The other day I was watching TED talk by Barry Schwartz about practical wisdom and doing the right thing. Later the same day I was looking at someone’s Facebook status about philosophy and why others don’t know how to do the right thing. I realized lot of us mistake philosophy with many other branches of knowledge, one of which being practicality. Philosophy is deemed as the “way of life”, it usually briefs about issues with respect to the society, beliefs and age-old theories. Nevertheless, philosophy is different from practicality. There is a quote saying
"If you don't want to be in an argument with someone, it is probably best to try solve the problem, rather than lying around hoping the other person will do it for you."
- E. Lockhart
However, in reality can everyone follow the same philosophy? Of course not! Everyone wants to do the right thing, but the interpretation of what the right thing is different for each individual. What is right for you may not be right for me. In reality, we cannot choose someone’s notion or theory and presume it our own. Individuals tend to append their own distinctive characteristic traits to the ancestral legacy, one of the prime reasons being the situations they have gone through to make them the person they are today. Theories may help us in examining, emphasizing and help in developing a certain frame of mind. Only when you question those assumptions, beliefs, views, suppositions and outlook of philosophy we clearly understand our own approach towards life.
Talking about the above quote, not every one of us wants to confront, have an argument or resolve the problem. Some try to be diplomatic and some are scared to interfere, this may be because humans always try to correlate different scenarios, interconnect unrelated events that lead to further more complications. While some enjoy having, arguments and some others are good at unraveling issues because that is what they are good at. Perhaps the same person who wanted to argue all the time does not want to do it anymore because he/she may be vexed.
Practicality is something that we attain over years, which is certainly dependent upon how we act in a given scenario. Something that comes with experience, because in the real world when situations are not foreseen we cannot think and act wisely instead we try to do something that seems right for us at that instant. Change is very much part of everyone’s life, what we were what we are and what we are going to be is dependent on many other factors. When I cannot be the same person all the time how can I generalize and expect several others to follow the same rules? As quoted above if we think all arguments solve problems then I am sure there should not have been many pending cases in the court, because I am sure all the attorneys are good at arguments and judge will have tough time choosing between the two sides. Therefore, the judge will probably choose an attorney who argues better. However, don’t you think if the attorney is not good at arguments and cannot find enough evidences in the right time to solve the case end up in such a way that innocent people are convicted?
I genuinely think “Philosophy” as a word is often misused and hence lost its meaning. For every problem, there are different perspectives and conclusions based on personal preferences and feelings. Practical wisdom needs affirmation of our purposes and values which we obtain in the quest to pursue the right thing. Philosophy is the pursuit after this practical wisdom. Rather than being confused or misinterpreting about philosophy and practicality that are two different forms of thought, I think we should know where to draw a line.
