take a course in Ancient Babylonian Entomology? The concern is that this is just some esoteric relic of the humanities curriculum of the past, no longer at all relevant to modern life.
If you were to hear that many CEOs and other business leaders around the world right now avidly read philosophy, or that even lots of other people at many stages and walks of life do so as well, you might find it puzzling. You may be led to wonder why any busy executive would take valuable time out to devote to philosophy. Or you might pause over what could lead a parent at home engaged in the demanding tasks of raising children to sneak away now and then with a book like this. You could find yourself asking: What’s the relevance of philosophy for life? And what could possibly be the payoff of spending time with philosophy? But don’t worry. The answers to these questions are easy to find.
Mastering analysis
Philosophy as a way of thinking cultivates the ability to analyze complicated problems. It can help you untie mental knots and get to the core of an issue. With an understanding of how philosophy approaches the world, as a big new item in your toolbox, you can get better at breaking problems down into their essential elements, and more manageable components.
Analysis is a skill you need everywhere in life. Lawyers analyze complex claims and sort out the issues; physicians analyze symptoms; detectives look for patterns in the evidence; business people sort through the various parts of an intricate deal; parents try to untangle and get a grip on the issues troubling a family. The skill of analysis is useful in every walk of life. In fact, analysis is so prominent in philosophical ways of thinking that a major trend of 20th-century thought is known as analytic philosophy because of its emphasis on the centrality of this skill. But all good philosophy involves close analysis. Philosophers analyze major problems so that they can sketch out possible solutions, and then analyze those potential solutions for their fitness and truth.
Ultimately, philosophy teaches us how to analyze our lives, with questions like: Who am I? What do I really want and need? What is this life all about? What can make me happy? How can I make my greatest contribution to the world? And: Why didn’t I discover the joy of philosophy much earlier in my life?
In following a philosophical analysis of a major human question and learning from some of the greatest thinkers in history how to tackle a complicated issue, you can become a better analyst of problems and much more analytical in other aspects of your life. Now, this endorsement of analysis is not meant as a suggestion that it’s the most important mental skill, or as a claim that a practice of philosophical analysis is somehow paramount in human life. It’s not. It is, however, important. You can be psychologically paralyzed in many ways if you are unable to analyze your circumstances and opportunities properly. The skill of analysis clarifies your world and liberates you from the vagueness that holds too many people back. As the scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal reminded us long ago, “Man is but a reed, the weakest thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed.” And thinking well is strength.
My point here is that the better you become at analyzing complex problems, the better off you are at solving them. Analysis is a skill that philosophy cultivates. And it’s a skill for all of life. The real truth about thinking and action is that, if you don’t possess analysis as a life skill, you’re much more likely to experience fruitless confusion in the face of difficulty. Analytical acumen, at its best, liberates. And you’ll find that every chapter in this book will train you in careful analysis, by showing how experienced thinkers tackle some of the thorniest problems you will face as you seek to understand life better.
Improving assessment
Philosophy also trains us to assess competing claims. Do people have free will, or are all our actions determined by heredity and environment? Does God exist, or not? Do humans survive physical death, or is everyone destined for personal extinction with the cessation of bodily functions? Does life truly have meaning, or is everything we do ultimately without any real sense and purpose? Is skateboarding great exercise, or maybe the fastest route to the emergency room? (Okay, so not all questions are cosmic in proportion.)
You are often confronted in everyday life by lots of competing claims and alternative proposals you need to assess: Should you find more funds to increase the quality of your product, or concentrate instead on more advertising? One group of experts says that children flourish with more freedom. Another group claims that they require more clear limits and discipline. One political candidate claims to have the best policies and character. A rival candidate calls that guy a dangerous traitor. How do you evaluate and assess such competing claims? Philosophy trains the mind in the fine art of assessment.
In philosophy, you learn to assess a view by asking for evidence or other legitimate reasons to think it’s true. You enhance your ability to evaluate how one proposal for your acceptance may fit or fail to fit with other things you already have strong reason to believe or even know to be true. You are less likely to fall for wild conspiracy theories or clever lies meant to manipulate you and gain your allegiance.
C1: Is it coherent? Do the various components of the view or position hang together logically? Does it make sense? Is it internally consistent? Is it inwardly congruent?
C2: Is it complete? Does it touch on and deal with all the relevant issues that it ought to take in, or does it have gaps and blind spots? Are any concerns swept under the rug? Is it comprehensive enough?
C3: Is it correct? For a position to merely be coherent and complete isn’t enough; the available evidence must point in its direction as the correct contender for truth. Coherence is necessary; completeness is important; but only correctness, in addition, gives you what you fully need. An internally consistent viewpoint
