that the point of philosophy is to work out questions
that ''bother'' people, questions like what does it mean
to be human.. or even basic questions like ''what is the meaning of,
the point of existence?" but those aren't the questions that we
actually deal with... we deal with far ''larger'' procedural questions...
''how to deal with global climate''...''how to overcome income inequality''..
''is the government using its powers to weaponized institutions like the
justice department?''
I call these questions procedural questions, as they are not about
our own individual needs or desires.. but about the larger at large
questions of a society, state.... ''what should the tax rate be?''
these questions, while important, are not philosophical questions,
per se...unless we can connect those questions into questions of
being human... or what is the point of life, type of questions....
philosophical questions are not how questions, but why questions...
if we change this law, what will be the impact on citizens in cities?
that is a how question, not a why question... what is the point
of taxes.. that is a philosophical question because it asks why,
not how....
the real questions are questions that impact us in such a way that it
make us question what it means to be human....is ART really
relevant today? that is a philosophical question.. and an important one...
not from a utilitarian viewpoint... because from a utilitarian viewpoint,
ART is superfluous...and offers us nothing...but from an human viewpoint,
ART is one of the reasons for our existence... to have ART is to exist
as a human being.. the beauty of something is as important as
the use of something... and until we recognize this, our lives
will continue to be alienated and disconnected from the state/society/
and each other.... for building a building with utilitarian ideals
does not connect us, but building a building with beauty over function,
connects us in ways that a strictly utilitarian building cannot...
ART and beauty connect us in ways that a strictly utilitarian method
cannot... the point of existence is not about us apart, but about
our connections to each other... to be human is to connect to
other human beings... that is, if not the most essential aspect
of being human, then it is one of the basic and fundamental
parts of being human...and that approach allows us to reject
strictly utilitarian goals and means...
one of the basic questions of philosophy and perhaps them most
ignored questions is the question of Aesthetics...
what is beauty and how do we find it? that question is as important
if not more important as the questions of epistemology or political science....
and we ignore aesthetics at our own peril/risk....
Kropotkin