tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/greek-philosophy-28537/articlesGreek philosophy – The Conversation2023-11-29T13:37:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2134402023-11-29T13:37:37Z2023-11-29T13:37:37ZStoicism and spirituality: A philosopher explains how more Americans’ search for meaning is turning them toward the classics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561703/original/file-20231126-17-wvurn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=137%2C245%2C1977%2C1153&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Web communities have helped the ancient philosophy of Stoicism find fans in a new generation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/e-book-digital-technology-and-e-learning-royalty-free-image/1254724408?phrase=internet+philosophy&searchscope=image%2Cfilm&adppopup=true">utah778/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Stoicism may be having a renaissance. For centuries, the ancient philosophy that originated in Greece and spread across the Roman Empire was more or less treated as extinct – with the word “stoic” hanging on as shorthand for someone unemotional. But today, with the help of the internet, it’s gaining ground: One of the biggest online communities, <a href="https://dailystoic.com/podcast/">The Daily Stoic</a>, claims to have an email following of over 750,000 subscribers. </p>
<p>Perhaps it’s not so surprising. The United States’ current political climate has parallels to the last few centuries B.C. in ancient Rome, home of notable Stoics like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-life-gives-you-lemons-4-stoic-tips-for-getting-through-lockdown-from-epictetus-166487">the philosopher Epictetus</a>, a former slave, and the emperor Marcus Aurelius. During this period of instability, including the fall of the Roman Republic, Stoicism <a href="https://store.doverpublications.com/0486433595.html">helped its practitioners find community</a>, meaning and tranquility. </p>
<p>Today, too, society faces widespread feelings <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/03/new-surgeon-general-advisory-raises-alarm-about-devastating-impact-epidemic-loneliness-isolation-united-states.html">of isolation</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/10/51percent-of-young-americans-say-they-feel-down-depressed-or-hopeless.html">depression</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.08.014">and anxiety</a>. Meanwhile, more and more people are looking for answers outside of mainstream religion. According to a 2022 Gallup Poll, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx">21% of Americans now say they have no religious affiliation</a>.</p>
<p>Riding this resurgence of interest in Stoicism, I designed <a href="https://search.asu.edu/profile/92871">a college philosophy class</a> that covers both theory and practice. When I ask students why they enrolled, I hear not only a genuine interest in the subject but also a desire to find meaning, purpose and personal development.</p>
<h2>Core principles</h2>
<p>Ancient Stoicism aimed to be a complete philosophy encompassing ethics, physics and logic. Yet most modern Stoics focus primarily on ethics, and they typically adopt four Stoic principles. </p>
<p>The first is that virtue is the only or highest good, including the cardinal virtues of wisdom, temperance, courage and justice. Everything apart from virtue – including wealth, health and reputation – might be nice to have, but they do not directly contribute to human flourishing. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bust of a man draped in robes, with short, curly hair and a beard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561708/original/file-20231126-21-zbsxfn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marcus Aurelius: not just an emperor but a Stoic philosopher.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcus_Aurelius_Glyptothek_Munich.jpg">Bibi Saint-Pol/Glyptothek/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, people ought to live in accordance with nature or reason. This principle reflects the Stoic belief that the universe exhibits a rational order, so we ought to align our beliefs and actions with eternal principles. Living in accordance with nature also reveals <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/6367/meditations-by-marcus-aurelius-a-new-translation-by-gregory-hays/9781588361738">the interconnectedness of all things</a>, showing how humans are part of a larger whole.</p>
<p>Third, a person can control only their own actions – not external events. Epictetus laid out this dichotomy in the opening sentence of <a href="https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html">The Enchiridion</a>, a collection of his core teachings compiled by his student Arrian: “Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.”</p>
<p>The fourth principle is that thoughts about external events are often the source of discontentment or distress – a view that <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/A_New_Guide_to_Rational_Living.html?id=3JB9sLEV-SoC">has influenced modern cognitive behavioral therapy</a>. Again, this idea comes <a href="https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html">directly from Epictetus</a>: “Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things.”</p>
<p>Taken together, these principles form the bedrock of modern Stoicism, which aims to provide a coherent philosophy of life. Its hope is that once the practitioner accepts they are not entirely in control, they start building resilience and reducing anxiety. Not only is each individual the architect of their emotional life, but people can shape their own judgments in ways that are conducive to greater inner peace.</p>
<h2>Stoicism in practice</h2>
<p>In Discourses, Epictetus unequivocally states that <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/discourses-fragments-handbook-9780199595181?cc=us&lang=en&">study is not enough</a> – in order to become virtuous, a person must couple study with practice. “In theory, there is nothing to restrain us from drawing the consequences of what we have been taught,” he noted, “whereas in life there are many things that pull us off course.”</p>
<p>In other words, philosophy is not only an intellectual endeavor but a practical and spiritual one: a way of life designed to move practitioners toward the Stoic conception of the good. Learning to cultivate core Stoic principles involves certain <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Philosophy+as+a+Way+of+Life%3A+Spiritual+Exercises+from+Socrates+to+Foucault-p-9780631180333">spiritual exercises</a>.</p>
<p>My class incorporates a variety of these exercises so students can get a taste of Stoicism in practice. One is the “view from above,” which encourages the practitioner to imagine their life and certain situations from a bird’s-eye view, putting the insignificance of their current troubles in perspective. </p>
<p>Another is “negative visualization”: contemplating the absence of something we value. Instead of worrying about losing something, a person intentionally meditates on its absence, with the intention of fostering gratitude and contentment. When doing this exercise in class, students have imagined the loss of a possession, a scholarship or even a beloved pet.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A tan and gray illustration of a man in simple clothing, seated with a crutch by his side, writing and looking over his shoulder." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1333&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561709/original/file-20231126-15-wvurn7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1333&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration of Epictetus, likely drawn by William Sonmans and engraved by Michael Burghers, that served as frontispiece for a translation of Epictetus’ Enchiridion, printed in 1715.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Epicteti_Enchiridion_Latinis_versibus_adumbratum_(Oxford_1715)_frontispiece.jpg">John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library/Aristeas/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A third exercise is journaling to plan and review one’s day. Reflecting on thoughts and actions allows a more objective, rational way to judge whether someone is living in accordance with their principles.</p>
<p>Once the exercises are incorporated with theory, Stoicism can become a type of spiritual project. <a href="https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/discourses-fragments-handbook-9780199595181?cc=us&lang=en&">As Epictetus wrote</a>, “For just as wood is the material of the carpenter, and bronze that of the sculptor, the art of living has each individual’s own life as its material.”</p>
<h2>The way of the prokopton</h2>
<p>So what does it mean to be a practicing Stoic – a “prokopton,” in Greek?</p>
<p>For both ancient and modern practitioners, Stoicism <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-stoicism-influenced-music-from-the-french-renaissance-to-pink-floyd-181701">is more than a set of abstract ideas</a>. It is a set of guiding principles that permeate all aspects of one’s life. The goal is progress, not perfection – and exploring Stoic ideas alongside others is encouraged.</p>
<p>Today, there are at least three relatively robust Stoic communities online: <a href="https://dailystoic.com/">The Daily Stoic</a>, <a href="https://modernstoicism.com/">Modern Stoicism</a> and <a href="https://collegeofstoicphilosophers.org/">the College of Stoic Philosophers</a>.</p>
<p>By having dedicated communities, a guiding framework and distinctive spiritual exercises, parallels between Stoicism and many mainstream religions are undeniable. For modern people looking for such things, Stoicism may <a href="https://modernstoicism.com/providence-or-atoms-atoms-donald-robertson/">serve as a surrogate</a> or complement to mainstream religion. People today tend to find the original Stoics’ notions about physics and theology implausible, but apart from those ideas, the core principles of modern Stoicism can be palatable to people who identify with <a href="https://howtolive.life/episode/045-stoicism-in-everyday-life-with-william-irvine">contemporary faith traditions</a> – or none.</p>
<p>The ancient Greeks believed that a philosophy of life is critical for human flourishing. Without a guiding ethos, they feared, individuals are likely to lead unstructured and unproductive lives, to pursue superficial pleasures and to feel that their lives lack purpose. Stoicism offered <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-stoicism-of-roman-philosophers-can-help-us-deal-with-depression-75593">a path for some to follow</a> – then, and now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213440/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Woien does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Stoicism isn’t just a set of ideas; it’s meant to be put into practice. The ancient philosophy is finding new fans through online communities.Sandra Woien, Associate Teaching Professor, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1195132019-08-14T21:34:27Z2019-08-14T21:34:27ZGood character testimonies aren’t a defence for sexual harassment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287556/original/file-20190809-144847-spgpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4416%2C2055&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Al Franken, second from right, resigned from the U.S. Senate last year after accusations of sexual impropriety.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Suppose you’re watching the news, and you learn that someone, let’s call her Mary, has been accused of murdering her colleague Sally. There is compelling evidence that Mary is guilty. Several of Mary’s colleagues come forward to defend her innocence. They insist Mary is a truly kind person. As a proof, they say Mary has never attempted to murder any of them. </p>
<p>Does the fact that Mary has not murdered her colleagues increase or decrease your confidence that Mary has murdered Sally? Probably neither. The fact that Mary has never attempted to murder her colleagues says nothing about whether she murdered Sally. It’s irrelevant. </p>
