Thinking was blown in April: it is again the annual month of philosophy. Now there is plenty of food for thought all year round, but this month the organization is specifically drawing attention to the theme ‘me a concern’. According to the website, this theme unfolds around essential questions such as: ‘What is care? Who needs care? ”
There is no doubt that this is an urgent issue nowadays: care is essential. Every person needs care during one or more periods of his life. We also have a lot of worries. Three in four Dutch people For example, is worried about the climate. Here, philosophers are pre -eminently a clean task reserved. Especially a long time ago thinkers (usually men) are cited to assist us during times of existential care makers. It is not uncommon for this accompanied by questionable interpretations of the ideas of, for example, the Stoic thinkers, who are used by all kinds of self -help gurus in ways that these stoicines would certainly like. How can we read the thinkers of yesteryear in this time? Do they still have something to say to us, and if so, what?
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The first particle was recently released from the series The originals: A series in which contemporary thinkers breathe new life into the ideas of old philosophers. The first part, I think I’mis an interpretation of René Descartes interpreted by philosopher and writer Coen Simon ‘ Meditations about the first philosophy. The booklet closely follows the shape of the original Meditationsand Simon writes in new words what might go through the head of the philosopher.
In contrast to the aforementioned self -help stoicins I think I’m A good picture of the nature of Descartes’ ideas: ruthless to everything doubting, always searching for the truth. In the series, for later this year, David Hume and Simone de Beauvoir are still on the program, which in turn will be brought back to life in a similar way, but in the now. I look forward to it; especially the Beauvoir, writer of The second sex, probably still has a few things.
To doubt
This also applies to Descartes. Simon shows that the famous Cartesian doubt can also be explained perfectly in accessible, modern language: “Even if I doubt everything, I am sure that I exist, otherwise I cannot doubt.” These kinds of philosophical thoughts are not necessarily time or location, and they can sometimes seem a bit sung from their social context. Simon, however, also shows convincingly how Cartesian doubt can create social consciousness. With this he really adds something to the original philosophy: the realization ‘that I am not alone in the world’.
That’s a good thing. Descartes himself doubted everything, but in a very abstract way. He did not doubt the world order of his time, at least not openly, and has No political philosophy left. He also thought it was no problem hurting animals (although it has never been proven that he actually carried out anatomical studies on living animals). In this philosophy month with care theme, can we read and retell the works of such a figure without questioning the person behind it?
You can also use philosophy to think about things in the here and now. In On the shoulders of giants Choose the German thinker and writer Michael Schmidt-Salomon for this perspective. The book is not divided by philosopher, but instead on the basis of themes in which we can use philosophers. Not the philosophers are on one, but how they ‘help us understand the world’. Epicurus, a thinker who lived more than two thousand years ago, is cited, for example, when someone whose work can still help with the ‘search for meaning’.
Both the abstract, timeless reading of old texts and the concrete, socially conscious lecture have their advantages and disadvantages. We have to ensure that we do not just pull ideas out of their context. On the other hand, there is the risk that we give too much value to that context and thus be stuck with a canon of unusable ideas that give up miles from the current world. Where the balance lies is ours.