The Personal Philosophy

One of the greatest tragedies in human society is the portrayal of philosophy as an exclusive object, when it is the most common denominator among everyone.

The myth of philosophy as somehow being untouchable by 'average' people is promulgated by pretentious windbags who, by virtue of an elitist sense of superiority, considers themselves and their chosen peers to be the only ones capable of appreciating philosophy. These are the people who consider themselves higher than others, consider themselves possessive of higher understanding and learning than others.

Philosophy is not an obscure work by a French person in the sixteen-hundreds; it is not a manuscript by a German guy dealing with esoterica. It is not made up of unintelligible words or rare verbiage, and a resort to such devices usually reveal a lacking in the essential substance that makes words valuable.

It does not help that most people are intimidated by it, for the aforementioned reasons. This leads to a hopeless cycle of ignorance supported by ignorance.

Philosophy is simply a love of wisdom, and it is something which, I believe, is common to all men. Who among us do not wish to learn more, to know better about the world and how it works? Has this not been our fevered desire as a child, as a curious kid, always reaching, always wanting to grasp something without our reach? How can such a subject as philosophy be only considered available to a chosen few, when it comes free with our humanity?

A person must have an own personal philosophy to be considered a person; it is what defines us, what makes us human. It is what makes us choose between simple things like red or blue, hot or cold, left or right, high or low. It is what influences our decisions in life; a compact car or an SUV?

These are the personal applications of philosophy, not some useless esoteric meandering about things that don't apply to our existence, the sort of mental masturbation that ivory tower sophists indulge in.

However, as usually happens, just because the personal philosophy is important does not mean that it is taken care of, or valued highly. More often than not, the personal philosophy is left to chance. While a person may go to great lengths to take care of one's physical appearance, rare is the person who truly takes the time to examine and recreate the personal philosophy. Rare is the person who analyzes the personal philosophy for flaws and blemishes, smooths it out with care and discipline.

The personal philosophy is the single most important human determinant of achievement; through the proper shaping of it, all things are, within reason, possible.