Philosophy Pays

Philosophy. The word may sound eye-roll worthy in parents who have saved up thousands of dollars to send their child to college to become a doctor.

“But I could become a Doctor of Philosophy!” the young student might cry, which only increases the parents’ anxiety about their child’s future.

Is their fear warranted, though? The foundation of all human activity is the human mind, and using my brain to think, and write about philosophy, helps me make my living.

Like a blues record, tinny and playing on an old Victrola, proper philosophy pushes us to think actively about life’s purpose, and meaning, in general, and for ourselves individually. A proper philosophy enables the individual to make sense of reality. Period. It deals with reality, it does not suggest reality doesn’t exist or that we are to attempt to grapple with unreality. The ONLY purpose of philosophy is to understand how to live life on Earth. We don’t live on Mars (yet), we live here. We don’t live in our heads, we live in a tangible world we experience with our senses. We can know it, epistemology shows us that. Those who say we can’t aren’t following proper philosophy, they are rationalizing their fantasies. Those who feel that philosophy is boring are not looking at the beauty that the study has to offer. In my own life, philosophy has guided me through the highest highs, and the lowest of lows; it has kept me grounded, and pushed me to strive on to new heights at the same time. I have read novels that stated philosophy in narrative form, and have gleaned from a clarity of mind, and a commitment to purpose I would not otherwise have found. The joy of discovering these deeper meanings in literature, these philosophical tenets, is like no other I’ve ever experienced. I imagine it feels like discovering electricity, or perhaps a new continent.

Reading the ancient philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, shaped my mind in ways I’m still discovering. For me, the greatest of these was Aristotle. Aristotle held pride as the crown of all virtues, which is why it struck me as strange when I learned Thomas Aquinas held onto Aristotelian ideals, despite being a devout Catholic priest. The Church considers pride one of the seven deadly sins, and yet Aquinas became a shining light of reason in the bleakness of the Middle Ages.

Breaking philosophy into its branches: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics, makes it easier for those yearning for enlightenment to grasp.

Let me relate an example from my own life. I once worked at a famous coffeehouse, and one day, I clocked out of my shift and headed to my car to retrieve gifts for my associate-turned-supervisor. It was a stack of books covering all the branches of philosophy. He looked at me with a mixture of puzzlement, admiration, and gratitude, all in one expression. I’d already read them, and absorbed them so well, I knew I could let them go, and they would be in good hands.

Thanks to philosophy, my mind remains focused even in moments of severe stress. No matter how hard my heart thunders, I’m able to regain my sense of calm, and use my mind to pursue a goal, or make a decision. It’s not about backroom gimmicks. It’s about the most precious gift we humans have: the power of the mind, harnessed using the study of philosophy.

Whether we realize it or not, we all have some philosophy of our own; it is the GPS that guides our lives, without which we would simply react to stimuli. In my case, I started with the microwave-ready philosophy that said “don’t do this, and don’t do that,” but didn’t really explain why. Sure, there were a few readings from an ancient text that promised everything would become clear in an afterlife, but nothing that helped me better understand this existence, or how wonderful it could be. It merely gave instructions on how to bow and scrape to a spirit outside the bounds of reality, but that was about it.

I put my mind to the test by attempting to enroll in the University of Delaware as a philosophy major (Dad didn’t mind, I swear!) That was the fall of 2019 and the early winter of 2020. Then the world stopped. My plans for becoming a professional philosopher seemed dashed due to the COVID-19 shutdown. I set that dream as the brilliant poet Langston Hughes said, as “deferred.” I won’t let it explode. Whether I engage in formal education at all, I will one day be a full-fledged philosopher and use the field of study as a career. Even if it kills me.

On August 6, 2019, I rolled right along until the pickup truck driver in front of me slammed on their brakes. I followed that action. My 2007 black classic pickup truck flew airborne and flipped on its side. I saw the glass fly and heard the metal crunch. Then it finally settled. No one was seriously hurt, but we had totaled our trucks. Where was I headed? I was enroute to the gym.

Philosophy? Physical exertion? How could the two ever reconcile? Muscle heads who clang weights, and nerds who push their glasses up, and get nosebleeds from sticking their heads too close to their books...how could the two combine? The answer is philosophy. It’s about the complete well-being of mind and body. While there is no branch that explicitly states you should exercise your physique, a proper one will demonstrate how to best take care of both brains and muscle. In fact, the aesthetics branch is the closest to being about the physical beauty of the human body. Truly, it concerns the nature of art, but can be applied to the healthy human form. The dieting regimens, the routines, the various ways people train, and when they improve their bodies, they grow the “thinking muscle.”

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of reading, understanding and expressing the tenets of a proper philosophy have become even more important. The fear, confusion, and utter death and illness had to be matched. Within a few months, a vaccine had been developed. This is all the result of proper philosophy. The branch of epistemology, or the science of knowledge, namely reason, permitted the bastions of thought, scientists, to go to work because of ideas. The businesses that provided the scientists with the funds to create these vaccines must be given high praise. They would be part of the branch of politics. That’s the branch that allows me, a veteran to get paid based on an illness I sustained while still active in the United States military. Through the system of justice that recognizes individual rights and private property, I’m able to write stories and make money from them. This beautiful arrangement stokes the coals of my soul through and through.

