I have never studied philosophy but I think I would find it difficult to disentangle it from religion or beliefs about the soul or the 'meaning of life' and questions about the existence of God. From that perspective, a more modern approach would seem more productive because I would imagine modern philosophers to be less religiously narrow and doctrinal and better versed in religions/belief systems from around the world.
It is useful to learn the thought process, on kind of a meta level - how did they come up with these ideas? What, if anything, can we learn about how to learn, how to understand the world?
I have never studied philosophy but I think I would find it difficult to disentangle it from religion or beliefs about the soul or the 'meaning of life' and questions about the existence of God. From that perspective, a more modern approach would seem more productive because I would imagine modern philosophers to be less religiously narrow and doctrinal and better versed in religions/belief systems from around the world.
Yes, Bettina. A lot of beliefs from the past survive that we would not create now given what we know about the world.
I enjoyed that one - thanks for writing it!
Thank you, Danny! I enjoyed writing it. It just kind of popped out!
It is useful to learn the thought process, on kind of a meta level - how did they come up with these ideas? What, if anything, can we learn about how to learn, how to understand the world?
Yes it is. I wonder how much subsequent philosophers' thoughts were constrained by what came before them.
I am also interested in how our thoughts might flow differently if we start from a different place.