time he gives himself the answer of "You're moving in the direction of your dreams" (Phillips 135). If you are questioning what you are doing, then you just may be moving in the right direction.

 There is not too much Socratic method to this question, and it seems to be more of a goal, to add more "philosophy" to this question seems to be a stretch. Any more questions that stem from this would seem to be where the philosophy comes in, where you then can find more in your thoughts and expand your horizons. For me, thinking about this question truly makes me want to stop procrastinating, though that's just my thoughts. Philosophy is more than just the Socratic method and Socrates. Philosophy is defined as the nature of knowledge, and that's honestly not too far off.

Authorities and Opinions

Why is it that an authority exists, is it not also an opinion to some degree? This was the kind of question I got when i came across the chapter/section titled "Out of This World". Here, Christopher Phillips recalls his experiences with proclaimed philosophers in a rather isolated university town. The discussion would presumably be rather intellectual and thought out, though that does not seem to be completely true here. The subject of discussion was "Is there only a subjective world or is there such a thing as a world of ultimate reality?"

 Obviously this would stir mixed opinions from a diverse set of minds, though a certain line catches my attention specifically, "He won't hear of it. 'You just don't want to accept that there are universals that exist independent of humans,' he says dismissively" (Phillips 173). For being a philosophy professor, that was a rather close minded thing to say. This is where my question of authority may make some more sense, where an authority in this regard may seem more like an opinion of a higher up rather than a mandate of heaven. If you want, you could go deeper and try to explain what an opinion is as well. This idea has broadened my proverbial horizons for a while now, and continues to open more thoughts to this day. In short, to work more in the thought process of "philosophy", you will probably want to open your mind up to other opinions, if you haven't done so already.

Yet More Questions

Chances are that you're here because you kinda understood my previous post, or you needed some more explanation about that post. To do so, I'll pose the question of "where/what is home". This was a question from the book that I found rather interesting. A couple responses the author recorded included someone's definition of what a home is not, how a house becomes a home, and what a real home is. These all seem to not get to the point, though they do achieve their goal of further defining what home is. This is due to home not having a so-to-speak true definition if you really think about it. This is not helped when you factor in the dictionary definition, which is a permanent place of residence, and especially one of family or household. But this definition does not satisfy some, as their families aren't the most friendly, or their general place of residence is also hostile or not quite what they need. This leads to another couple of lines in the book that interested me, "But your roots are in Germany,' one woman says to her. 'It's not my home,' she replies firmly and falls silent" (Phillips 60). Your roots cannot be the only idea that leads to a home. Of course, the discussion ends rather abruptly, without a definitive answer of course, simply more questions. I suppose that this question may raise some interest elsewhere, so if you have some kind of input, then feel free to comment about what a home is to you.

The Socratic Method

I suppose I should start off by telling you that Socrates did not create this method, as Christopher Phillips explains that Socrates merely modeled the practice of philosophy. Christopher Phillips continues on to say that "Those who become smitten with the Socratic method of philosophical inquiry thrive on the question" (24). This seems to be a silly way of saying that this is a practice of asking questions. Depending on your current activity this might be absolutely ridiculous or feasible. Applying this to your own method of thinking will be very situation-based.

So to make up for a lack of application I will use cooking and learning an instrument as examples. Some questions you may ask normally could include, "why am I cooking?", "why am I learning this instrument?". You may have some definite answers, "I am actually interested", or "I have no choice". Why not answer with even more questions instead? Some questions you could answer with could be "why am I interested?", "why do I have no choice", "what makes me interested (if you are)", these are some of the questions that you can expand upon if you wish to do so. As asking questions seems to be the main idea here, I'll ask a question: can questions answer some of your questions?

Socrates Cafe - A Fresh Taste of Philosophy

For my second IRP, I will be looking at philosophy, and utilizing Socrates Cafe to see if I can improve any aspects of my general life with an improved mindset. This book should really just suggest new ways to think about anything, really. This should help me out in thinking over my general situations more while deciding what the "right" choice to make would be.

Phillips, Christopher. Socrates Cafe. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Print.