Which is better, the Spoken or Written word?

Question

When conducting philosophy, is speaking to someone or writing something down better for mutual understanding? Should philosophy be taught with oral discussion or by reading and writing papers?

Answer 1

I don't think philosophy can truly survive without both.

The advantage of oral communication is that we quite often reveal underlying (and perhaps unnoticed) thought patterns when we are "thinking out loud." And an oral discussion can cover much more ground in a given amount of time.

Yet sometimes deep concepts need time to be carefully explored and explained, and this cannot be done effectively in an oral format. Instead, we need time to carefully package the concept in well-chosen terms--which is what writing allows us to do. And when we read what someone has written, it allows us to reflect on the idea, reread and pick up the pieces that we may have missed the first time, so that we can respond more intelligently.

Both are crucial to the practice of philosophical discourse. If all philosophy had to be conducted orally, I fear that we would seldom dip below the surface on many topics. But if it were always confined to the written word, progress would be slow and tedious. You have to have both to do philosophy well. Each is better at the task for which it is best suited.

Answer 2

The written word is for Posterity.

The spoken word is Fleeting.

In teaching and learning anything both the spoken and written word are important. But especially in Philosophy, without the Written Word you wouldn't have the thoughts of Aristotle, Demosthenes, Plato and all the dead Greek cats.

You wouldn't have the thoughts of Nietschze, Sartre, Hegel and all the Europeans.

To answer your question directly, I believe Philosophy should be taught primarily with the written word--as it always has been. Interspersed with dialog between professor (teacher) and students.

Answer 3

Oral from someone who knows what they are talking about is the best to get the actual concept down. Because then the person doing the teaching (most likely a teacher, although I've taught alot of philosophy to friends) can rephrase themselves if you don't get a concept or give examples. In texts, if you dont get what the author is saying, he keeps going on and all you can do is reread it and hope it makes sense.

However, if you wanna follow everything more in depth and try to learn as much as you can, then you should turn to written.Written can be reread to understand and to argue better. I like having philosophy arguments through letters and emails since it allows me to reread arguments to understand them and dissect them as well as it allows me to rephrase what i say before I actually send it, becuase if you phrase something wrong while saying it, it can make the philosophy even more confusing then it is.

Answer 4

It depends on the person. I know a number of people who learn and comprehend the spoken word much better than the written word. I am personally very written-word oriented and learn best by reading and/or writing. I would try to find out the learning styles of the people you are working with before making a decision.

Answer 5

For learning the philosophies, written, but for understanding them, I'd rather talk it over than hear what a professor had to say about it.

Answer 6

Either way, it's very difficult to say what you mean with words. They're only symbols and mumblings of the feelings we try to express. Philosophy is a very delicate topic, too, so we misinterpret many things people say and write.

Answer 7

I had been taught:
1. never put into written word, what you don't want held against you.
2. A man's (woman's) word is as good as stone.
3. A man's (woman's) handshake, signs the deal.

In your question, both.

Answer 8

The written word last a lot longer.

Answer 9

Written: Homer/Socrates/Plato/Aristotle surely would be difficult
to understand today if they tried to speak! However thank goodness, we have a lot of their written papers.

Answer 10

I believe written is better... in case you don't understand you can always re-read as many times as you want until you fully understand it