We are all philosophers
Because every problem is ultimately philosophical
Every problem and solution involves a chain of WHYs
With a fundamental, philosophical “WHY” at the bottom
This of course doesn’t mean we can’t act without being philosophical first
We can do anything
It’s just that our basis for making that decision, for holding that belief, can be more firm, or less firm
Indeed many things we could, and should do, without ever even knowing about such pesky thing as philosophy
We can know WITHOUT KNOWING WHY we know it
Without being able to justify it
We can know what to do and do it
But the moment things don’t work out so well,
is of course the moment when the only reasonable thing to do is to do something different
To consider different possibilities
And the thing about possibilities is — they EXPLODE in complexity
Every possibility is a step,
which itself branches out into a number of possibilities, number of different steps, different paths,
which themselves branch out
2 to the power of 10 is already 1024
10 binary choices already render 1024 possibilities
And the world is rarely as simple as a binary
So yes, in the face of any complexity, we quickly become philosophers
We don’t even know it, but we do
It’s in our:
-life choices
-career choices
–political choices
-everyday perceptions
-everyday problems at home and at work
-the smallest means with which we achieve our ends
When those things work well — it’s simple, and it’s not philosophical
When those things could work better — it’s already more complicated
And when it’s more complicated — it quickly becomes philosophical
The principles to navigate through the fucking maze are PHILOSOPHICAL
…of course they are
So is even science
or rather, obviously science
What we even consider science — is a philosophical question
If we got that wrong — which used to be the case — science would be profoundly hindered
You wouldn’t be reading this,
Maybe you wouldn’t be sitting there
You’d be in church, praying to god merciful to spare you from the raging plague
It is thus that:
-thinking deeply
-thinking hard
-learning all the time
-and trying different options all the time,
is not an option — it is obligatory — to navigate in this world with any reasonable success
And those problems and questions and answers are of course naturally philosophical
Sometimes specific to given field, sometimes very general
Whether they have status in any particular school of philosophy, or not, is irrelevant
You’re looking for concrete principles, which you can then reuse moving forward
You’re examining aspects of reality