<p>Similarly, if someone is accused of stealing your watch, the fact that they did not steal the watch of your friend sitting right next to you says nothing relevant about whether they stole yours. </p>
<p>As reasonable as these arguments may sound, their logic is often ignored when it comes to sexual allegations.</p>
<p>The issue of what people take to be good evidence is one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00160.x">that philosophers have debated for centuries</a>. Philosopher <a href="https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hume/david/h92e/chapter10.html">David Hume</a> famously said a “wise man … proportions his belief to the evidence.” My research <a href="https://www.martina-orlandi.com/research">on irrational phenomena</a> has led me to confront the relationship between evidence and biases of all kinds.</p>
<p>Philosopher Gilbert Harman argues in his book <em><a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/change-view">Change In View</a></em> that people often refuse to revise our beliefs even in the face of strong counter-evidence. People rationalize to maintain their false but dear beliefs. Even when they don’t, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-98402-009">research has shown</a> that people’s threshold for accepting a belief increases when it comes to dealing with one that’s particularly uncomfortable. Worse, irrational behaviour is not exclusively a prerogative of the uninformed.</p>
<p>Educated people are just as guilty of it, as recent <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29389158">research on anti-vaccination</a> views show: researchers who interviewed more than 5,000 people in 24 countries found that people’s <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29389158">education has no significant relationship with anti-vaccination attitudes</a>. The study also reports that attempts to debunk vaccine-related myths through evidence are ineffective or counterproductive. </p>
<p>The case of sexual allegations is another example of how often debates go off-track and become irrational.</p>
<h2>A decent man?</h2>
<p>In the wake of Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation of sexual assault towards Brett Kavanaugh, <a href="http://eppc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2018-09-14-Kavanaugh-HS-Women-Letter.pdf">a letter signed</a> by 65 women <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2018/09/kavanaugh-sexual-misconduct-christine-ford-palo-alto-university.html">testified to his moral character and his good behaviour towards them</a>. </p>
<p>More recently, after Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos brought Joe Biden’s inappropriate behaviour into the spotlight, <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/436913-meghan-mccain-shows-support-for-biden-in-wake-of-second">Meghan McCain</a> called Biden “one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of American politics,” recalling the support she received from him after her father’s diagnosis of brain cancer. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1112903229560508416"}"></div></p>
<p>After <a href="http://www.kabc.com/2017/11/16/leeann-tweeden-on-senator-al-franken/">Leeann Tweeden</a> accused senator Al Franken of sexual misconduct, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken">Jess McIntosh</a>, Franken’s spokesperson, said: “I’ve taken thousands of those photos with him and I’ve never seen any behaviour that was questionable. We were together non-stop — like, the only two people staying in a hotel — and nothing happened. I felt completely comfortable.” Similarly, Karri Turner said “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken">there was nothing inappropriate toward me</a>.”</p>
<p>The implication is that because Kavanaugh, Biden and Franken behaved appropriately with some women, then this tells us something informative about whether the allegations from other women are true. </p>
<p>For their defenders, the implication is that Kavanaugh, Biden and Franken are good guys, and they are good guys precisely because they behaved properly with some women. Because they’re good guys and presumably only non-good guys sexually offend, this should decrease our confidence that they didn’t offend Ford, Flores, Lappos and Tweeden specifically. </p>
<h2>A question of character?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the reason why people think that these positive testimonies are relevant is that the action of sexual misconduct is linked to the perpetrator’s character. This idea connects with Aristotle’s famous claim <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-character/#Ari384BCE">that character traits tends to manifest repeatedly</a>.</p>
<p>If we follow this idea, it suggests that sexually harassing someone conveys the message that they are the kind of person who is a sexual harasser. </p>
<p>Because character traits tend to manifest repeatedly, we implicitly think that if someone harassed one person, they are likely to have also harassed others. So if it can be shown that not everyone they interacted with has been sexually harassed by them, then this may decrease confidence in the belief that they have harassed those women at that specific time.</p>
<p>But while it may be true that character traits tend to manifest repeatedly, repeatedly doesn’t mean always. </p>
<p>American journalist Megan Garber has called this situation “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/les-moonves-and-the-familiarity-fallacy/566315/">the familiarity fallacy</a>.” She explains how easy it is to rationalize abuse when committed by those we know personally. Garber says knowing someone doesn’t constitute a legitimate defense from accusations: “an abuser will not abuse everybody.” </p>
<p>A person may respect one person’s personal boundaries, yet disregard another’s. This may be due to perceived power over the second person due to their personal vulnerability, or their social identity. Sexual <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/04/ending-harassment-at-work-requires-an-intersectional-approach">harassment is not about sex, but is about asserting dominance</a>. Factors such as a person’s racialized identity, their class, their ability, their age, the amount of power they are perceived to hold in a particular situation may all also render people more vulnerable to being sexually harassed or otherwise having their personal boundaries disrespected. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-am-not-your-nice-mammy-how-racist-stereotypes-still-impact-women-111028">I am not your nice 'Mammy': How racist stereotypes still impact women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Predators may take advantage of situations where they <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-sexual-predators-sting-1.4989444">think no witnesses, other than the victim, are present</a>.</p>
<p>Good-character testimonies don’t shield someone from the possibility that they have sexually harassed someone else.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martina Orlandi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Good-character testimonies from some people don’t shield a person from being questioned about whether they have sexually harassed others.Martina Orlandi, PhD Candidate in Philosophy, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1132092019-04-23T11:41:39Z2019-04-23T11:41:39ZWhy philosophy must be dragged out of the ivory tower and into the street<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262904/original/file-20190308-155507-ctzxun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">yoemi/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>According to one <a href="https://aeon.co/ideas/was-the-real-socrates-more-worldly-and-amorous-than-we-knew">founding myth</a>, philosophy begins with a grumpy old man named <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/">Socrates</a> being put to death for pestering his fellow citizens about the nature of justice, courage, and other such virtues. This is hardly an auspicious way to start a new academic discipline. But Socrates’ attempt to engage Athenians in dialogue exemplifies both the nature of human inquiry and the public role philosophy ought to play today.</p>
<p>The critical exchanges Socrates initiated with his peers were designed to lead everyone to a deeper understanding of the world around them. In fact, the Socratic method of asking hard questions to encourage reflection, draw out the unwarranted assumptions of an accepted view, and then posit something new characterises the movement of our intellectual history from <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/">Plato</a> to <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/317051/enlightenment-now-by-steven-pinker/9780143111382/">Steven Pinker</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, a great deal has changed since Socrates started accosting his fellow citizens in the street. Philosophy is now a highly specialised academic discipline in which scholars employ a technical vocabulary to address everything from art and ethics to the nature of reality and our knowledge of it. As a result, following the latest trends in philosophy requires an advanced degree, if not a PhD. And this means the essays published today in <a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/jphil">The Journal of Philosophy</a> are inaccessible to the vast majority of people.</p>
<p>There has, however, been a recent push to drag philosophy out of the ivory tower and return it to the street. Radio programmes, podcasts, and online magazines such as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01f0vzr">In Our Time</a>, <a href="https://philosophybites.com/">Philosophy Bites</a>, and <a href="https://aeon.co/philosophy">Aeon</a> have done much to render philosophical ideas intelligible to a general audience. And the new popular philosophy column I am running in the <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/2019/03/agora-market-place-ideas">New Statesman</a> aims to take this one step further by inviting publicly minded thinkers to address contemporary social, cultural, and political issues from a philosophical point of view.</p>
<p>In this, I’m following Socrates’ lead: challenging the general reader’s position on a particular issue with the hope that they then critically reflect on the values of their community and ultimately learn something new.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Socrates</h2>
<p>Socrates’ death explains why learning something new is an activity all of us can do. </p>
<p>As mortal beings, we can’t see everything and death speaks to a certain limit on our apprehension of reality. In fact, most of reality stands apart from us as a thought provoking mystery. And given the finite nature of our understanding, our knowledge of the world is always tied to a particular perspective on things.</p>
<p>Take a rose, for example. A physicist may say it consists of a specific set of particles and the forces that act between them. A chemist can explain its basic compounds. A biologist might describe the ecosystem required for a rose to grow. An economist can identify its exchange value. An artist may depict its beauty, and a lover ought to appreciate its romantic significance.</p>
<p>Each of these perspectives teach us something about a rose. But none on their own explains all there is to know. So, to expand our appreciation of the world, we need to accept the incomplete nature of our knowledge, question our own perspective, and adopt alternative points of view.</p>
<p>For his part, Socrates embraced the finite character of human understanding. “Real wisdom is the property of the gods,” he said <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/354/35484/the-last-days-of-socrates/9780140455496.html">when on trial for his life</a>. And he famously claimed his distinctive insight consisted solely of this: “I do not think I know what I do not know.”</p>
<p>Socrates’ rejection of any pretence to divine understanding and his doubt over the extent of his own knowledge drove him to question his city’s customs and traditions. He had no qualms about interrupting the daily activities of everyone from doctors and lawyers to poets and priests, pressing them on their deeply held beliefs.</p>
