Transcripts
10-Minute Philosophy:
Speaker:From Buddhism to Stoicism,
Speaker:Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some of History's Greatest Thinkers Written by
Speaker:Patrick King
Speaker:Narrated by Russell Newton.
Speaker:Philosophy is one of those words that
Speaker:function like a Rorschach test.
Speaker:Philosophy is one of those words that
Speaker:function like a Rorschach test.
Speaker:A Rorschach test is otherwise known as
Speaker:the inkblot test.
Speaker:Certain types of psychologists show
Speaker:their patients an ambiguous image that
Speaker:vaguely resembles an inkwell spilled
Speaker:onto a piece of paper to gain insight
Speaker:into the perspectives and
Speaker:interpretations of their patient.
Speaker:The thought is that patients will see
Speaker:in the ambiguous image whatever they
Speaker:want to see in it,
Speaker:and that is representative of how they
Speaker:see the world,
Speaker:their emotional state,
Speaker:and so on.
Speaker:Two people looking at the same blurry
Speaker:splotch of ink can see two vastly
Speaker:different images,
Speaker:and it will have nothing to do with the
Speaker:image itself.
Speaker:And so it is with philosophy.
Speaker:I bring this up because philosophy
Speaker:isn’t always viewed with positivity
Speaker:or even interest.
Speaker:If you think of philosophy as
Speaker:time-wasting thumb-twiddling,
Speaker:then that is undoubtedly what you will
Speaker:get out of it.
Speaker:You’ll just hear a multitude of empty
Speaker:platitudes and wonder what the point of
Speaker:it all even is.
Speaker:This skeptical approach is fairly
Speaker:common and at times understandable.
Speaker:After all,
Speaker:what problems are being solved simply
Speaker:by thinking and pontificating about
Speaker:them?
Speaker:Indeed,
Speaker:if I’m hungry or in need of shelter
Speaker:right now,
Speaker:it’s difficult to see the value that
Speaker:philosophy can add to someone’s life.
Speaker:What tangible benefit is there to
Speaker:figuring out the purpose of our lives?
Speaker:Tangible?
Speaker:Zero.
Speaker:But philosophy was never about that.
Speaker:If you’re looking for a field of
Speaker:study to enrich your immediate
Speaker:surroundings,
Speaker:I might suggest that you pick up an
Speaker:engineering or finance book.
Speaker:Philosophy has always been about
Speaker:enriching your thoughts for greater
Speaker:happiness and fulfillment—an
Speaker:immeasurable quantity,
Speaker:but perhaps the greatest purpose of all.
Speaker:Admittedly,
Speaker:this was a mindset I also used to
Speaker:possess.
Speaker:If you were to create a hierarchy in
Speaker:society,
Speaker:especially in more ancient and brutal
Speaker:times,
Speaker:surely a philosopher would rank far
Speaker:lower than the average hunter,
Speaker:carpenter,
Speaker:or fisherman—at least in terms of
Speaker:pure utility.
Speaker:What was the role of a philosopher in a
Speaker:society beyond their teaching duties?
Speaker:But consider how our ancestors were
Speaker:able to figure out calculus,
Speaker:discern the relative size of the earth,
Speaker:and map out constellations.
Speaker:Eventually,
Speaker:when food and shelter weren’t
Speaker:immediate concerns,
Speaker:people were able to just sit and think
Speaker:about things,
Speaker:and this freedom of time is how humans
Speaker:were able to advance.
Speaker:Philosophers became repositories of
Speaker:knowledge and discourse.
Speaker:They became explorers,
Speaker:discoverers,
Speaker:and scientists.
Speaker:It is certainly no coincidence that
Speaker:when we look back at the lives of the
Speaker:most famous philosophers in history,
Speaker:they invariably were also scientists,
Speaker:teachers,
Speaker:and even mathematicians.
Speaker:The human need for understanding (some
Speaker:might say a sense of control)
Speaker:of their surroundings is insatiable,
Speaker:and it’s only natural that it would
Speaker:eventually spill over from practical
Speaker:concerns such as agriculture and
Speaker:calculus into topics such as purpose,
Speaker:ethics,
Speaker:morality,
Speaker:meaning,
Speaker:knowledge,
Speaker:and how to live.
