Witticisms are in their least part philosophy

Duns Scotus (1265-1308) posited true philosophy is true religion. This is the wishful thinking of a pious man, and not the strong thinking of a philosopher. Duns Scotus wrestled with his religion like many philosophers trying to make religion fit philosophy. A man can be sure about his religious beliefs. A philosopher cannot be sure about anything....

It is astounding the credulity, the too easy acceptance of something as truth, science has mustered. Scientists lament the credulity of today's Creationists who hold that the Bible is literal truth. But thousands of years ago it was proved once and for all by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (490BC-425BC), credulity in reason itself is unwarranted, even ridiculous....

It was said of Socrates (469-399 BC), a Greek philosopher, that his rhetoric was so skilled that to those who asked him a philosophical question, he would in return ask questions until their own answers would answer the question they originally asked of Socrates. Socrates’ method of dialectic analysis, his rhetoric, was very clever and philosophically quite astute, because it allowed Socrates to never utter a word that could be doubted, and, yet, his dialectic method satisfactorily answered many puzzling problems...

The philosopher Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) sought as his path to the truth a method of philosophy that would allow mathematical-like philosophical calculations. We can all be thankful Leibniz’s scheme cannot fit reality. Life would be pretty dull, and it would probably resemble your father’s old 1970 Pac Man video game. Mathematics is entirely based in false forms and false ideas, universals, numbers and functions that approximate the real world, but do not reflect the undeniable individuality of every thing in the real world...

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) sought a synthesis out of a priori knowledge, or first knowledge, which is, he supposed, able to provide philosophers with what he termed transcendental knowledge. Philosophy is difficult and slow work. Kant’s short cut is a wrong turn on the path to absolute truth. Kant by his transcendental knowledge intends to arrive at absolute truth, which by his very intent, is anti-philosophic. The very idea that a priori knowledge is infallible truth just isn't credible...

The great pessimist Schopenhauer glimpsed truth when he ascribed to music a kinship with philosophy, though it is surely better to hear it in the sound of the ocean lapping the shore, or, childrens' noises when they are playing. All the sounds of this world are superior to the words that clutter, obscure and too often obstruct our experience of the path towards truth. Schopenhauer is indeed a tragic figure in philosophy, that he in his great effort could not land upon a path towards truth he surely sensed was there in philosophy. We are indebted to him for his great sacrifice. Schopenhauer courageously bore his cross, when as close as he came was to debate himself, What is truth? He remained fixed there throughout facing in exactly the wrong direction, but so close...

Poor Nietzsche has left us with no such warning in his pertinent aphorist ramblings. Nietzsche is a magician of sorts, one with most every ability and trick of a great magician at his adept disposal. Nietzsche uses buckshot to aim at human nature, so of course he hits his target for us. It is Nietzsche who has done most to convince me, witticisms are in their least part philosophy, for witticisms are inherently oppressive, if thought provoking, a process that almost invariably results in error. Nietzsche's puns and his endless efforts to impress us with his odd culturedness, perhaps this was his preferred philosophical method to leave it to the unrequited reader to make our own philosophic discovery? Nietzsche is readible, if not for the most part cogent philosophy. The Second Part An Illustrated Philosophy Primer for Young Readers Precious Life - Empirical Thought. donaldwrobertson@yahoo.com