Why is there something rather than nothing?
Does time have a beginning or end?
Such mind-bending questions are standard fodder for philosophers — but some people wonder if there’s any point in asking them.
Why distract ourselves with these sorts of mental puzzles when we could be getting on with the practicality of living?
To meet this doubt head on, consider this wonderful argument from 20th-century philosophical giant, Bertrand Russell... 🧵
In his popular 1912 book, The Problems of Philosophy, Russell argues that regardless of whether we find answers to the ‘big’ questions, it is vital to keep alive our speculative interest in the universe which is apt to be killed if we limit ourselves to what can be known.
Why?
Because it is precisely in philosophy’s uncertainty that we find its value. As Russell puts it:
“The person who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of their age or nation... to such a person the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected.”
As soon as we begin to philosophize, however, we find that “even the most everyday things lead to problems which only very incomplete answers can be given”.
So although philosophy causes uncertainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what things could be, and removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of “those who have never traveled into the region of liberating doubt.” Humbling our certainty leads to another important value, Russell continues.
By dwelling on subjects bigger than ourselves, we attain a life-affirming tranquility: “Contemplation enlarges not only the objects of our thoughts, but also the objects of our actions and our affections: it makes us citizens of the universe, not only of one walled city at war with all the rest.”
So, why ask ‘big’ questions?
As Russell concludes,
Because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.
What do you make of Russell's rallying cry for philosophical contemplation?