Let’s be honest: philosophy isn’t very good at giving us answers. For literally thousands of years, philosophers have been asking the same old questions without producing any real solutions. Do we have free will? Is there an immortal soul? Some say ‘kind of’, some say ‘probably not’, but most people just shrug their shoulders.
This isn’t a failing of philosophy, however. Some questions don’t have hard and fast answers – and often the ‘philosophical shrug’ is the only appropriate response to the multiple confusions that emerge from our hodgepodge of existence. Philosophy isn’t a matter of drawing up a list of what’s true and what’s not. It’s about becoming puzzled in a useful way. It’s about seeing complexity and embracing it. That’s the aim of this book too – to help you become more puzzled, confused and fascinated by the world we inhabit, and the people we share it with.
There are five chapters in all, each split into four lessons. The first, ‘People Skills’, goes through various theories and thoughts about our personal encounters with other people. Is it ever okay to lie? Why do we argue? What does it mean to respect your parents? Chapter 2, ‘Lifestyle’, looks at our lifestyle choices and how we make them. Do you want to get married and have babies? How come? If you’re a vegetarian, should you be a vegan? Is nut-cheese evil? The third chapter is called ‘Self-Help’ and focuses on the self. Your self, my self – what are these mysterious ‘self’ things? What happens to them when you die? Are they the product of a particular political perspective? (Watch out, this chapter might be uncomfortable reading for those prone to existential angst.) ‘Society’ is the theme for Chapter 4. It examines the way we split ourselves into groups along supposedly ‘natural’ lines, and the invisible ideological forces that shape the ways we think. The fifth and final chapter, ‘Recreation’, covers hobbies and pastimes from horror films to computer games. Is it ever okay to enjoy fictional representations of violence? Is creativity learned or innate? And is Marmite objectively disgusting?
Each of these chapters uses work in contemporary epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics and politics to examine everyday issues – because philosophy shouldn’t just be a matter of obscure logical problems and esoteric musings. It should be about our lives and about how we live them.
‘There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know.’
W.E.B. Du Bois