Last week I was introduced to the course Middle East Philosophy. I had no idea what to expect, but what I did know is that there is a big chance that I’m going to be surprised. I study a global track of philosophy where you ought to compare different philosophies in the world. Philosophy means the love for wisdom. It’s very helpful when you love philosophy to have an open mindset but at the same you should be critical. We notice that there are several philosophies in the world, so you might already be in doubt if something like a universal truth for everyone exists. And if it does which one would be the best? Or could it be that more truths exist, but that depends on your environment? And how did we come to the same knowledge when we didn’t have social media and it when it wasn’t easy to travel? Also what can we learn from other cultures and implement?
Firstly, we have to accept that we can never know everything, but we should always seek the truth. There’s a lot to learn from other cultures. When we don’t know about something then it doesn’t mean that is doesn’t exist. We have to be very careful by saying this is the right way when we didn’t dig in other theories as well. Also when you don’t examine your position it’s automatically weaker, while it gets stronger when it’s still standing after examination.
When you look at Middle East philosophy you see that there’s so much to learn about the past. If you look at the Medieval Period you actually see that it teaches us more than the modern world. We’ve become less tolerant and the entire world is in more danger. In the past there weren’t nuclear bombs threats and now drones are used which can kill 300 children just by pressing a button.
Instead of respecting each others differences, people have become each others worst enemy. When you look at the medieval period, you saw that people differed, with religion for example but, they still respected each other.
All in all, it’s very important to try to look from different perspectives. Privileges can also block to see some things. When you don’t see the harm that’s happening in the world doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Keep your eyes open and try to become more tolerant than you already think you are. By getting to know other traditions, we can understand people their motives better and by understanding you automatically get more tolerant. Deep in to other philosophies, because philosophy brings people closer together. I’m looking forward to get challenged and to broaden my perspective! I will post a weekly update of my advancing knowledge on this blog! See you next week!
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