Speaker:To evoke Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
Speaker:once our physical and then emotional
Speaker:needs are satisfied,
Speaker:we will inevitably turn our attention
Speaker:to learning,
Speaker:wisdom,
Speaker:exploration,
Speaker:and fulfillment.
Speaker:The word “philosophy” comes from
Speaker:the Greek phrase meaning “love of
Speaker:wisdom."
Speaker:And who doesn’t want more wisdom?
Speaker:Philosophers began with an intense
Speaker:curiosity about the mysterious world
Speaker:around them and sought out answers in
Speaker:the only way they could.
Speaker:They didn’t have the benefit of
Speaker:science or technology to find answers,
Speaker:so they had to start from ground zero
Speaker:and use thinking,
Speaker:reasoning,
Speaker:and critical analysis to gain truth and
Speaker:knowledge.
Speaker:How might you determine why men and
Speaker:women are different or why the sun
Speaker:rises in the morning?
Speaker:The only place you can start is by
Speaker:thinking and pondering,
Speaker:making observations,
Speaker:and then challenging everything you
Speaker:thought you knew.
Speaker:This is perhaps why philosophy can
Speaker:appear circular and redundant,
Speaker:constantly asking Why do you know what
Speaker:you think you know?
Speaker:That’s all they had,
Speaker:and you’ll get a full dose of that
Speaker:approach when you read later on about
Speaker:Rene Descartes.
Speaker:They grappled with questions that we
Speaker:still can’t prove or definitively
Speaker:answer even with today’s
Speaker:technological advances.
Speaker:But this didn’t deter them.
Speaker:What is life?
Speaker:What is right and wrong?
Speaker:What is our purpose?
Speaker:How should we live our lives?
Speaker:What is real and what is not?
Speaker:Philosophy seeks to answer these
Speaker:questions,
Speaker:and by and large,
Speaker:different schools of philosophy sprang
Speaker:out of different answers and approaches.
Speaker:We’re nowhere closer to objective
Speaker:answers to any of those questions some
Speaker:two millennia later,
Speaker:but many perspectives have been
Speaker:created,
Speaker:each with the possibility of increasing
Speaker:your happiness and fulfillment—your
Speaker:true benefit from learning philosophy.
Speaker:This will ultimately be the purpose of
Speaker:this book - exploring a set of
Speaker:approaches to fulfillment and finding
Speaker:one that helps you find your personal
Speaker:version of it.
Speaker:You might find that none of the
Speaker:approaches resonate except one.
Speaker:In that case,
Speaker:feel free to discard what you don’t
Speaker:like.
Speaker:You might find that each of them
Speaker:resonates in their own way,
Speaker:and in that case,
Speaker:cobble together a Frankenstein version
Speaker:of your approach to happiness,
Speaker:taking bits and pieces from everything.
Speaker:But as you will see from the following
Speaker:thought experiment,
Speaker:it’s not so easy as simply steering
Speaker:your ship toward a destination.
Speaker:The Trolley Dilemma.
Speaker:One of the most famous philosophical
Speaker:questions comes in the form of the
Speaker:trolley dilemma,
Speaker:and it is a question of ethics and
Speaker:morality.
Speaker:You can think of this problem as
Speaker:determining what is moral and what is
Speaker:not,
Speaker:for yourself and others.
Speaker:In doing so,
Speaker:you might find that your idea of
Speaker:morality directly conflicts with that
Speaker:of others.
Speaker:It was originally developed as a
Speaker:thought experiment by Philippa Foot in
Speaker:1967 and adapted by Judith Thomson
Speaker:afterward,
Speaker:and the nature of any dilemma is that
Speaker:it produces different answers that
Speaker:demand to be examined.
Speaker:There is fertile ground for
Speaker:disagreement and exploration of
Speaker:different interpretations.
Speaker:Each different answer underlies a
Speaker:different set of values and formative
Speaker:life experiences.
