Developing a personal philosophy can be a deeply rewarding life experience. A personal philosophy is a framework that helps you understand who you are and make sense of your life. Developing a personal philosophy is quite difficult, especially for a beginner, but the gratification you get certainly pays off for the effort. This guide will help you get started.
Steps
Step 1. Understand that you are embarking on a journey that lasts a lifetime
Commit to being open-minded and flexible. Your goal is to begin a path of personal growth that will evolve and mature throughout your life experiences.
Step 2. Start reading and learning
Insist on what interests you and try to understand the meaning of the great ideas that interest philosophers.
Step 3. Choose a type of philosophy
Philosophical thought is organized around philosophies of various types, including: axiology, ontology, aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics and political theory. Follow your interests. Feel free to choose more than one type if you find that particular connections exist. You will like to think carefully about how to blend them successfully.
- After opting for a type of philosophy, learn the history behind the philosophy of your choice, including readings from the most representative philosophers. Understand the key questions that have been asked and gain a thorough understanding of the key concepts.
- Improve basic understanding of other types of philosophies. You cannot be an expert in everything, but you recognize the very high value represented by understanding the fundamental elements of what others have done. A broad understanding of the reasons people struggle and the topics of discussion will help you develop your personal philosophy. Feel free to learn from existing ideas and build upon them. It's hard to start from scratch, so why not take another philosopher's ideas as a basic model to get started? Many famous philosophers began this way. For example Plato took the Socratic method based on dialogue and social interaction from Socrates himself and used it as the basis for his remarkably refined literary Socratic method, which in turn was taken by Aristotle to develop the foundations of logic, in particular the syllogisms.
Step 4. Extend and evolve your thinking
The pattern you have chosen is a starting point. As you gain experience in life, give it a practical test and see what works and what doesn't. When you have time, analyze this and refine the outline of your philosophy. Over time, as you solve problems and evaluate the quality of the decisions you have made, you will be able to evolve from where you started to something independent of the original philosophy.
- Become a critical thinker. Don't lose sight of where you got the basis for ideas, principles, theories etc. of your new philosophy. Being able to trace the source of your theories or conclusions will help you defend your ideas or carry them forward. Very little develops from a situation of emptiness.
- Referring to what other philosophers have said gives your philosophy more credibility, because you exhibit your deep knowledge and understanding of existing philosophies.
Step 5. Be patient, and let your ideas spread over time
When you have free time, analyze the pattern of your nascent philosophy and try to spot problems and find solutions. If you gradually develop your philosophy, you will allow it to evolve into something independent of the original philosophy.
- Keep a journal and keep writing down your thoughts and ideas, even if they are not related to each other. Patience is key as it may take years to sort out all discarded notions and find the hidden treasure beneath. The passage of time has a positive influence, as it allows your ideas to continue to evolve and to be tested by everyday events.
-
Ask a few relevant questions, for example:
- What is the purpose of your philosophy? Do you want to apply it to the whole society or just to a part?
- What role do you play within your philosophy? What are the roles, if any, of certain people within your philosophy?
- How will you explain the basics of your philosophy to others? Is it useful on a practical level or is it a utopia?
- How do other beliefs fit and how do other philosophies agree or clash with yours?
- Are you willing to write a thesis or a book on your philosophy? Or would you rather write stories that contain your philosophy but which in terms of structure do not openly constitute a philosophical work?
Form a Philosophy Step 6 Step 6. Talk to other people who are interested in philosophy
These people can point out mistakes you may have missed and propose different solutions. This is useful for developing your philosophy.
- Join some local philosophy group, club or organization.
- Join an online group that has private forums where you can freely share your ideas and get answers.
- Visit your local university and ask to speak to philosophy professors to share your thoughts with them.
- If you find someone else who truly understands where your philosophy is headed, welcome their enthusiasm but take care to continue working on your impressions separately from their enthusiasm. It's hard to follow someone else while you're still trying to figure out what they believe, so their enthusiasm may just be due to the fact that they like you and trust you.
Form a Philosophy Step 7 Step 7. Actively discover / seek out new experiences that help you see things differently and from different angles
- Keep your mind open.
- Learn to accept criticism and grow from it; it could simply help strengthen you and your philosophy.
- Always keep a pencil and notebook handy to jot down any ideas that come to your mind or come across.
Form a Philosophy Step 8 Step 8. Continue reading philosophy texts
It will allow you to see the attempts of previous philosophers, their discoveries and the mistakes they made; in this way you will perfect your philosophy. It will also help you see if you are feeling something that another philosopher has tried in the past.
Form a Philosophy Step 9 Step 9. Keep up to date with what's going on in the world
Try to read a newspaper once in a while. It will help you apply the theories to real situations.
For example, take serious news about problems that affect many sectors of society and ask yourself, "What would I have done?" Work out your answers within the philosophy you are developing to see if it can cope with real events and provide explanations, instructions or greater understanding
Form a Philosophy Step 10 Step 10. Consider yourself as a philosopher, whether you are a professional or not
A career in philosophy or a similar role, such as being a researcher on a panel of experts or an institute, will ensure that you dedicate time on a regular basis to your philosophy, but if you are a philosopher who works part-time be sure to take the time enough for your philosophy, so that you can continue to improve yourself without forgetting a few pieces of your work.
Form a Philosophy Step 11 Step 11. Try to live up to your ideas as much as possible
Even when you are going through something inexplicable, which probably distracts your thinking, pick up the notes you took about your philosophy or the books you are reading that inspired you. It will help you.
Advice
- Use someone else's philosophy as a structure only at the beginning; this way you will first of all build your foundations. As you continue to engage, you will be able to become more confident and trust your philosophical opinions and conclusions.
- Try to extend your philosophy; delve into other types of philosophies to broaden your skills, even if you don't necessarily like what you read or learn. You can learn a lot from what you disagree with, as well as from what matches your thinking.
Warnings
- Don't get angry or demoralized if others don't think like you. Remember that an important part of philosophical reasoning is understanding conflicting points of view.
- As a philosopher, you are a lover of wisdom and truth. Don't back down just because you're afraid of the consequences; if the great philosophers had done so over time, at this time there would be no philosophy on which to base and from which to learn. Sometimes you just have to accept that people don't understand where you're coming from or why you're so passionate about something they can't really understand.
- Isolation and loneliness can be the result of a more mature attitude and perhaps a more radical point of view, but don't wallow in self-pity. Pull yourself up and find like-minded people; remember that truth is more important than fear of what others think of you.
