10.16.2008
I am not a philosopher
i study philosophy. By which i mean i have had formal training from learned teachers in reading, understanding, assessing, criticizing, and constructing philosophical texts and arguments. i have read, and re-read books and articles, editorials and web-posts, all in the pursuit of being a philosopher. None of this, none of the hours and hours of reading and trying to understand the interweaving of arguments, the countless use of of examples, the criticism of contemporaries or the subtle (and often not so subtle) remarks cutting across dissenting theorists have made me a philosopher—it will take years of being in the world for that to happen. Perhaps in twenty or thirty years i can call myself a philosopher. but i am not a philosopher.
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1 comment:
Interesting thought....does this mean one who is recently married can't be considered a husband yet....or a paid teacher (as defined by a certified body) can't be considered a teacher yet? I dare say that even after 20-30 years, one may not be able to consider himself a philosopher (unless they truly know the meaning of life). For me, I'm still working on the husband example
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