History vs Philosphy
Let me begin by stating that I believe both History and philosophy to be important areas of study how I recognize history as much more important between the two. Let me explain. I see History as the study of lives lived where I see philosophy as a method by which to live life. On one hand you are valuing words and deeds, as with history, and on the other you are emphasizing the thought behind those words and deeds.
On thoughts: To me, thoughts in and of themselves do not have any inherent meaning. You cannot understand or interpret a thought. Descartes famously wrote “I think therefor am.” I believe this cannot be further from the truth. In order for an action to take place there must be something physical that receives that action. Likewise, in order for a word to mean anything, there must be somebody or something capable of hearing it. The mind is an isolated organ, nothing can observe it but itself.
Philosophy as meaningless discipline: I will admit, talking philosophy can be a good time, but do we get anything from it? Lets take a look at an example. Person A says: I think the purpose of life is to feel good all the time. Person B says: I disagree I think the purpose of life is to be detached from your emotions. Where could this possibly go? Nowhere is the answer. Neither person is capable of relating to the others thought. Lets say person A and person B agree. Again, in what direction is the conversation headed? You get the idea. Humans are incapable of relating to the thoughts of others as much as they may try.
I’ve had conversations with people and they may say something like “I think im a good person” or “I think my wife and I are a great couple,” “what do you think?” Perhaps they believe they will feel a sense of safety if it turns out others think their same thoughts? I believe the opposite is true. Our minds our designed to judge, label, and classify ourselves and every other person in our lives. It is the mind’s job to measure ourselves against others. The mind instinctively combat’s all those that it perceives as different from itself. With this in mind, I can see why somebody may ask if you think the same thing because they do not want to perceive you as a threat. People who ask this kind of question lack a certain degree of self awareness and understanding of their own thinking.
The problem with isolated thought: Many philosopher’s mistaking believe that thought itself leads to action. I believe this is folly. Action driven my thought alone is purposeless. It is rather awareness of reality that ultimately drives one to take action. For example a student taking a intro to philosophy coarse reads about the stoics and says to himself hey I kinda agree with that that’s how I live my life. I’m going to call myself a stoic now. When that student is confronted with a situation where he is forced to make a decision he now has a framework in the back of his mind dictating to him how he should think, feel, and therefor act. The result is that the student is no longer true to his own nature. He is no longer his own man.
I see this as the main problem with philosophy as a field of study. I see it ripping people away from their true natures.
On history: History is the record of the words and deeds of great and good men alike. It is not about how they thought life should be lived but rather how they chose to live it.