<p>More often than not, Socrates used his superior skill in the art of argumentation to highlight the limitations, inadequacies, and contradictions in a particular person’s perspective. And in the end, Socrates’ irreverence for Athenian practices, his persistent inquiry into the essence of things, and his uncanny ability to annoy his fellow citizens led to his undoing.</p>
<h2>Reasonable debate</h2>
<p>While most Athenians were uncomfortable putting their traditions to the test, Socrates did develop a following among a motley crew of open-minded students, merchants, aristocrats, and dramatists. These disciples took Socrates’ challenge seriously. They not only cast doubt on their cultural inheritance, but also began to formulate new answers to tough questions about the ethical basis of our actions and the essence of human flourishing. </p>
<p>They also challenged their mentors. <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/">Aristotle</a>, for instance, found fault in Plato’s account of the good life in which reason dominates our unruly passions. And Aristotle’s criticisms paved the way for the <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epicurus/">Epicurean</a> claim that our passions have a positive role to play in our well-being.</p>
<p>Critical exchanges over ethics and the good life continue to this day. This is a good thing: we need more sites for reasonable debate over contentious issues, with the goal of fostering dialogue between engaged citizens across the ideological spectrum. Let’s hope, though, that we are all spared Socrates’ fate…</p>
<p><em>This is an edited and revised version of <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/2019/01/philosophy-must-be-dragged-out-ivory-tower-and-marketplace-ideas">an article</a> that initially appeared in the New Statesman.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113209/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron James Wendland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need to accept the incomplete nature of our knowledge, question and adopt alternative views.Aaron James Wendland, Professor of Philosophy, Russian National Research University The Higher School of Economics Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1140562019-03-25T15:24:45Z2019-03-25T15:24:45ZWhy fear and anger are rational responses to climate change<p>Not everyone cheered for the school children striking against climate change. In the US, democratic senator Dianne Feinstein accused them of <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/22/politics/feinstein-video-sunrise-movement-kids/index.html">“my way or the highway” thinking</a>. German Liberal Democrats leader Christian Lindner said that the protesters don’t yet understand “what’s technically and economically possible”, <a href="https://twitter.com/c_lindner/status/1104683096107114497https:/twitter.com/c_lindner/status/1104683096107114497">and should leave that to experts instead</a>. The UK’s prime minister, Theresa May, criticised the strikers for “<a href="https://news.sky.com/story/theresa-may-criticises-pupils-missing-school-to-protest-over-climate-change-11638238">wasting lesson time</a>”.</p>
<p>These criticisms share a common accusation – that the striking children, while well-intentioned, are behaving counter-productively. Instead of having a rational response towards climate change, they let emotions like fear and anger cloud their judgement. In short, emotional responses to climate change are irrational and need to be tamed with reason.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265586/original/file-20190325-36256-11wbw8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) – his moral philosophy had a lasting influence on how we view emotions and rationality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kant_gemaelde_3.jpg">Johann Gottlieb Becker/Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The view that emotions are intrusive and obscure rational thinking dates back to Aristotle and <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/">the Stoics</a> – ancient Greek philosophers who believed that emotions stand in the way of <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-be-happy-then-live-like-a-stoic-for-a-week-103117">finding happiness through virtue</a>. Immanuel Kant – an 18th-century German philosopher – saw acting from emotions as <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/#GooWilMorWorDut">not really agency at all</a>.</p>
<p>Today, much of political debate is moderated with the understanding that emotions <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/there-s-no-emotion-we-ought-to-think-harder-about-than-anger">must be tamed for the sake of rational discourse</a>. While this view stands in a long tradition of Western philosophy, it invites Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro to insist that <a href="https://theoutline.com/post/7083/the-magical-thinking-of-guys-who-love-logic?fbclid=IwAR1tPq0UV7f1_Bw_LaCIkUBsqFSCRQoUTBgO1Ux_xWe4RIuxgT6q1Q6LjwI&zd=2&zi=3vvvdrcd">“facts, reason and logic”</a> can dismiss an emotional response to anything in debates.</p>
<p>However, the view that emotions aren’t part of rationality is false. There’s no clear way of separating emotions from rationality, and emotions can be rationally assessed just like beliefs and motivations.</p>
<h2>Emotions can be rational</h2>
<p>Imagine you’re walking in the woods, and a huge bear approaches you. Would it be rational for you to feel fear?</p>
<p>Emotions can be rational in the sense of being an appropriate response to a situation. It can be the correct kind of response to your environment to feel an emotion, <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emotion/#CognRatiFittWarrCohe">an emotion might just fit a situation</a>. Fear from a bear coming towards you is a rational response in this sense: you recognise the bear and the potential danger it represents to you, and you react with an appropriate emotional response. It could be said to be irrational not to feel fear as the bear walks towards you, as this wouldn’t be a correct emotional response to a dangerous situation.</p>
<p>Imagine you find out that a meteor will kill millions of people across the world, displace hundreds of millions more, and make life for the remainder of humanity much worse. The world’s governments neither put a defence system in place, nor do they evacuate the people threatened. Fear from the meteor, and anger at the inaction of governments, would be a rational response as they are an appropriate reaction to danger. And if you don’t feel fear and anger, you’re not appropriately responding to a dangerous situation.</p>
<p>As you’ve probably guessed, <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/">the meteor is climate change</a>. The world’s governments aren’t addressing the causes of climate change or preparing to mitigate its impact. For the people of Mozambique, who are <a href="https://theconversation.com/cyclone-idai-rich-countries-are-to-blame-for-disasters-like-this-heres-how-they-can-make-amends-113971">reeling from the devastation of Cyclone Idai</a>, anger is entirely appropriate. Climate change is largely a product of economic development in richer countries, while the world’s <a href="https://grist.org/article/cyclone-idai-lays-bare-the-fundamental-injustice-of-climate-change/">poorest are bearing the brunt of its effects</a>.</p>
<h2>Are emotions counter productive?</h2>
<p>Regardless of how fitting an emotional response is, it may sometimes be unhelpful for what a person wants to achieve. Theresa May makes this point about the school strike: understandable, but young people missing valuable lessons makes it harder for them to solve climate change. As others have already pointed out, climate change demands rapid action – waiting until some vague point in the future when the children are old enough to do something is <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/22/politics/feinstein-video-sunrise-movement-kids/index.html">relinquishing responsibility</a> instead of meaningful action.</p>
<p>It is, however, hard to deny that fear and anger sometimes lead people to choices they regret. However, dismissing emotional responses on this basis is too quick. There are many examples where fear and anger have triggered the correct response and created a motivational push for change. As Amia Srinivasan, an Oxford philosopher working on the role of anger in politics, puts it, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Anger can be a motivating force for organisation and resistance; the fear of collective wrath, in both democratic and authoritarian societies, can also <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/a-righteous-fury/">motivate those in power to change their ways</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A lot of social change has happened because of anger against injustice, empowering the weak and oppressed, while causing those in power to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04fc70p">fear they may be ousted leads to reforms and change</a>. We do need scientific understanding of the climate crisis to solve it, but banning emotions from the debate and dismissing rational fear and anger about climate change may encourage people to do nothing. </p>
<p>So, not only are children, who are angry and scared about climate change, rational, they might be more so than the adults criticising them. Emotions play a bigger part in life beyond rationality – they mark values and indicate what people care about. Fear of the future and anger at inaction are ways young people can express their values. Their emotions are, <a href="http://blogs.ubc.ca/hopeprinceengl470a/files/2016/10/audre-lorde.pdf">in the words of feminist writer Audra Lorde</a>, an invitation to the rest of society to speak.</p>
<p>Dismissing the emotions of school children not only invalidates their rational responses to a grave situation – it implicitly states that their values aren’t taken seriously, and that adults don’t want to reach out to them.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1114056">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114056/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anh Quan Nguyen receives funding from the Heinrich-Böll Foundation and is a member of Extinction Rebellion Scotland.</span></em></p>Climate change is an emergency which will hurt the planet’s most vulnerable people – the only irrational response is cool detachment.Quan Nguyen, PhD candidate, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1017192018-09-17T10:51:36Z2018-09-17T10:51:36ZCatastrophe overload? Read philosophers and poetry instead of headlines<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236504/original/file-20180915-177968-h8p4ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Read poetry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For almost two years now, Americans have been confronted daily by ominous tidings. We are living through stressful times. Reading the news feels awful; ignoring it doesn’t feel right either.</p>
<p>Psychologist Terri Apter <a href="https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/grenfell-tower-terri-apter/">recently wrote about</a> the “phenomenon in human behavior sometimes described as ‘the hive switch,’ where "catastrophic events eliminate selfishness, conflict and competitiveness, rendering humans as co-operative as ultra-social bees.”</p>
<p>But if hurricanes, earthquakes or volcanoes trigger the hive switch, does this principle hold for man-made catastrophes? </p>
<p>What about the immigration policy that has been separating children from their parents? School shootings, suicides, ecological disaster? </p>
<p>What about the flood of frightening and infuriating news that splashes against us daily?</p>
<p>In response to all this, people are hardly swarming into a cooperative hive. On the contrary, our human qualities of imagination, alertness and compassion seem to be turning against us. To imagine the suffering of our fellow beings and the future of our beleaguered planet provokes rage, dread and an overwhelming sense of helplessness.</p>
<p>What, if anything, can we do?</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235693/original/file-20180910-123122-lt9c5s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seneca has answers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27620840">Jean-Pol GRANDMONT</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listen to Seneca and Epictetus</h2>
