Quote from today's post on humanfactor.blog:
"How can we reduce the risk of misunderstanding caused by oversimplification? Complexify our thought. How? By being open to reconsider and ready for new, different interpretations."
#humanfactorblog #humanfactorblogger #philosophicalthoughts #philosophy #simplicity #misunderstood #complexity #derrida #heraclitus

What does it mean to read philosophically? Not just philosophy books but reading as such, as a reading style - philosophical reading. Some will propose that it means critical reading. Analysis of the text, the arguments, the statements, all the time challenging the author with the "so what" type of question in one's mind. I think this is just one part of the story and it's not the most important one by far. For me, philosophical reading begins with the most sincere effort of the reader to understand the book, to engage with the text on its terms and to appreciate its context. Historical, social, cultural. Books, texts, words do not fall out of nowhere, preformed, readymade, unaffected by anything. This becomes evident when we learn about the broader context of a book we have read and suddenly new, broader perspectives of interpretation and understanding it are revealed to us.
#books #reading #philosophy #humanfactorblogger #humanfactorblog

John Stuart Mill said, "I believe in spectacles, but I think eyes are necessary too". It was his response to a question concerning a topic still relevant today. Can we gain wisdom by focusing only on facts and how things work? Conversely, can we ground our ideas about meaning and purpose purely on speculation removed from direct engagement with the facts? Both are two essential parts of one whole. None is sufficient on its own. If you are curious to find out more, head to humanfactor.blog and check out my latest post on John Stuart Mill.
#humanfactorblog #humanfactorblogger #philosophy #JohnStuartMill #philosophicalthoughts #philosophy #wisdom #knowledge #truth #meaning

In his introduction to Continental philosophy, Simon Critchley writes, "it is the business of philosophy to engage in what I have called the production of crisis. That is, philosophy is a critique of existing social praxis, as a variety of unfree or unjust praxis, that aspires towards some goal of individual or collective emancipation."
#humanfactorblogger #humanfactorblog #philosophy #philosophicalthoughts #society #continentalphilosophy