Speaker:Imagine you are standing beside some
Speaker:trolley tracks.
Speaker:You see a runaway trolley screaming
Speaker:down the tracks toward five workers who
Speaker:are facing away from it and don’t
Speaker:hear it coming.
Speaker:Even if they miraculously become aware
Speaker:of their imminent mortality,
Speaker:they are still doomed to their deaths.
Speaker:You are an innocent bystander,
Speaker:and you fortunately have some knowledge
Speaker:of how trolley tracks work.
Speaker:You see a lever that is connected to
Speaker:the tracks within touching distance,
Speaker:and you realize that if you were to
Speaker:pull the lever,
Speaker:the trolley would be diverted down a
Speaker:second set of tracks and the five
Speaker:workers would be saved.
Speaker:However—and this is where the dilemma
Speaker:comes in—you would be diverting the
Speaker:trolley down a track that would kill
Speaker:one worker.
Speaker:So would you pull the lever and save
Speaker:five people at the expense of one?
Speaker:Would you even act?
Speaker:Could you think in a utilitarian way
Speaker:and reason to yourself that you are
Speaker:actually saving four lives?
Speaker:And would any of those types of
Speaker:thinking affect the amount of guilt you
Speaker:might feel?
Speaker:What about if you didn’t move a
Speaker:muscle—would you be morally wrong for
Speaker:complete inaction?
Speaker:What if you didn’t want to be
Speaker:responsible for making any decision at
Speaker:all?
Speaker:What if you believed in fatalism and
Speaker:the matter being out of your hands?
Speaker:What if you thought that one life was
Speaker:equal to four lives in the grand scheme
Speaker:of things,
Speaker:so why bother?
Speaker:There is no wrong answer.
Speaker:The trolley itself becomes a substitute
Speaker:for people and forces you to think
Speaker:through the consequences and whether
Speaker:the rightness or wrongness of an action
Speaker:is determined solely by the outcome or
Speaker:by the intentions.
Speaker:In studies and surveys,
Speaker:it turns out most people would pull the
Speaker:lever and divert the trolley to kill
Speaker:one person while sparing five.
Speaker:It seems that instinctually we are
Speaker:mostly utilitarians at heart and will
Speaker:do what is best for the greatest number
Speaker:of people.
Speaker:But does that mean we would sacrifice
Speaker:ourselves in order to let a boatful of
Speaker:children live?
Speaker:What if the five workers were all
Speaker:convicted murderers and the single
Speaker:worker was on par with Mother
Speaker:Teresa’s impact?
Speaker:What if they were five elderly people
Speaker:with raging cancer?
Speaker:The permutations of what these choices
Speaker:can mean and what they say about us are
Speaker:endless.
Speaker:There are no correct or incorrect
Speaker:answers when you are seeking to gain
Speaker:wisdom and knowledge—even an answer
Speaker:that says “I would try to make sure
Speaker:all six people are killed” is not
Speaker:incorrect and provides a valid
Speaker:perspective.
Speaker:We all inherently want to do good,
Speaker:for ourselves and others—or do we?
Speaker:If this is starting to sound confusing,
Speaker:welcome to your quick introduction to
Speaker:philosophical thinking.
Speaker:The trolley dilemma is merely an
Speaker:example of the type of information and
Speaker:knowledge we can gain from simple
Speaker:pondering and thinking;
Speaker:it’s far from a useless pursuit,
Speaker:as these types of considerations
Speaker:influence law,
Speaker:policy,
Speaker:and decisions on both conscious and
Speaker:subconscious levels.
Speaker:In this case,
Speaker:you are forced to explore what it means
Speaker:to be ethical and moral.
Speaker:You will see that there is no such
Speaker:thing as a simple answer inside of a
Speaker:vacuum.
Speaker:Philosophical thinking may not provide
Speaker:tangible benefits in itself,
Speaker:but the process you use to get there
Speaker:certainly will.
Speaker:Philosophy Is About Thinking.
Speaker:What kind of approach do you need in
Speaker:order to have any hope of making sense
Speaker:of the trolley dilemma?
