2019-01-06

The story of philosophy

Is it useful to learn philosophy? Yes.

I have always regarded philosophy as the most difficult major to learn and the least thing I will pay attention to. While if someone dislikes something, he or she hasn’t met the right teacher to guider him or her. Will Durant is the right teacher and Xia Peng is the excellent translator. Will says:

There is a pleasure in philosophy, and a lure even in the mirages of metaphysics, which every student feels until the coarse necessities of physical existence drag him from the heights of thought into the mart of economic strife and gain.

Without physical existence, we can’t live. But if we live solely on flesh and dross, we are nothing but physical objects. People are different from other animals because of their thoughts. After reading several pages of this book, I see that great philosophers live to answer human’s puzzlement in all fields of life, not only talking plainly. Respecting those philosophers and learning from them, I will be more humble and reasonable. They know more than language, they will consider things wholely from logic, esthetics, ethics, politics and metaphysics. But only great philosophers succeed in doing those aspects.

New words

1. Metaphysics 形而上學

2. Meta 在。。。。。。之後

3. Physical existence 物理存在

4. Coarse necessities 粗俗的必要性

5. mart market的變體 the mart of economic strife and gain 柴米油鹽醬醋茶，生活的瑣碎

6. Golden days, the June of life 六月的生命，形容生命的繁茂