This article was taken from the February 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Been cornered by AC Grayling at a drinks party? Talking to a philosopher can be an unnerving experience. Their concerns seem otherworldly, their discourse baffling.
Follow our guide, however, and the experience can prove intellectually rewarding and even a little bit mind-blowing.
Western Analytic or Continental Eastern?
Start by identifying which kind of philosopher you are talking to.
Most will belong to the western analytic tradition, which runs from the ancient Greeks through to Descartes, and on to Bertrand Russell, Rawls and Singer. The analytic philosopher typically disdains continental or eastern philosophy as lacking intellectual rigour and offering only unquantifiable theories of the "good life".
Prepare for frustration
A philosopher is quite capable of doubting whether the chair he or she is sitting in exists, or asking whether there is a universal property " chair" of which all chairs partake. If you think that sounds like nonsense, then you are missing the point. By questioning the basis for our knowledge that something exists, philosophers say we learn more about our assumptions, thought processes and use of language.
Prepare for even more frustration
If you hope to get a straight answer from a philosopher when offering a drink, prepare for disappointment. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers. It is not about finding answers as much as it is about asking questions and examining the basis for the answers we might give. For a philosopher, there is more fun to be had in picking those answers apart. Just buy them whatever you're having.
Take advantage of analytical rigour
Philosophers spend a lot of time thinking about the big questions ("How do I know the Sun will rise tomorrow?"), and are skilled at argument and analysis. Use them as a whetstone to sharpen your views on fondly held theories against their analytical powers. You may come to abandon a favourite theory as unsound or discover new reasons for supporting it. Either way, you gain knowledge.
Revel in the madness
Philosophers have developed some outstandingly bizarre theories.
Ask them about McTaggart's theory, which claims that time does not, in fact, exist. Or demand to know more about Lewis's theory: for something to be possible there must exist a parallel world in which it actually happened. That is, if you truly exist. Or perhaps you can just show them this page, and save yourself the trouble.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