Speaker:For starters,
Speaker:you need a sense of analysis,
Speaker:logic,
Speaker:organization,
Speaker:and the overall ability to think in
Speaker:terms of consequences and implications.
Speaker:When you go down one thread of thought,
Speaker:what are the considerations that arise
Speaker:from it,
Speaker:why do they exist,
Speaker:and what do they lead to?
Speaker:If that leads to a dead end,
Speaker:then you need to be able to backtrack
Speaker:and explore other perspectives with
Speaker:thoroughness.
Speaker:Philosophy requires the unfiltered
Speaker:skill of critical thinking and analysis.
Speaker:It’s something that we constantly pay
Speaker:lip service to but don’t really delve
Speaker:into the meaning of.
Speaker:Unfortunately this does take
Speaker:considerable effort,
Speaker:as it runs counter to how our brains
Speaker:are wired.
Speaker:Philosophy is about the pursuit of
Speaker:thinking,
Speaker:and it teaches analysis of arguments,
Speaker:logical constructions,
Speaker:and critical reasoning.
Speaker:It teaches cognitive biases and logical
Speaker:fallacies,
Speaker:as well as a sense of discovery
Speaker:because,
Speaker:as you can see,
Speaker:no one answer is ever enough.
Speaker:You must always go deeper;
Speaker:there is always a next level down to
Speaker:explore.
Speaker:Your view is always limited and biased;
Speaker:how can you take on a different
Speaker:perspective?
Speaker:While it may sound tedious,
Speaker:for the lover of wisdom,
Speaker:it’s a good thing.
Speaker:You’ll challenge your own point of
Speaker:view and understand why others have
Speaker:merit.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:in the trolley dilemma,
Speaker:it’s about solving a problem with no
Speaker:real answer.
Speaker:With philosophy,
Speaker:you gain creative problem-solving
Speaker:skills.
Speaker:You learn to organize and classify
Speaker:information in a multitude of ways,
Speaker:all useful to a particular purpose.
Speaker:You’ll learn how to construct an
Speaker:argument and identify points that say
Speaker:what they are representing,
Speaker:as well as those that are basically
Speaker:deceptions.
Speaker:Perhaps the greatest and most adaptable
Speaker:skill you gain from philosophy is the
Speaker:ability to function and even thrive in
Speaker:the ambiguous.
Speaker:This is something else that we are
Speaker:wired against—we typically want
Speaker:certainty,
Speaker:especially in the face of a question or
Speaker:problem.
Speaker:But in philosophy,
Speaker:there are no true answers,
Speaker:only multiple valid perspectives.
Speaker:Where does that leave you?
Speaker:Needing to cultivate a set of
Speaker:techniques to question and understand
Speaker:deeper—these are the wandering and
Speaker:circuitous thoughts that appear to lead
Speaker:to nowhere to the casual observer but
Speaker:in reality are drilling down deep into
Speaker:knowledge and wisdom.
Speaker:With this ability comes a certain
Speaker:open-mindedness of what each different
Speaker:perspective entails.
Speaker:That’s something that no one is born
Speaker:with and that we must gain through
Speaker:practice.
Speaker:So if you are skeptical about why you
Speaker:might want to pick this book up or read
Speaker:on,
Speaker:there are very real benefits to
Speaker:learning philosophy—just not if
Speaker:you’re hungry or in need of a place
Speaker:to sleep in the rain.
Speaker:Life is not typically certain or
Speaker:concrete,
Speaker:so abstract thinking will assist you
Speaker:considerably.
Speaker:Yet this still pales in comparison to
Speaker:the value of finding your life
Speaker:philosophy,
Speaker:a personalized path to fulfillment and
Speaker:happiness based on some of history’s
Speaker:greatest thinkers.
Speaker:What’s Your Life Philosophy?
Speaker:Philosophy gives you hard skills,
Speaker:some might even say marketable and
Speaker:employable skills—even if a degree in
Speaker:philosophy is not known as such.
