There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
February 25, 2008Why is it that whenever anyone endeavors upon the journey to truth using the brute force of their mind, it is called philosophy? Have we forgotten that we love her – and we should not try to master her, but to understand her? When did we become so prideful that we started doubting her BEFORE we got to know her?
Oh Sophia, oh sweet darling Sophia we are not worth your trouble. We have forsaken you because of our prideful attachment to our own natural talents rather than allowing you to show yourself – we are afraid that we need you. You have given us signs to lead us to philosophy, signs that fill out rich world with color and light, yet we imagine philosophy as a cold and sterile planet out of our reach. We think philosophy arises from philosophy, and that it only leads to philosophy, and that if we only understand her properly then we can achieve all. But we have forgotten that you lead us with things outside of philosophy, and that philosophy doesn’t always lead to philosophy and that just because something mimics the product of philosophy that does not mean it is philosophy.
This was never meant to be your job – we have foisted it upon you because we have no others to cling to.
Um… ‘Philosophy’ in this quote actually means ‘Science’.
I humbly disagree. In that age of thinking science was philosophy… philosophy was never science. It is only after the invention of scientific thought that we could look back and begin to label thinkers as anything other than lovers of wisdom. I suppose under your assumption you would classify Aristotle’s biology as science?
The post is absolutely correct. In the context of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet is telling Horatio, not about science, but about the limits of human knowledge, especially Reason. Shakespeare was acutely aware of the limits of human understanding. King Lear says, “O Reason not the need!” in a moment of great lucidity, as he realizes that any rationale he could come up with would be perceived as rationalization, or an excuse. Shakespeare knows the heart has its ways, and many modernists have forgotten that in the wake of the “Enlightenment” or Age of Reason. This is my first visit to this site, but won’t be my last.
ZenDada Daddy
ZenDada Daddy,
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I think you are right to quote King Lear in this regard who closely resembles Plato’s philosopher king. Such a relation is important because it elucidates Shakespeare’s distrust for reason but also critiques the philosophy of his day by imposing a classical idea of that same philosophy. This is especially important following Shakespeare as philosophy quickly becomes a way of studying ones beliefs rather than a “love of wisdom”. Under the guise of this new philosophy Reason finds edifies it’s self with self-justifications and becomes the wild beast of our modernity. Please continue to stop by and continue to comment.
~V