importance of philosophy

“Now what is the use of science? Science gives us power over Nature. It gives us mastery of all the external conditions, the external aspects of human life. But does science tell us how we should control the power we have, how we should use all the machinery and the utilities that science with its technological applications gives us? Clearly not. In fact, we live in a world in which, made dangerous by this fact, science has given us the untold power of atomic energy. But does science tell us how to use atomic energy, either in peace-time or in war, how to use it for the benefit of mankind instead of the destruction of mankind? In fact, the same scientific skills in medicine or engineering that help us cure and benefit can also help us or enable men to kill and destroy.”  (Mortimer Jerome Adler)

Science is our ungraceful and aggressive way of doing and thinking in order to mimic and understand nature. We mimic and re-contextualize the power nature has given us and try to demonstrate these powers explicitly and mindlessly and not humbly in front of the spirit we call Mother Nature. We have learnt to exploit her and ourselves far more efficiently than any other animal in her kingdom. A purely scientific society may lack in compassion: everything can be analyzed and dissected and studied.  A purely scientific utopia would be excruciatingly boring.  But beyond such a utopia is the mysterious ways of Nature, which will always make us wonder beyond any scientific doubt.

“The use of philosophy consists in giving us not the means, but the direction to the end, pointing out the goal, the things we should see, giving us the standards by which we can control our use of means. And for this very reason, in a world which has more and more science . . . it becomes more and more important to have philosophy and the use of philosophy properly respected. For power without wisdom, the possession of instrumentalities without the understanding of how to apply and direct them is extremely dangerous.”  (Mortimer Jerome Adler)

Wisdom without compassion is useless.  Compassion without wisdom is fatiguing.   Wisdom and compassion cannot be taught.  Wisdom and compassion cannot be put in a textbook.  This is the burden of every wise and compassionate being: to have a precious jewel and yet it’s luster and shine cannot be shared directly with others.   It is a burden for wise to see just how foolish the rest of the world is.  It is a burden for the compassionate being to see just how selfish and greedy the rest of the world is.   Wisdom is not necessarily the fruit of someone practicing philosophy.  Compassion is not necessary the fruit of someone helping other’s in need.  Sometimes we lose wisdom at the beginning of our philosophical quest and lose compassion at the beginning of our quest to save others.