<p>Rage and dread can morph into political activism, but it’s hard not to feel that any change is too little and too late. </p>
<p>The children who have been separated from their parents, for example, even if they’re all reunited, which doesn’t seem likely, will bear the psychic scars for the rest of their lives, as physician Danielle Ofri has <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/06/as-a-doctor-i-see-child-separation-as-a-medical-emergency.html">pointed out eloquently in Slate</a>. </p>
<p>How should people react to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-suicide-on-the-rise-in-the-us-but-falling-in-most-of-europe-98366">rising suicide rates</a>? Perhaps, judging from much recent coverage, the most we can hope to do is muster enough insight and hindsight to try to prevent the next one. </p>
<p>Yet this spring’s exhaustive coverage of a <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-celebrity-suicides-midlife-20180611-story.html">pair of celebrity suicides</a> – Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade – sent me back to the <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism">Stoic philosophers</a>, thinkers who flourished, particularly in Rome, in the first and second centuries. Uninterested in abstruse speculations, these philosophers stressed ethics and virtue; they were concerned with how to live and how to die. Stoic psychology offered and still offers help working with the mind to calm our anxieties and help us to fulfill our function as human beings.</p>
<p>Both Bourdain and Spade, creative and successful personalities, icons of glamour and achievement – particularly Bourdain, whose restless and courageous explorations of various corners of the world inspired countless viewers and readers – turned out to have been vulnerable people. </p>
<p>William B. Irvine, whose 2009 <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Guide_to_the_Good_Life.html?id=yQ59JV_9AfIC">“A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy</a>” I’ve been rereading, usefully distills from his four favorite Stoic writers, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucius-Annaeus-Seneca-Roman-philosopher-and-statesman">Seneca</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Epictetus-Greek-philosopher">Epictetus</a>, <a href="https://www.iep.utm.edu/musonius/">Musonius Rufus</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Aurelius-Roman-emperor">Marcus Aurelius</a>, two salient Stoic techniques for combating dark thoughts. I’ll continue this teaching tradition by distilling Irvine.</p>
<p>The advice of writers like Seneca and Epictetus feels remarkably germane. The kinds of misery that are often mentioned in connection with suicidal impulses, such as fear and anxiety, are perennial components of the human condition. When we speak of a suicidal person wrestling with demons <a href="http://www.historydisclosure.com/word-demon-come/">– a word as old as Homer –</a> that’s what we’re talking about. </p>
<p>The Stoics teach that you can try to counter your demons – not with talk therapy, let alone pharmaceuticals, but by working with your mind. </p>
<h2>Be ready</h2>
<p>The first technique is negative visualization: Imagine the worst so as to be prepared for it. </p>
<p>Most likely the worst will never happen. The bad things that can and probably will happen are likely to be milder than the worst thing you can think of. You can feel both relieved that the worst hasn’t happened and also somewhat mentally bolstered against the worst possibility. </p>
<p>“He robs present ills of their power,” <a href="https://www.loebclassics.com/view/seneca_younger-de_consolatione_ad_marciam/1932/pb_LCL254.29.xml">wrote Seneca</a>, “who has perceived their coming beforehand.” </p>
<p>Elsewhere, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=e6pvK6SQuvgC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=%22Trees+that+have+grown+in+a+sunny+vale+are+fragile.+It+is+therefore+to+the+advantage+of+good+men,+and+it+enables+them+to+live+without+fear,+to+be+on+terms+of+intimacy+with+danger+and+to+bear+with+serenity+a+fortune+that+is+ill+only+to+him+who+bears+it+ill.%22&source=bl&ots=_6S887Wovx&sig=cGayQvgwpH59WZqc2EWQCUrX9tU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrnafWg7HdAhWqmuAKHZKBDYAQ6AEwAHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Trees%20that%20have%20grown%20in%20a%20sunny%20vale%20are%20fragile.%20It%20is%20therefore%20to%20the%20advantage%20of%20good%20men%2C%20and%20it%20enables%20them%20to%20live%20without%20fear%2C%20to%20be%20on%20terms%20of%20intimacy%20with%20danger%20and%20to%20bear%20with%20serenity%20a%20fortune%20that%20is%20ill%20only%20to%20him%20who%20bears%20it%20ill.%22&f=false">Seneca writes</a>, “Trees that have grown in a sunny vale are fragile. It is therefore to the advantage of good men, and it enables them to live without fear, to be on terms of intimacy with danger and to bear with serenity a fortune that is ill only to him who bears it ill.”</p>
<p>Much the same point is made by Edgar, disguised as Mad Tom, when he observes in “King Lear” that <a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/text/earlymodern/shakespeare/tragedy/KingLear/KingLear_ACT_IV_SCENE_I">“the worst is not/So long as we can say ‘This is the worst.’”</a> The very fact of being able to comment on how bad things are – and such bemoaning is now a daily ritual for many of us – means that we have survived.</p>
<h2>Divide and conquer – or not</h2>
<p>The second Stoic self-help technique is what Irvine calls <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-guide-to-the-good-life-9780195374612?cc=us&lang=en&">the dichotomy of control</a>: Divide situations into those you have some control over and those you have no control over. </p>
<p>Epictetus <a href="https://donaldrobertson.name/2012/12/06/the-stoic-teachings-of-zeus/">observes that</a> “Of the things that exist, Zeus has put some in our control and some not in our control. Therefore…we must concern ourselves absolutely with the things that are under our control and entrust the things not in our control to the universe.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1333&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235695/original/file-20180910-123131-1lfn2mg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1333&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Epictetus has some answers, too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Irvine <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-guide-to-the-good-life-9780195374612?cc=us&lang=en&">adds a third category</a>, thereby transforming the dichotomy into what he calls a trichotomy: things we have no control over, things we have complete control over and things we have some degree of control over. </p>
<p>We can’t control whether the sun rises tomorrow. </p>
<p>We can control whether we have a third bowl of ice cream, what sweater we choose to wear or whether to press SEND. </p>
<p>And, as for suicides, school shootings, agonized children torn from their parents? We can do something. We can vote, run for office, organize, contribute money or goods. In these ventures we can cooperate with our neighbors and colleagues, acting as hive-like as possible without being paralyzed by anguish.</p>
<h2>Play baseball, go to the park</h2>
<p>Those fortunate enough to experience private joy still sense the shadow of public dread. Yet joy is still joy; life still needs to be lived. </p>
<p>If we’re baseball players, we can play baseball. If we’re grandparents, we can take our grandchildren to the park. We can read – not only the news, but fiction and history that takes us out of our moment. And we can read poetry, which has the power of distilling our times, of making our moral dilemmas, if not precisely soluble, beautifully clear. </p>
<p>If we’re poets, we can write poetry – not a community venture, ordinarily, but what these days is ordinary? Public anguish makes its way into private lives, and some of the best new poetry braids public and private together. I myself both read and write poetry – both activities over which I have a good deal of control. And the poetry I’ve been reading is riveting.</p>
<p>An eloquent recent poem that encompasses the ethical dissonance between home and homelessness, safety and danger, is <a href="http://www.literarymatters.org/1-1-empathy/">A.E. Stallings’s “Empathy</a>.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, the Stoic notion of negative visualization animates the poem’s argument: how good that I and my family are snug in our beds at home and not tossing on a raft in the dark. It could be so much worse:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My love, I’m grateful tonight</p>
<p>Our listing bed isn’t a raft</p>
<p>Precariously adrift</p>
<p>As we dodge the coast-guard light…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And in its final stanza the poem unflinchingly rejects the easy notion of empathy as smug and superficial and hypocritical: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Empathy isn’t generous,</p>
<p>It’s selfish. It’s not being nice</p>
<p>To say I would pay any price</p>
<p>Not to be those who’d die to be us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Rejecting what poet <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_FsgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=%E2%80%9CPray+God+us+keep+from+single+vision+and+Newton%27s+sleep.%E2%80%9D+William+Blake&source=bl&ots=BQkaabc_fM&sig=MpVdropf-b63oi3rxllZXQJYa_k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw7972jbHdAhXLmuAKHXpKB_EQ6AEwAHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CPray%20God%20us%20keep%20from%20single%20vision%20and%20Newton's%20sleep.%E2%80%9D%20William%20Blake&f=false">William Blake called “single vision</a>,” Stallings courageously sees, and seems miraculously to write from, both sides. </p>
<p>She also manages to live on both sides. For the past year and a half, she has been doing extraordinary work with <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/144785/crossing-borders">refugee women and children in Athens</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236042/original/file-20180912-133892-12ugjrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poet A.E. Stallings doing hand-rhymes and songs with refugee children in Athens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Rebecca J. Sweetman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The dark undercurrents roiling in our time can also be felt in <a href="https://newversenews.blogspot.com/2018/06/not-my-son.html">Anna Evans’s “Not My Son,”</a> a villanelle whose rhymes of “border,” “order,” “disorder,” “ignored her,” “implored, her” and “toward her” clang with ominous music.</p>
<p>Poems like “Empathy” and “Not My Son” aren’t comfortable to read, nor were they, presumably, very comfortable to write. But they represent a measure of what some of us who happen to be poets can do; and I’d rather take in the frightening news as these poets thoughtfully and eloquently present it than gobble down headlines raw. </p>