Speaker:But philosophy arguably gives you the
Speaker:most important thing you can have as a
Speaker:person—clarity on your own views,
Speaker:values,
Speaker:and perspectives.
Speaker:And it’s only through understanding
Speaker:those aspects that you can understand
Speaker:how to create the best life for
Speaker:yourself.
Speaker:How did you answer the trolley dilemma?
Speaker:Would you have pulled that lever?
Speaker:What went through your head as you made
Speaker:your decision?
Speaker:That’s who you are at the current
Speaker:moment,
Speaker:for better or worse.
Speaker:That’s where you stand on the
Speaker:spectrum of morality and ethics.
Speaker:It may just be a simple yes or no on
Speaker:pulling the lever,
Speaker:but it speaks to so much more of how
Speaker:you view the world and your place in it.
Speaker:Your actions stem from your values and
Speaker:morals,
Speaker:and it behooves you to understand why
Speaker:you do the things you do.
Speaker:Philosophy imparts self-understanding,
Speaker:one of the rarest qualities in the
Speaker:world.
Speaker:You understand what appeals to you and
Speaker:what you simply couldn’t care less
Speaker:about.
Speaker:From self-understanding,
Speaker:you can build the life you want.
Speaker:Imagine if a doctor were to prescribe a
Speaker:course of antibiotics based on only the
Speaker:symptoms and not the causes of an
Speaker:illness.
Speaker:That’s what we are dealing with if we
Speaker:lack self-understanding.
Speaker:This is what I would refer to as a life
Speaker:philosophy—a code of behavior and
Speaker:mindsets that you seek to live your
Speaker:life by to optimize your happiness.
Speaker:They are rules you set for yourself to
Speaker:fulfill your values on a daily basis.
Speaker:The simplest example is someone who
Speaker:endlessly pursues money to the
Speaker:detriment of their relationships.
Speaker:Clearly their philosophy is oriented on
Speaker:wealth,
Speaker:and they gain self-worth from it—even
Speaker:if they don’t know it or want to
Speaker:admit it.
Speaker:If they know it,
Speaker:they can orient themselves toward what
Speaker:fulfills them and avoid that which does
Speaker:not.
Speaker:It’s all we are really looking for in
Speaker:life.
Speaker:Everyone has a life philosophy,
Speaker:but most don’t know they do,
Speaker:and even fewer are able to describe it.
Speaker:If you were to ask someone,
Speaker:it would most likely be someone
Speaker:else’s philosophy parroted back at
Speaker:you.
Speaker:This is simply because most of us
Speaker:don’t know who we are or what we want
Speaker:from life.
Speaker:We are directionless,
Speaker:or we simply float through the path of
Speaker:least resistance and pain.
Speaker:A life philosophy helps you avoid all
Speaker:that by clarifying what is and is not
Speaker:important.
Speaker:That is the biggest benefit of the
Speaker:study of philosophy,
Speaker:and indeed this book seeks to provide
Speaker:the life philosophies of some pretty
Speaker:sharp thinkers to emulate or disregard.
Speaker:What was Aristotle’s take on
Speaker:happiness and fulfillment,
Speaker:and how does that compare to Marcus
Speaker:Aurelius’s or Confucius’s?
Speaker:Does the life philosophy of stoicism
Speaker:align with your values more,
Speaker:or do you prefer the principles of
Speaker:Taoism?
Speaker:What texts shed light on what’s
Speaker:important to you,
Speaker:what you want to avoid,
Speaker:and what you want to emulate?
Speaker:Surely we can learn from these titans
Speaker:of thought.
Speaker:Living without a life philosophy is
Speaker:like sailing a boat without a map,
Speaker:engine,
Speaker:or even end destination in mind.
Speaker:You’re probably seeking contentment
Speaker:and happiness,
Speaker:but you don’t know where it is.
Speaker:You don’t know what direction
Speaker:you’re headed in,
Speaker:and even if you knew,
Speaker:you would have no way to change course.
Speaker:You simply drift according to life’s
Speaker:external forces on you.
