2009 Fall Proseminar Student Statements

For our last class, I'd like to invite each of you to make put one or two ideas from the semester in front of the group for discussion. You can upload a paper that you like from this semester (or another) or you can respond in a screenfull or two of text to one of the following prompts:

1. Something new in philosophy that I found this semster and thought interesting (and why).

2. Something new about philosophy that I found this semster and thought interesting (and why).

3. A particular philosophical argument that you found especially good or bad or just challenging.

(You can suggest a prompt to add if you'd like. Also, feel free to use the email utility on the Course Website if you prefer not to post this to a web page.)

Taylor Wilkinson

What has gripped me throughout all of our many topics and widespread discussions is not necessarily the content itself (although the content has been stimulating and indeed extremely useful in broadening my philosophical horizons) but more important is the significance of philosophy itself—as a practice—as way of living life. Many hold that philosophy is useless—saturated with obscure academic blathering and squabbling with questions like “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” as the poor scholastic philosophers have endured as a (tongue-in-cheek) criticism. In one sense, stepping just a little bit out of my “philosophy student” shoes I can see how somebody outside our circle could see our practices as “out there” and impractical.

Many times I have come out of philosophy classes bewildered after trying to work through philosophical claims only to end up shrugging my shoulders and leaving it for a mess of cluttered “extraterrestrial” thoughts. But more often than not, I have come out of class with a “philosophical high” as if I have had my eyes opened and truth has revealed itself. These are the moments I live for as a philosophy major, this is why I endure the sometimes out-of-this-world claims and dense rationales by men (and women) exponentially more brilliant than I could ever hope to be. Of course the philosophical high only lasts a week or two and at very most a month, as all good things must come to an end.

I started my studies as a Platonist, then an Aristotelian, then a Thomist, a Humean, a Kantian, so on and so on. It seems that every new philosopher we cover in the history series I subscribe to their school of thought (there are a great many exceptions of course, like Berkeley, I’m not a fan of him). I am sad to say that I have not yet found “my people” in philosophy with any great solidity. I of course realize that I am somewhat of an infant (albeit an increasingly informed one) in my philosophical pursuit. I stand in the “blooming, buzzing confusion”, as William James famously stated (this is taken out of its context, but it’s catchy and works for my emphasis). But given my philosophical homelessness do I give up my pursuit? No way. I in fact embrace it. I do try to find the solid ground on which I can stand through the hurricane of the oft-overwhelming and vast literature that we delve in to.

I am very (and quite uncomfortably) close to the end of my structured studies here, and I plan on continuing this pursuit without the helping hand of the professors at Gonzaga University. My quest, however, will not be a shallow hobby since I do in fact believe that “the love of wisdom” has important—if not outright practical use that is invaluable to the development of my character. After all, “the life unquestioned is not worth living” so says our father Socrates. He was, and is, dead right. Humans are “philosophical animals”, and not pursuing some sort of philosophy is like leaving your legs to atrophy while playing the soccer game of life (stupid analogy, but you get the point). I cannot imagine life without all the big questions, and the brave quest that we take on to find the answers; as sappy as it is, perhaps it’s more about the journey than the destination, and the journey only ends via the great equalizer of our mortality.

Indeed, philosophy is “practicing for death”—the preparation and beautification of the soul before it departs the confusion of the world. So in our preparation we must adhere to the Socratic method of “following the evidence wherever it leads”. This is a lifelong maxim to stand by, and a worthwhile one indeed. Antony Flew, known as one of the most prolific and steadfast atheists of our time has followed the Socratic principle his entire life; and at the ripe old age of 81 he “converted” to deism. This is illustrative of the fact that Philosophy (like any academic endeavor) is certainly a lifelong pursuit that can change one’s worldview in dramatic and important ways. Ways that studying Biology or Organic Chemistry can never really hope to achieve.

So what really have I learned from this pro-seminar, and by extension my philosophical studies during my time here? I have learned the methods, the logic, the critical rigor required of a person to flesh out the rationales of the great classics of philosophy as well as classics to be. These tools are necessary for understanding content—the real meat of philosophy—so that I may follow the argument wherever it leads “all by myself” just like the big boys. A benefit (beyond the ones mentioned) was really an awareness of my philosophical maturation, as well as my weaknesses. I have not yet found “my people” but I am confident that I will find somebody to adopt me, being the orphan that I am in this philosophical world. And to those lingering critics of philosophy—my great practical answer to them is stolen from Socrates: To prepare myself for death, duh! --Twilkinson 09:24, 2 December 2009 (UTC)