<p>My next collection will be called “Love and Dread.” The Stoics knew that dread is always part of the picture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Hadas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From human suffering to political chicanery to environmental degradation, the tide of bad news, blared in headlines every day, seems overwhelming. One poet and classics scholar asks: What can be done?Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/812202017-07-20T01:47:26Z2017-07-20T01:47:26ZWhy the US doesn’t understand Chinese thought – and must<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178694/original/file-20170718-2912-196tw9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plato, Confucius and Aristotle. Ancient Greek philosophy is widely taught in American universities, but classes in Chinese philosophy are few and far between.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/china-stature-figure-sculpture-1703288/">Public domain</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The need for the U.S. to understand China is obvious. The Chinese economy is on track to <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/02/09/study-china-will-overtake-the-u-s-as-worlds-largest-economy-before-2030/">become the largest in the world by 2030</a>, Chinese leadership may be the key to <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/does-china-have-a-secret-solution-for-north-korea/">resolving the nuclear crisis with North Korea</a> and China has military and economic ambitions in <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38729207">the South China Sea</a> and <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/china-ready-war-india-open-fire-border-638300">India</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/world/asia/trump-taiwan-and-china-the-controversy-explained.html">Trump administration has shown</a> (<a href="http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2017/07/10/499312/the-white.htm">repeatedly</a>) that it’s not even clear on the difference between the People’s Republic of China (the authoritarian state that occupies the mainland and that recently <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-winnie-the-pooh-xi-jinping-president-sina-wibo-gifs-wechat-state-censor-communist-congress-a7845671.html">blacklisted Winnie the Pooh</a>) and the Republic of China (the <a href="http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/viewpoint/how-contagious-taiwans-democracy">democratic state</a> that occupies the island of Taiwan and that numerous U.S. presidents have defended against <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/aircraft-carriers-in-the-taiwan-strait/">mainland Chinese shows of force</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178700/original/file-20170718-20386-ed77ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G20 conference in Hamburg, Germany.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/China-White-House-Gaffe/6c5dca6f7952497c8bd6ee1e9cbc57d1/1/0">Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Part of what U.S. diplomats and informed citizens need to know is the <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/feature/5-colossal-events-changed-china-forever-13046">basic historical background</a> to contemporary China. However, as a <a href="http://www.bryanvannorden.com/">scholar of Chinese philosophy</a>, I believe it’s at least as important to understand how China thinks.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, very few universities in the United States teach traditional Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism or Daoism. Why not? And why should we care?</p>
<h2>Why study Chinese philosophy?</h2>
<p>There are at least three reasons that the lack of Chinese philosophy instruction in U.S. universities is problematic.</p>
<p>First, <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-steps-up-as-us-steps-back-from-global-leadership-70962">China is an increasingly important world power</a>, both economically and geopolitically – and traditional philosophy is of continuing relevance in China. President Xi Jinping <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/xismoments/2017-05/12/content_29324341.htm">has repeatedly praised Confucius</a>, the influential Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 B.C.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"886684878162599936"}"></div></p>
<p>Like the Buddha, Jesus and Socrates, Confucius has been variously interpreted – sometimes idolized and other times demonized. At the beginning of the 20th century, some Chinese modernizers claimed that <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520068377">Confucianism was authoritarian and dogmatic</a> at its core. Other thinkers have suggested that <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9838.html">Confucianism provides a meritocratic alternative</a> that is arguably superior to Western liberal democracy.</p>
<p>Second, Chinese philosophy has much to offer simply as philosophy. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia expressed a common misconception about Chinese philosophy, dismissing it as the “<a href="http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/confucius-on-gay-marriage/">mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie</a>.” In reality, Chinese philosophy is rich in persuasive argumentation and careful analysis. </p>
<p>For example, Georgetown professor <a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/emc89/">Erin Cline</a> has shown how Confucian ethics can provide a deeper understanding of <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/families-of-virtue/9780231171557">ethical issues regarding the family</a> and can even inform policy recommendations. Confucians emphasize both the role of parents in nurturing children and the responsibility of government to create environments in which families can flourish. Cline demonstrates that practical initiatives like the <a href="http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/about">Nurse-Family Partnership</a> help to realize both goals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178698/original/file-20170718-10320-1ib05v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chinese philosophers like Confucius have much to teach us. So why are they being ignored in many American universities?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bibbit/2700170983/">Bridget Coila</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The third reason that it’s important to add Chinese philosophy to the curriculum has to do with the need for cultural diversity. As two philosophers <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0306-schwitzgebel-cherry-philosophy-so-white-20160306-story.html">pointed out</a> in a Los Angeles Times op-ed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…academic philosophy in the United States has a diversity problem. …Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents receiving philosophy Ph.D.’s in this country, 86 percent are non-Hispanic white. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both my own experience and that of many of my colleagues suggest that part of the reason for this is that students of color are confronted with a curriculum that appears to be a temple to the achievements of white men. We need to expand the philosophical curriculum to include not only Chinese philosophy, but also the other <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/taking-back-philosophy/9780231184373">less commonly taught philosophies</a>, including Africana, feminist, indigenous American, Islamic, Latin American and South Asian philosophies.</p>
<h2>Just how bad is the situation?</h2>
<p>Most philosophy departments <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/opinion/if-philosophy-wont-diversify-lets-call-it-what-it-really-is.html">seem unwilling to admit</a> there’s philosophy outside of the European tradition that’s worth studying.</p>
<p>Among the <a href="http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.asp">top 50 philosophy departments in the U.S.</a> that grant a Ph.D., only six (by my reckoning) have a member of their regular faculty who teaches Chinese philosophy: <a href="https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Philosophy/Faculty-Bios/Hagop-Sarkissian">CUNY Graduate Center</a>, <a href="http://philosophy.duke.edu/people/david-b-wong">Duke University</a>, <a href="https://philosophy.berkeley.edu/people/detail/336">University of California at Berkeley</a>, <a href="http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/%7Eeschwitz/">University of California at Riverside</a>, <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/alexusmcleod013/home">University of Connecticut</a> and <a href="http://warpweftandway.com/sonya-hired-michigan/">University of Michigan</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178697/original/file-20170718-5965-aoczbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parmenides (center) and Heraclitus (right) are relatively obscure Greek philosophers, but their disagreement on the changing nature of the universe is still widely taught in the U.S.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/profzucker/14770157081">Raphael via Steven Zuker</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, every one of the top 50 schools has at least one regular member of the philosophy department who can lecture competently on <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/parmenides/#WayCon">Parmenides</a>, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. His only surviving work is a poem filled with cryptic utterances like: “for not to be said and not to be thought / is it that it is not.” Is this really more profound than the sum total of Chinese philosophy?</p>
<p>I was recently part of <a href="http://www.apaonline.org/?page=E2016_Invited">a panel at a major academic conference</a> that was specifically advertised as an opportunity for nonspecialists to learn about Chinese philosophy. While other sessions at the conference had packed rooms, we lectured to an audience of fewer than a dozen people.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115673/original/image-20160319-4446-1et00s5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Empty room at the start of an American Philosophical Association panel on Chinese philosophy on Jan. 6, 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bryan W. Van Norden</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, at Chinese universities, both Western and traditional Chinese philosophy are routinely taught. China is also heavily investing in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-chinas-education-strategy-fits-into-its-quest-for-global-influence-50864">higher education</a>, while the Trump administration <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-harsh-education-cuts-undermine-his-economic-growth-goals-78297">hopes to slash funding for education</a>. I expect that China understands the U.S. better than we understand it.</p>
<h2>What does the future hold?</h2>
<p>At the beginning of this article, I cited some reasons that China is increasingly important on the world stage. Here’s one more: China is currently starting upon one of the most ambitious building projects in all of human history, the <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/reviving-the-ancient-silk-road-whats-the-big-deal-about-chinas-one-belt-one-road">One Belt, One Road</a> initiative. A modern version of the ancient <a href="http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/about-silk-road">Silk Road</a>, it will expand and solidify Chinese economic and political power across all of Eurasia. </p>
<p>Can the U.S. really afford not to understand this country? As <a href="http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=1117#s10019891">Confucius said,</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Do not worry that others fail to understand you; worry that you fail to understand others.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>This draws on material previously published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinese-philosophy-is-missing-from-u-s-philosophy-departments-should-we-care-56550">this article</a> from May 18, 2016.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81220/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryan W. Van Norden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s more important than ever that the U.S. understand China. So why don’t our universities teach Chinese thought?Bryan W. Van Norden, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Professor, Yale-NUS CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/582572016-12-30T09:18:18Z2016-12-30T09:18:18ZWhat would the ancient astrologers have told us about 2017?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138514/original/image-20160920-12465-1hdl9a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Old sky map depicting boreal and austral hemispheres with constellations and zodiac signs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marzolino/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Apparently 2017 will be <a href="https://www.horoscope.com/us/horoscopes/yearly/2016-horoscope-sagittarius.aspx">my year</a> – indeed, it is a good year for everyone born between November 22 and December 21 under the sign of Sagittarius – half man, half horse, all myth. </p>
