Why Philosophy?
Why Philosophy? has published a brief interview of me on the nature and practice of philosophy. I figured I’d cross-post here.
[landing page of Why Philosophy? detail]
What is philosophy to you?
My graduate advisor Alison Gopnik once characterized philosophy as just “very theoretical anything.” Take any issue you want and plunge deep enough, and you’re doing philosophy.
Philosophy is not a subject area. It is an approach, a style of thinking, a willingness to dive in and consider the deepest ontological, normative, conceptual, and broadly theoretical questions regarding anything. Any topic – the mind, language, physics, ethics, hair, Barbie dolls, carpentry, auto racing – can be approached philosophically. For all X, there is a philosophy of X.
How were you first introduced to philosophy?
That question seems to presuppose that philosophy is a formal discipline of some sort that one needs to be introduced to. But already in middle school my friends and I had opinions – and were willing to argue at length about them – about what makes a teacher good or bad, about whether when and why it’s okay and not okay to use swear words, why what we thought of as “modern art” sucked, and under what conditions it’s reasonable for a game master to do a total-party-kill in Dungeons & Dragons. Isn’t that already philosophy?
How do you practice philosophy today?
In living life thoughtfully, we are always already practicing philosophy.
What is a philosophical issue that is important to you?
Discovering and rediscovering awe in the wondrous, incomprehensible complexity of the world. Here we are, basically just bags of mostly water, and we can look up at the sky and wonder about the origin of the stars, we can look back into the past and wonder about the origins of morality, we can create art, we can cooperate on multi-year, multi-million-person projects. Pretty good for bags of water! But the intractable complexity of reality will always exceed our simple comprehension.
What books, podcasts, or other media have stood out to you as a philosopher?
One of my favorite philosophers, Helen De Cruz, died this year, far too young. Check out her Substack, her book Wonderstruck, and her article on friendship with the ancients.