Nowadays it is common to hear the word philosophy. Before, it was reserved for a few intellectuals, mostly people linked to the human and social sciences. Today, she's on almost every conversation wheel, from the coach's lecture to the church pastor.
Everyone talks about philosophy. However, what philosophy are the football coach and church pastor talking about? Does it belong to philosophy as taught by Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Socrates or Plato?
Of course! The philosophy “taught” today is a philosophy of power, of capitalism, of “spiritual comfort”. A philosophy totally contrary to the principles of Aristotle's philosophy, for example.
For Aristotle, philosophy is the science of first causes, that is, of what constitutes being, the essence of each thing. In this sense, Aristotle stated that astonishment is the category that identifies the good philosopher.
Agreeing with Aristotle, the Norwegian philosopher Jostein Gaarder, in his book "Sofia's world", states that “the only thing we need to become good philosophers is the ability to wonder at things”.
Be that as it may, philosophy has become pop.
Popularly speaking, it is beautiful to quote philosophers, even without knowing anything about these philosophers. Speakers, from the most different areas of knowledge, feel a real attraction for philosophers.
Of course, philosophy is not the private property of philosophers. Nonetheless, it has been used by unscrupulous people (not brave enough to tell the truth), just to take advantage in front of the public or audience.
At the origin of the word philosophy, love and truth form the basis of this “first science”, to quote Aristotle once more. Therefore, the essence of philosophy is the love of truth, and a speaker, a communicator cannot be without the truth.
In other words: truth is erotic, that is, it must attract all people to itself, just as philosophy is, according to Plato. Therefore, the true philosopher must love the truth and not run away from the truth. Only the dishonest, the cowards and the corrupt do not like the truth.
The partnership between philosophy and truth is so noble that it transcends the materiality of the fact and goes even to the spiritual side, because it was Jesus Christ himself who said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”.
In short, since its origins, philosophy has always been attracted to the truth, and today's man flees from the truth as the devil flees from the cross. Let us return, therefore, to the original philosophy, to the true philosophy.
You may like other articles by this author. See also: The Confessions of a Philosopher.