<p>Modern astrology as we know it – in the form of a <a href="https://www.astrologyzone.com/">yearly, monthly or daily horoscope</a> – is based on a celestial coordinate system known as the “zodiac”, a Greek word that means the circle of life. And, although astrology has been dated to the third millennium BC, it <a href="http://www.kepler.edu/home/index.php/articles/history-of-astrology/item/324-origins-of-astrology-the-egyptian-legacy">has been argued</a> that it began as soon as humans made a conscious attempt to measure, record and predict seasonal changes.</p>
<p>But, unlike modern times where the idea of star signs and horoscopes is often scoffed at, until the 17th century <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xKBsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=astrology+scholarly+tradition&source=bl&ots=mkGMq15pbi&sig=m0_aIhdafEYcYn-MgcoXES8prJQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi72PGPye7QAhVMCMAKHYuUDyoQ6AEIODAF#v=onepage&q=astrology%20scholarly%20tradition&f=false">astrology was seen as a scholarly tradition</a>. And it is credited as influencing the development of astronomy – because back then its concepts were used in alchemy, mathematics, meteorology and medicine. And it was even accepted in political and cultural circles. </p>
<p>But by the end of the 17th century, emerging scientific concepts in astronomy undermined the theoretical basis of astrology, which as a result fell out of favour.</p>
<h2>The ancient ‘mathematici’</h2>
<p>Medieval astrologers – who were known as mathematici – wove stories in an attempt to say something true about the world. And, much like modern mathematicians, they made predictions which they hoped could be verified.</p>
<p>One of the earliest Christian authors, Origen, <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04161.htm">hinted</a> at the presence and desire for knowledge about the future, given by mathematici. Origen, who had a somewhat uneasy relationship with Christian orthodoxy, speaks of man’s “insatiable desire” to know about the future. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138518/original/image-20160920-12465-1hy63st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Astrologer-astronomer Richard of Wallingford is shown measuring an equatorium with a pair of compasses in this 14th-century work.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He complained about the situation of the Old Testament Israelites who were forbidden from “heathen” <a href="http://www.4angelspublications.com/Books/SiRP/CHAPTER%204.pdf">divination techniques</a>, including “astrology” and argued that in the Israelites’ desperation to know more about their future they turned to their prophets and the stories they told. Though, this was convenient for Origen because he argues that they foretold the coming of Christ. </p>
<p>Several centuries after Origen’s death, bishops at the Christian council of Braga in 561 <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6y41DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA422&lpg=PA422&dq=bishops+at+the+Christian+council+of+Braga+astrology&source=bl&ots=7nAea4bEau&sig=roQQ6CJ54ywxAk5VZGzCIDvun5A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCtdiiyu7QAhVMKsAKHahHAYIQ6AEILDAD#v=onepage&q=bishops%20at%20the%20Christian%20council%20of%20Braga%20astrology&f=false">condemned these mathematici and their stories</a> because of their implicit assumption that the future could be told by looking at the stars – which raised questions about free will. </p>
<h2>Stars aligned</h2>
<p>Throughout history, astrology and the stories told by mathematici were repeatedly condemned – and the frequent criticism of the practice only makes sense in the context of astrology’s prevalence in the everyday life of the early Middle Ages. After all, you can only disprove what is practised.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138516/original/image-20160920-12472-8cgmv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The purported relation between body parts and the signs of the zodiac.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108849">Limbourg brothers - Own work, Public Domain</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Part of the problem was that the stories astrologers and their horoscopes elicited could be dangerous, wielded by kings and emperors like monarchical manifestos that described the tone of their rule, violent or peaceful, long or short. But like beauty, the meaning of a story lies in the eye of the beholder. </p>
<p>Astrology in the Middle Ages held an ambiguous position, disparaged but common, reviled but satiating an “innate desire”. It told stories about the world and the lives of the people in it, stories that hinted at their true desires and motivations. </p>
<p>Such desires are no more apparent and perhaps surprising that in the case of the bishop and <a href="http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_333">amateur astrologer Pierre d’Ailly</a> around the year 1400. At the time, the church faced a division which threatened to rip the institution in two. <a href="https://books.google.ie/books?id=mgnaIRVSx44C&pg=PA450&dq=The+Three+Popes:+An+Account+of+the+Great+Schism&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Three%20Popes%3A%20An%20Account%20of%20the%20Great%20Schism&f=false">The Great Schism</a> was a result of a desire for a Roman pope after years of the pope having a base in Avignon, France – and a series of popes and antipopes brought turmoil to the Church and across Europe. </p>
<p>Plus, historically speaking, the beginnings of centuries and millennia have tended to encourage people to reflect on the stability of the world and its possible end – and the schism brought that sharply into focus.</p>
<p>D’Ailly examined the night sky, but did not predict fire and damnation, instead, he suggested that the end of the world was far in the future, something for other generations to worry about. D’Ailly confounded expectations by reading the stars and telling whoever would listen to him a convenient truth: the stars tell us to press on and to make something more of this world – and who could argue with that? </p>
<h2>Reading the future</h2>
<p>For D’Ailly, the prospect of an imminent apocalypse called only for man to repent and pray – and possibly abandon the institutions that kept the world ticking over. Whereas D'Ailly hoped that, by facing the fact that the world would continue, the church would heal its recent division and carry on with what it was good at – saving souls. </p>
<p>Like D'Ailly, these messages from ancient star gazers tapped into an innate human desire: to gain a sense of control in a world of disorder. Something to hold on to when doubts formed about the road ahead.</p>
<p>Of course, human history is filled with foreboding about the future – and 2016 has shown us that the world is still full of surprises. So while these days we’re not all looking to the skies for an explanation of worldly happenings – like our ancestors did – perhaps we can look to the past to understand people’s desire to make reason out of the unreasonable.</p>
<p>And while astrology has a <a href="http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/astrology_checklist">somewhat problematic relationship</a> with modern science, my own prediction is that the year 2017 looks set to be as turbulent as any. So perhaps D'Ailly was on to something when he suggested we just try to do our best.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58257/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karl Kinsella does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Up until the seventeenth century, astrology was seen as a scholarly tradition, and it is credited as influencing the development of many modern day subjects.Karl Kinsella, Lecturer in Medieval Art and Architectural History, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/517452016-12-23T02:04:56Z2016-12-23T02:04:56ZWhere to start reading philosophy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151438/original/image-20161223-17296-syts5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Time to sink into some deep thoughts.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Philosophy can seem a daunting subject in which to dabble. But there are many wonderful books on philosophy that tackle big ideas without requiring a PhD to digest.</em> </p>
<p><em>Here are some top picks for summer reading material from philosophers across Australia.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Shame and Necessity</h2>
<p><em>by Bernard Williams</em></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151432/original/image-20161223-17310-1mt5014.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After a year of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/brexit-9976">Brexit</a>, the return of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/pauline-hanson-6799">Pauline Hanson</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/donald-trump-10206">Donald Trump</a>, many of us are wondering about the state of our public culture. Are we undergoing some kind of seismic cultural and moral shift in the way we live?</p>
<p>However, the ancient Greeks would have been familiar with these phenomena for all kinds of reasons. They understood how anger, resentment and revenge shape politics. And they had some pretty interesting ways of dealing with outbreaks of populist rage and constitutional crises. Our language is still littered with them: think “ostracism”, “dictatorship” and “oligarchy” (let alone “democracy”).</p>
<p>So, this year, amongst all the noise, I found myself driven back to the Greeks, and especially to some of the ideas that pre-date the great philosophical titans of Plato and Aristotle. </p>
<p>Bernard Williams was one of our most brilliant philosophers, and <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520256439">Shame and Necessity</a> is one of his best books. Stunningly – just given how good this book is, and how deep it goes into the classical mind – he didn’t consider himself a classicist, but rather a philosopher who happened to have benefited from a very good classical education. As a result, he is a delightful guide across the often rugged philosophical, historical and interpretive terrain of pre-Socratic thought.</p>
<p>It might seem daunting at first, but the book is an elegant, searching essay on the ways in which we are now, in so many ways, in a situation more like the ancient Greeks then we realise. But it’s not a plea for a return to some golden age. Far from it. Instead, it challenges some of our most fundamental conceptions of self, responsibility, freedom and community, inviting us to think them afresh. </p>
<p>The heroes of his tale are, interestingly enough, not the philosophers, but the tragedians and poets, who remind us of the complexity, contingency and fragility of our ideas of the good. Although almost 10 years old, it’s a book that gets more interesting the more often you return to it. It’s never been more relevant, or more enjoyable, than now.</p>
<p><em>Duncan Ivison, University of Sydney</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>The Philosophy Book</h2>
<p><em>by Will Buckingham</em></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151433/original/image-20161223-17321-1q7xpgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Remember when the <a href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/">Guinness Book of World Records</a> was the best gift ever for the little (or grown-up) thinker in your family? Well, if you’ve been there, done that for a few Christmases in a row and are in need of an exciting, innovative gift idea, try DK’s big yellow book of intellectual fun: <a href="http://www.dk.com/uk/9781405353298-the-philosophy-book/">The Philosophy Book</a>. </p>
<p>With contributions from a bunch of UK academics, this A4 sized tome is decorated with fun illustrations and great quotes from the world’s best philosophical thinkers. </p>
<p>The structure of the book is historical, with between one to four pages allocated to the “big ideas” from ancient times all the way up to contemporary thought. It is accompanied by a neat glossary and directory: a who’s who of thought-makers. </p>
