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- What is philosophy, and what does it mean to be a philosopher?
- To me philosophy isn't a subject of study. Rather, philosophy is, at its core, a
- state of curiosity, and philosophical inquiry is the process of intelligently
- questioning and critically examining these curiosities. Often we never find full
- answers to many of our questions, but that isn't the point. The act of
- philosophical inquiry to me is almost like jazz improvisation. We play off of
- fragments, and the goal is to let things unfold naturally as they do, not with
- the goal of composing a full completed piece, but to see which creative avenues
- we might have never thought of exploring. It is the avenues, and not the
- answers, that make philosophical thinking worthwhile.
- Anyone can be a philosopher as long as they foster a creative and curious
- mindset via critical thinking and examining of core questions. The key is to
- keep a sense of wonder. I think that one ideal, and perhaps extreme, example of
- the traits needed to make a great philosopher, is the creative mindset of
- Leonardo da Vinci. Although he wasn't really known to explore all of the classic
- questions of philosoophy, he had the kind of curious sense of wonder needed to
- foster philosophical thinking. He would tinker with his ideas and inventions,
- and even when they failed, he would learn a lot from his mistakes. The goal
- wasn't to find answers to all of his questions, but the goal was to explore his
- curiosities to see what he could come up with. A philosopher is very much like
- this, and we often explore for the sake of exploring. We all have the ability to
- foster the same sense of curiosity and wonder as someone like da Vinci. All that
- is required is that we stay curious and keep asking questions.
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