"The Wisdoms of Wicker Robinson" pamphlets are
designed and written for
the promotion and better understanding of the humanities.
Its easier to entertain others than it is to educate them.
That being said,
The Wisdoms of Wicker Robinson short and entertaining pamphlets
to introduce others to the thoughts
of the master philosophers and scientists.
Pamphlets in the fields of the humanities:
"Short 'n Sweet" series for introducing
the great philosophers
"Let Me Introduce" is our biography series
"It's a Proven Fact" is our series about science.
Definition of Philosophy
Specifically, philosophy means and includes 5 fields of study
and discourse:
Logic is the study of ideal method in thought and research...
Esthetics is the study of ideal form or beauty
..it is the philosophy of art.
Ethics is the study of ideal conduct. "The highest knowledge",
said Socrates,
"is the knowledge of good and evil and the knowledge of the wisdom of life".
Politics is the study of ideal social organization (not, as one
would suppose, the art and science of capturing and keeping office) monarchy,
aristocracy, democracy, socialism, anarchism, feminism, etc.
Metaphysics is the study of the ultimate reality of all things
...of the real and final nature of matter (ontology) of mind (philosophical philosophy) and of the
interrelation of mind and matter in the processes of perception and knowledge
(epistemology).
(source: The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, Simon and
Schuster, 1953).
Philosophy is risky business! Socrates died in prison,
Plato fled fearing for his safety. Aristotle died in exile. Voltaire was
tossed into the Bastille TWICE...he made a run for it on the third time,
taking with him another man's wife! Emerson, after delivering his Divinity School
Address at Harvard, wasn't invited back for 30 years. Bertrand Russell served
jail time for his anti-war position.
Socrates first stated some important ground rules: "If we could build a
system of morality absolutely independent of religious doctrine, as
valid for the atheist as for the pietist, then theologies might come and go
without loosening
the moral cement that makes of willful individuals the peaceful citizens
of a community".
Yes...simply separation of church and state ! Notice
the implication "makes willful individuals the peaceful citizens of a community"..that friends tells us that governments are designed to both lead its citizens and control its citizens.
Theology, in the past had served the purpose of control and leadership of the citizens, but what of those who were outside the reach of the "faith"?
This was so in Athens at the time of Socrates. Many were skeptics and certainly loose cannons in terms of obedience.
Socrates continued: "Of the gods we know nothing. Do not dispute of such
matters. Do you know so much about human affairs that you're now prepared
to meddle in the affairs of heaven?"
At that point forward there was and is conflict between philosophy and theology. The two subjects are different and unrelated:
philosophy is based on laws
and principles and many have evolved to the sciences, the other based on faith.
Yep! This is me working.