<p>The focus is on the traditional Western approach to philosophy, although some Eastern thinkers are included. Each historical section – Ancient (700-250 BCE); Medieval (250-1500); The Renaissance (1500-1750); Revolution (1750-1900); Modern (1900-1950); and Contemporary (1950-present) – is divided into classical philosophical ideas from that time period. </p>
<p>There are 107(!) in total, including Socrates’ “The life which is unexamined is not worth living”, Rene Descartes’ “I think therefore I am”, Thomas Hobbes’ “Man is a Machine”, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s “The limits of my language are the limits of my world”, and even Slavoj Žižek’s analysis of Marx, just to name a few. </p>
<p>The reader can trace the history and development of philosophical thought throughout the ages, in the context of what else was occurring at that time in the world. </p>
<p>This gift would be suitable for ages 12+ as it is written in ordinary, accessible language. But, be warned… after reading this, your Boxing Day is likely to be filled with questions such as, “what is truth?”, “how can we think like a mountain?”, “can knowledge be bought and sold?”, and “how did the universe begin?”</p>
<p><em>Laura D’Olimpio, The University of Notre Dame Australia</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>50 Philosophy ideas you really need to know</h2>
<p><em>by Ben Dupré</em></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151437/original/image-20161223-17310-1pqh3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Obviously there are a lot more than <a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/authors/detail.page?id=ylpuyltOFFmDgyVJhkHflceN1Laft7KuAOEUYaZqQUmVhENAZFKLzlXrsHZ6Zw__">50 Philosophical Ideas</a> we really need to know, as this book is a part of a great series of small hardback books that cover most of the great thoughts ever thunk. </p>
<p>Dupré has a lot of fun in these 200 pages, with 50 short essays written on a variety of classical philosophical ideas, including the important thought experiments such as brain in a vat, Plato’s cave, the ship of Theseus, the prisoner’s dilemma and many more. </p>
<p>The book’s blurb asks: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Have you ever lain awake at night fretting over how we can be sure of the reality of the external world? Perhaps we are in fact disembodied brains, floating in vats at the whim of some deranged puppet-master?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is to philosophy that we turn, if not for definite answers to such mysteries, but certainly for multiple responses to these puzzles. The 50 essays in this volume cover things like the problems of knowledge, the philosophy of mind, ethics and animal rights, logic and meaning, science, aesthetics, religion, politics and justice.</p>
<p>There is a nifty timeline running along the footer and inspired quotes by which the reader can link the main ideas, their original thinkers, and the time at which they were writing. </p>
<p>This book would make a great gift for teachers, students and anyone interested in some of the big eternal questions. I would recommend it for ages 12+ given its clear writing style that illuminates and contextualises some of the most important ideas in philosophy.</p>
<p><em>Laura D’Olimpio, The University of Notre Dame Australia</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>On Bullshit</h2>
<p><em>by Harry G Frankfurt</em></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151434/original/image-20161223-17291-58trso.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When someone asks you “where do I start with philosophy?”, it’s tempting to point them to a book that gives an overview of the history, key figures and problems of the discipline. </p>
<p>But what about someone who doesn’t even want to go <em>that</em> far? Not everyone’s prepared to slog their way through Bertrand Russell’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581">History of Western Philosophy</a> like my optometrist once did; every time I’d go in for new glasses he’d give me an update on where he was up to. And even if they’re prepared to put in the effort, some readers might come away from such a book not really seeing the value in philosophy beyond its historical interest. It’s easy to get lost in a fog of Greek names and -isms until you can’t see the <a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Category_mistake">forest for the trees</a>.</p>
<p>So there’s one book I recommend to everyone even if they have <em>no</em> interest in philosophy whatsoever: Harry Frankfurt’s classic 1986 essay “<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7929.html">On Bullshit</a>”, published as a book in 2005. It’s only a few pages long so you can knock it over in a couple of train trips, and it’s a great example of philosophy in action.</p>
<p>Frankfurt starts with the arresting claim that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the best tradition of the discipline, Frankfurt takes something we don’t even typically notice and brings it into the light so we can see just how pervasive, strange and important it is. </p>
<p>Bullshit, Frankfurt argues, is not simply lying. It’s worse than that. In order to lie, you first have to know the truth (or think you do), and you have to care about the truth enough to cover it up. To that extent at least the liar still maintains a relationship to the truth.</p>
<p>The bullshitter, by contrast, doesn’t care about the truth at all. They just want you to believe what they say. What they tell you could even be true, for all they care, it doesn’t matter, so long as you buy it.</p>
<p>The lying/bullshit distinction is <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/124803/donald-trump-not-liar">a remarkably useful</a> analytic tool. Be warned, though: once you have it, you’ll be seeing it <em>everywhere</em>. </p>
<p><em>Patrick Stokes, Deakin University</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>The Guardians in Action: Plato the Teacher</h2>
<p><em>by William H F Altman</em></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151435/original/image-20161223-17305-bu7tiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Plato’s dialogues were conceived by their author as a consummate, step-by-step training in philosophy, starting with the most basic beginners. Such is the orienting claim of <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498517867/The-Guardians-in-Action-Plato-the-Teacher-and-the-Post-Republic-Dialogues-from-Timaeus-to-Theaetetus">The Guardians in Action</a>, the second of a projected three volumes in American scholar William Altman’s continuing contemporary exploration of Plato as a teacher. </p>
<p>Altman, for many years a high school teacher trained in the classical languages and philosophy, has devoted his retirement from the classroom to an extraordinary attempt to reread or <em>reteach</em> the Platonic dialogues as a sequential pedagogical program.</p>
<p>The program begins with Socrates walking into the Hades-like den of sophists in the Protagoras. In the middle, the heart and high point of the 36 texts, stands the Republic, the subject of <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739184417/Plato-the-Teacher-The-Crisis-of-the-Republic">Plato the Teacher: The Crisis of the Republic</a> of 2012 (Volume 1). </p>
<p>Here, the education of the philosopher-“guardians” who will rule in the best city, having seen the true Idea of the Good, is timelessly laid out. The true philosopher, as Altman’s Plato conceived him, must “go back down” into the city to educate his fellows, even though he has seen the Transcendent End of his inquiries. </p>
<p>The Republic itself begins emblematically, with Socrates “going back down” to the Piraeus to talk with his friends. As Altman sees things, the entire Platonic oeuvre ends with Socrates going back down into Athens, staying there to die in a cavelike prison for the sake of philosophy in the Phaedo.</p>
<p>Who then did Plato want for his guardians, on Altman’s reading? <em>We his readers</em> –like the first generation of students in the Academy whom Altman pictures being taught by Plato through the syllabus of the dialogues. </p>
<p>This is an extraordinarily learned book, maybe not for the complete beginner. You need to have spent a lifetime with a thinker to write books like this (with the finale, The Guardians on Trial set to come). </p>
<p>But it is everywhere lightened by Altman’s style, and the warm affection for Plato and for the business of teaching that radiates from every page. So it is most certainly a book for anyone who loves or has ever wondered about Plato, still the original and arguably the best introduction to philosophy.</p>
<p><em>Matt Sharpe, Deakin</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Philosophy as a Way of Life</h2>
<p><em>by Pierre Hadot</em></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151436/original/image-20161223-17312-11nyykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1144&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This book is a collection of essays by the late French philosopher and philologist Pierre Hadot. After 1970, via his studies of classical literature, Hadot became convinced that the ancients conceived of philosophy very differently than we do today. </p>
<p>It was, for them, primarily about educating and forming students, as well as framing arguments and writing books. Its goal was not knowledge alone but wisdom, a knowledge about how to live that translated into transformed ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, mediated by what Hadot calls “spiritual exercises” like the premeditation of evils and death, and the contemplation of natural beauty. </p>
<p>The ideal was the sage, someone whose way of living was characterised by inner freedom, tranquillity, moral conscience and a constant sense of his own small place in the larger, ordered world. </p>
<p>Hadot spent much of the last decades of his life exploring this idea in studies of ancient philosophy, particularly that of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. He wrote long books in this light on Marcus Aurelius (The Inner Citadel) and the German poet Goethe, both of whom feature prominently in the essays in <a href="http://au.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631180338.html">Philosophy as a Way of Life</a>, Hadot’s most popular introductory book. Hadot’s writing is simple and graceful, and has been beautifully preserved in Michael Chase’s translations for English readers.</p>
<p>I’ll let Hadot himself describe his intentions, in a passage which gives a sense of the spirit that breathes through the larger original:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Vauvenargues said, “A truly new and truly original book would be one which made people love old truths.” It is my hope that I have been “truly new and truly original” in this sense, since my goal has indeed been to make people love a few old truths […] there are some truths whose meaning will never be exhausted by the generations of man. It is not that they are difficult; on the contrary, they are often extremely simple. Often, they even appear to be banal. Yet for their meaning to be understood, these truths must be lived, and constantly re-experienced. Each generation must take up, from scratch, the task of learning to read and to re-read these “old truths”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Matt Sharpe, Deakin</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Ivison receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of The Conversation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Sharpe has taught and written on political philosophy at Deakin. He is part of an ARC grant on Religion and Political Thought and coauthor of The Times Will Suit Them: Postmodern Conservatism in Australia (with Geoffrey Boucher).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura D'Olimpio and Patrick Stokes do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Want to contemplate some big questions this summer but don’t know where to start? Here are some top picks from some of Australia’s top philosophers.Patrick Stokes, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Deakin UniversityDuncan Ivison, Professor of Political Philosophy, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), University of SydneyLaura D'Olimpio, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Notre Dame AustraliaMatthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/603022016-06-20T10:04:03Z2016-06-20T10:04:03ZShould ethics professors observe higher standards of behavior?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127161/original/image-20160617-11098-1sa01g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does teaching ethics come with obligations?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lentina_x/3596663014/in/photolist-6tPQBh-7GAf7M-9hUqhm-9siACi-hNadS-5pYW2R-7y7us3-7AKG1M-3P2xtV-73EbF-rmobKP-rmhZFG-abtp9B-cvk7kQ-b5uVW6-cjLcb9-9HVQv-fwmvkW-nJiBxP-7PfbQF-7PfbNe-6tgeoA-5nn7Fj-5nhQJa-5jGjnT-6JoFo-haxGLa-nm5iP-3K7Rqt-aQz4TD-6vH5K6-qTYC1-9Pckrc-5jGjTH-8iJJg9-qTYBY-7fepNb-6EUr43-7cFzEf-ebup7j-6zu8fC-6nMHkE-2vc9u7-3mRmxe-5ctnKU-3d1HaX-5jGjET-afcm6J-5ctnE1-8iJJnY">lentina_x</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This is an enduring dilemma in the area of ethics and one that has recently come to light with charges of unethical behavior brought against a prominent philosopher, Professor <a href="http://philosophy.yale.edu/people/thomas-pogge">Thomas Pogge of Yale University</a>. Pogge has been <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/yale-ethics-professor?utm_term=.jxreEv7Qj#.gxngYnleo">accused of manipulating</a> younger women in his field into sexual relationships, <a href="http://dailynous.com/2016/05/21/thomas-pogge-responds-to-accusations/">a charge he has strenuously denied</a>. </p>