Speaker:You might come to the frightening
Speaker:realization that you’ve spent your
Speaker:life drifting toward things you don’t
Speaker:care about.
Speaker:You haven’t chosen your own path;
Speaker:you’ve just acted as a vessel for the
Speaker:people and context surrounding you.
Speaker:Learn about yourself,
Speaker:discover what is important,
Speaker:take responsibility for your own
Speaker:fulfillment,
Speaker:and directly pursue your own definition
Speaker:of happiness.
Speaker:Every small daily action acts to put us
Speaker:either further or closer to the correct
Speaker:course.
Speaker:While an educational tour through some
Speaker:of history’s greatest beliefs,
Speaker:10-Minute Philosophy is ultimately
Speaker:about better and happier living.
Speaker:It would be foolish if we didn’t look
Speaker:into the past and borrow from ancient
Speaker:people’s wisdom and apply it to our
Speaker:own modern lives.
Speaker:Each of the philosophies in this book
Speaker:has undergone thousands of years of
Speaker:scrutiny and has emerged intact.
Speaker:If you take away our modern
Speaker:trappings—electricity,
Speaker:Internet,
Speaker:and jet planes—not much has changed
Speaker:about us.
Speaker:Humans are still perpetually in search
Speaker:of happiness and fulfillment.
Speaker:A final note before we start - this is
Speaker:not meant to be an in-depth primer on
Speaker:multiple sets of religions,
Speaker:philosophies,
Speaker:and belief systems.
Speaker:It is an introduction (10 minutes,
Speaker:so to speak)
Speaker:of what these philosophies espouse and
Speaker:how you might be able to fit them into
Speaker:your life for a boost of happiness and
Speaker:fulfillment.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:ancient beliefs cannot be distilled,
Speaker:but all it takes is a single thought or
Speaker:shift of mindset to dramatically alter
Speaker:your life.
Speaker:Think of it as a shot glass of instant
Speaker:wisdom for your review.
Speaker:Not everything is covered in grinding
Speaker:detail,
Speaker:and concepts have been left out
Speaker:purposefully for clarity’s sake.
Speaker:We have one goal here—find a helpful
Speaker:path to happiness.
Speaker:Takeaways -
Speaker:•Philosophy means different things to
Speaker:different people,
Speaker:so I would like to present what it
Speaker:means to me.
Speaker:It’s about self-understanding and
Speaker:then taking and stealing from some of
Speaker:history’s greatest thinkers to form
Speaker:the basis of what makes you happy.
Speaker:It’s only when you understand
Speaker:yourself that you can move forward in a
Speaker:way that is more likely to lead to your
Speaker:happiness.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:clearer thinking leads to
Speaker:self-understanding,
Speaker:which leads to your life philosophy
Speaker:emerging.
Speaker:Formulating your own life philosophy is
Speaker:key to the life you want,
Speaker:and it influences all of your daily
Speaker:actions,
Speaker:big and small.
Speaker:•The trolley dilemma is a
Speaker:demonstration of the other major
Speaker:benefit of delving into philosophical
Speaker:thought.
Speaker:You learn how to think.
Speaker:You learn how to argue,
Speaker:debate,
Speaker:and reason.
Speaker:You learn how a seemingly innocent or
Speaker:simple question can have wide-ranging
Speaker:implications and consequences.
Speaker:You can learn to thrive in the
Speaker:ungrounded,
Speaker:abstract,
Speaker:and ambiguous.
Speaker:And when you direct this thinking
Speaker:toward deeper questions that philosophy
Speaker:presents,
Speaker:you can begin to understand yourself
Speaker:more than ever before.
Speaker:•Philosophy won’t directly feed
Speaker:your family or put a roof over your
Speaker:head,
Speaker:but indirectly,
Speaker:it leads to all that and more.
Speaker:This has been
Speaker:10-Minute Philosophy:
Speaker:From Buddhism to Stoicism,
Speaker:Confucius and Aristotle - Bite-Sized Wisdom From Some of History's Greatest Thinkers Written by
Speaker:Patrick King
Speaker:Narrated by Russell Newton.