Metaphysics is the first branch but has just a simple explanation. It studies all that exists. It gives the individual the opportunity to understand the universe as it is. This one always challenged me because I didn’t always see the universe as objective. I do now, but before I believed in witches, warlocks, ghosts, and spirits. It’s not that I know better than anyone else, it’s just that I see the world as everything that is real. All outside of reality doesn’t grab at my mind anymore.

Now, with ethics, or the nature of morality, I had been testing the power of philosophy on the basketball court. In a pick-up game when you’re not betting or playing for the affection of a sweet young lady, you’re playing for respect. So during such a game I was cold the whole time. I had the ball passed to me on many occasions but it was like I had ice around my palms and wrists. I was cold from not shooting well! My teammate was a ball of fire. He rained down three pointers and could go into the post with equal ease and score. Finally, the score was locked up. My teammate passed the ball to me. I stood behind the three-point line (almost), but I dribbled and then raised the ball above my head. I released it and all eyes looked skyward. The ball rounded the rim like a spherical, rubber whirlpool. It fell through the net. Normally these kinds of games are scored as two points for threes and everything else is one. Two points wins the game if it is tied up at game point. I looked down. My foot was on the line. Everyone else fixed their eyes on the ball. I had to let everyone know immediately I had in fact scored a single score basket if I wanted to be honest. It wasn’t relief or anything, it just came to me because of my understanding of philosophical principles and the virtues that come with them.

Philosophy is a reality to every thinking human being. Whether someone can point to a specific, unified, codified and whole system of thought, it doesn’t matter. Sadly, some people go through their whole lives and never discover a proper philosophy. But if there is anyone in need of a philosophy it is everyone trying to find meaning in their life.

It doesn’t even require sitting in a university class (although it definitely helps!). Just the exploration of ideas wakes up the mind with new neurons to fire. The best aspect of discovering, adapting, integrating, and applying a proper philosophy is it never stops until the individual breathes their last breath.

It takes decades to live and live up to a philosophy that corresponds to reality. It may be difficult to wean oneself from their attachment to a poor philosophy if it’s all they’ve known their whole lives, but it’s not impossible.

I clearly remember reading enough of a book on ethics to let me know I had to throw away my old life like a hamburger wrapper, and embrace this new way of life like wrapping myself in a towel, fresh from the swimming pool.

I have traveled and seen all walks of life in this beautiful country, the USA. In every case, I saw the virtues and vices in the same individuals and could tell that most of the people I encountered just wanted to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Philosophy has been my way of earning a living on the Web since 2006. I remember using a camera with a maximum of twenty one seconds of memory and no audio. I employed the device like it was a hundred thousand dollar Hollywood apparatus. I’m still proud to have earned three figures with it. Though that’s not a great haul, the principle always sustained me. The dollars have rolled in because I have stated my mission. I will one day present my own philosophy, once it is fully developed and ready for its closeup.

In the time since I posted my first video, I have been representing philosophy in full. A few sites offered advertising revenue, but not much. I remember writing my first piece for Vocal.Media which would garner me more money on the Internet. In 2017, I put up an article which just gained a few cents. I rejoiced. The money was important but what was more crucial was the reality that I could generate cash from my thoughts. Again, this is the politics section of philosophy or defining a proper social system. It relates to a free market society. Under this economic system, I’ve been able to gain even more cash through my work.

I have posted videos, articles, and some audio in the years since. I continue to pay the bills with my passion. It is something I take seriously. That’s why I have so much fun with it. People read my work because of the time and effort I exert to make a piece worthy of publication.

The key to this thing called life is to enjoy it. Everyday isn’t cherries or peaches but it doesn’t mean we sulk and mope around. The Declaration of Independence included a political-philosophical backbone for the United States. It states that all Americans have the right to the pursuit of happiness. It is not a guarantee but an opportunity to make every day the best possible. In consideration of all that this country has to offer the individual, it is wondrous that we have so many chances to achieve success.

Every waking moment, my mind processes the facts of reality. It’s my coping mechanism. It’s like a mental massage which permits me to continue to use ideas to empower myself. I know for a fact my life is better through philosophy. By defining myself and standing tall on the words of America’s first philosopher, I can say the beauty of thinking and living is a boon to the existence of the individual.

Just as billionaires dream of traveling to Mars, I dream of a career built from my philosophy. Already, the philosophy I follow has touched nearly every continent on Earth. Ironically, people from places like South America foster this system of thought more than some people in America. Their passion inspires my aesthetic. I write stories with the intent of motivating minds and to revisit my home state of Delaware through my stories. In this state, there may be a few admirers, but likely few absolute adherents to the philosophy that I have seen to be pure, but that doesn’t stop me from doing my work. That system of thought is Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.

I assert that philosophy pays. Though some parents might weep at the idea of a philosopher son or daughter ending up broke and homeless, I think they should consider the current state of the educational system. It is crippling the minds of America’s youth. That is why the chestnut that philosophy courses lead to positions where students will be relegated to busboy and maî·tre d has persisted through the decades. Maybe those individuals may work those positions for a time, but through effort, they can graduate to becoming career philosophers. Given an environment with a proper philosophy. That is an ideology that advocates the human mind and encourages living life as a human being. The idea of philosophy should be at the forefront for every man and woman on earth, perhaps one day on another planet, too.