<p>Without making any judgment on the case itself, this situation raises larger questions about how the behavior of the experts in ethics is to be reviewed and evaluated. </p>
<p>As with most professions, there are no “ethics police” in the professions themselves. We who work in these professions are expected to police ourselves according to our codes of ethics, as is the case, for example, with physicians, lawyers and clergy members. Obviously, law enforcement comes into the picture with actions that are against the law. </p>
<p>Of course, we know that these professions also harbor people who do engage in unethical behavior, but in the case of experts in ethics, should we expect a higher standard of good behavior simply because they are experts in ethics? </p>
<h2>Learning from Greek wisdom</h2>
<p>This question would not have made much sense to ancient Western philosophers or to eastern teachers like Confucius, Lao-Tse or the Buddha. The Greek philosopher Plato put it this way – once one understood the good, one would perform good actions. </p>
<p>His teacher Socrates <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0170%3Atext%3DApol.%3Asection%3D29d-e">stated</a> during his trial speech that it was morally better to pursue “truth, understanding and the improvement of the soul” than to give one’s attention “to acquiring as much money as possible and to devote oneself to status and reputation” at the expense of moral concerns. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127163/original/image-20160617-11110-11atx7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is a distinction between what we know we should do, and what we choose to do.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/justinbaeder/194066146/in/photolist-i9D73-8GggAp-cnCiyW-fp2hqE-a24Qxq-EEhp2-dMGwMQ-3f9otk-ptyuFA-68cUpm-9tLrFk-6kNSNw-aSaSPe-psANed-pL1iUK-pL5C3Y-ayJ8RL-pL5BJw-psANc9-pL5BPb-nHNRJq-ptz44k-pHUVAQ-pL5BQo-aSaRUF-5BjW62-82RJAJ-psDnZs-aSaSjk-aSaS6c-aSaSwx-fbo5KK-psDndh-6pa3UQ-psDnpu-psBjQ2-psDnWb-4CxNwF-pK81tm-a9vzo5-psyejR-psDn4E-8h6gJC-psDkXG-brtnLP-pJP5AK-psBjxt-pK3EkX-oNfe3B-brtnNZ">PROJustin Baeder</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As much as we are indebted in Western philosophy to the wisdom of the Greeks, we think about these matters differently today. We now make distinctions between the “cognitive” and “volitional” aspects of ethics: that is, between what we know and what we choose to do. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/hannah-arendt-9187898">Philosopher Hannah Arendt</a> in her two volume work, “The Life of the Mind,” <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hannah-arendt/the-life-of-the-mind-combined-2-volumes-in-1-vols-/">showed the connections</a> and differences between thinking and willing. She noted that these deeply human actions are not always in harmony as we navigate ethical dilemmas. </p>
<p>We may know the right thing to do and yet we choose to perform an unethical action. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Romans-Chapter-7/">Apostle Paul recognized</a> these human conflicts when he wrote in the Epistle to the Romans, the sixth book in the New Testament: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil that I do not want is what I do. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Ethicists and ethical behavior</h2>
<p>Apostle Paul and others who followed him found a spiritual solution to this deep inner conflict. We, however, tend to look to professional disciplines such as philosophy of mind, empirical psychology and moral psychology to illuminate and help resolve these ethical conflicts. </p>
<p>So, what is the relationship between philosophical ethics and actual ethical behavior?</p>
<p><a href="http://philosophy.ucr.edu/eric-schwitzgebel/">Researcher Eric Schwitzgebel</a> at the University of California at Riverside is one of the philosophers currently working on these issues by conducting empirical research into how ethicists actually behave. His work shows how flimsy this relationship can be between views held and real-life moral choices. </p>
<p>Schwitzgebel has done an empirical analysis of what ethicists actually do – not only what they teach in ethics courses. In his analysis, <a href="http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-moral-behavior-of-ethics-professors.html">he does not find</a> that ethicists are any more ethical than most other professionals.<br>
As a result of a survey he conducted in 2009, Schwitzbebel argues that even though ethicists in the survey showed strong ethical knowledge, their moral behavior was not significantly more stringent than academics in other disciplines – both within and beyond philosophy. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127162/original/image-20160617-11112-oggc19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Knowledge of ethics does not make people ethical.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ocs_camp/3525565217/in/photolist-6nxrHc-6kNsc-7Ld23M-6hqKZ7-oWAB3U-MioTi-4B13mM-fAkiBh-qu3FGQ-nzWHjV-4CC5dC-94araG-84EQMW-6kNn7-84EQS9-6kNoP-qZbxE7-9DgmVn-84EQCU-5m8mQ3-84BKbP-84EQyo-Hcsei-5ashWZ-6kNgd-cr58mo-qFyqt-6kNiu-6kNjY-GL1or3-oPdKaZ-2bVfSK-5d4MLv-po9ZoZ-pfQCJG-ef631E-6KqY9U-a1uZpv-5YgqGn-59C5GY-973dtw-97taTJ-csxRZY-8U1C1v-aE3a9c-7nsbJZ-8XLzCQ-aGRBBz-6TQkPo-6eTuZ9">Joseph Gilbert</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In other words, he shows that knowing about ethics did not make them any more ethical in their choices. He chose 10 different ethical issues to investigate and even though his research relied on self-reporting, his methodology was constructed in ways to compare and correct for differences between measured and self-reported responses in the survey.</p>
<p>These findings raise significant questions. For example, if ethicists accept the arguments proposed by <a href="https://uchv.princeton.edu/people/faculty.php#peter-singer">moral philosopher Peter Singer</a> that show the ethical cogency of not eating meat, why are these ethicists not vegetarians? </p>
<p>Singer <a href="http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1980----.pdf">proposes a utilitarian argument</a> for being a vegetarian and argues that utilitarianism’s principle of minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure can be well applied to sentient animals. The injunction to be a vegetarian follows from this principle. </p>
<p>In fact, as Schwitzgebel’s findings show, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2012.727135">60 percent of the ethicists surveyed</a> rated consuming meat as unethical to some degree and yet in behavior their meat consumption did not differ significantly from nonethicists. </p>
<p>Still it seems legitimate to ask, why are they not vegetarians? Why are their choices not in accord with the arguments they support? </p>
<p>In sum, Schwitzgebel and fellow <a href="http://www.stetson.edu/other/faculty/profiles/joshua-rust.php">researcher Joshua Rust</a> have discovered in their empirical study that ethicists <a href="http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/%7Eeschwitz/SchwitzAbs/EthSelfRep.htm">do not show</a> significantly improved moral behavior in comparison to professors in other fields. </p>
<p>We can ask, if one has knowledge and skill in a particular field and teaches that knowledge and skill, why would such a person not put that knowledge and skill into practice? Answers to some of these questions are connected to the ways we use to deal with ethical dilemmas. </p>
<h2>Application of theories</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, we can still ask the central normative ethical question: Ought that be the case? </p>
<p>Furthermore, what is the point of knowing the various ethical theories like utilitarianism that argues for choosing the action that brings about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people affected by the action, duty-based principles that argue for following moral principles, or virtue ethics that supports cultivating virtue as the way to move toward human fulfillment? Can this knowledge be valuable in and of itself?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127164/original/image-20160617-11094-1i28qfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What’s the point of knowing ethical theories?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisdragon/4776589804/in/photolist-8h6gJC-psDkXG-brtnLP-pJP5AK-psBjxt-pK3EkX-oNfe3B-brtnNZ-kSHpz-5Bpeky-aYQeQv-3kJrF-pGXiPE-J8tSpF-psAMwS-pK7ZFQ-81uFZE-9ExCGx-utZaF-dKmU6-BYwvL-4yVLph-FouFp-nrdG-nrdH-H49fC-H4brt-bGZkrD-H49jo-4CAr69-qkjPH-2xgKPW-54wJid-FxbgES-7r88f7-imMZmc-aYQePp-7TC3JC-87GH-5KwmbU-4yZazJ-81JzpW-7LH693-eDDv75-JpQPY-7mVdkm-a7aWir-7BuUGw-a22fJi-eDEemS">Pamela Carls</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/70476606-ae8e-11e3-aaa6-00144feab7de.html">Philosopher Mary Midgley</a> has argued that ethical theory should not be privileged over practice. In her view theory is incomplete <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=7MFEGGHlaxwC&q=33#v=snippet&q=33&f=false">without its application</a> to real-life situations. </p>
<p>And how else is ethics “applied” except by engaging in informed ethical actions? </p>
<p>By analogy, one can study pure mathematics as well as use mathematics in engineering the new bridge. It matters to get the mathematical concepts right as well as their applications to engineering. </p>
<p>In ethics it matters in different, but deeply connected ways, to analyze the theories and to apply them well. During his time in ancient Athens, Socrates wondered how his fellow citizens might be persuaded to live for truth and moral improvement. He thought this could happen at least by examining these questions and living by the answers one discovers. </p>
<p>Such is what we can and should expect of ethicists. Is that too much to ask? </p>
<h2>What is ethics for?</h2>
<p>A final point on ethical behavior and its relation to knowledge: On the one hand, one can certainly be a person of outstanding moral character without delving deeply into ethical theories. </p>
<p>One has to know some things, at least in an intuitive sense, about being good along with the will to do the good in order to perform ethical actions. One need not be an expert in ethics to do so. </p>
<p>On the other hand, being an ethicist does entail some obligation not only to know the good, but to do all that is in one’s power to perform ethical actions. If not, then what is ethics for?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Stark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A prominent ethicist was recently accused of manipulating younger women into sexual relationships. A philosopher argues that being an ethicist comes with obligations. Otherwise, what is ethics for?Judith Stark, Professor of Philosophy, Seton Hall UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.