Doesn't studying philosophy make you depressed?

Question

Not only for questioning God. Many systems seem logical and believable, bot they ruin the way you see world. In the end you don't know where you are standing. The principles you you built your foundation on are shaking.

Answer 1

What you have to realize about philosophy is that it uses reasoning to pursue perfection. But it has never caught it.

Philosophy has a history - it changes very slowly, but it changes. If you are depressed by philosophy you are depressed by change. But everything changes, even those principles you built your foundation on.

So don't take it too much to heart. Philosophers don't know everything - nobody does - but that doesn't mean nobody knows anything. It all depends on how strictly you define 'knowing'. Philosophy defines it too strictly - in pursuit of that unreachable perfection.

Think of it this way. Doing philosophy is like wearing a t-shirt with 'philosopher' printed on it. Not even philosophers wear that t-shirt all the time. Like everyone else, they live their lives as if there are things - lots of things - they do actually know.

Answer 2

Not all people who study philosophy are depressed. Most people study philosophy because they do not have satisfying answers for fundamental questions about their own life. Sometimes not having answers for these questions can make a person depressed. Other people are depressed even after philosophy because the philosophy they adopt, or come up with on their own, either gives them depressing answers for their questions, or still does not completely answer their questions. However, philosophy is usually not what causes the depression, if there is any. Philosophy gives people a framework by which they can find reasonable answers for their fundamental questions. Though in many cases one finds there are several possible answers and it is difficult to find which one is closer to the truth of the matter. In some cases, the search for the answer is more beneficial than the answer itself.

Answer 3

Not inherently. I don't see why logical and believable systems "ruin" the way one sees the world. What was so perfect about the way one saw the world before being aware of those systems? If one already knew where one was standing previously, why the need to read philosophy? And, even assuming all of what you say is correct, what is so "depressing" about it?

Answer 4

I remember when I first started my degree one of the lecturers said "You will never think about things in the same way again. This will change the way you view the world" She was absolutely right. Challenging ideas is not the most comfortable of laces to be and often feels lonely when ideas you have held dear for a long time no longer stand up to this criticism
It boils down to whether you believe ignorance to be bliss. Do you want the autonomy and poential pai of independent thought; for me freedom comes above all so I would take the risk of sadness everytime

"I may believe in nothing, but it is my nothing"- Manic street praechers

Answer 5

This is the funniest thing I read today! lol.

It has achieved it's purpose if you feel that way. Philosophy is designed to make you question your beliefs and principles and make you aware of ones that you did not know existed.

Now you are armed with the knowledge of how to be a critical thinker and you will make decisions and acquire principles with more resolve than before.

You will not automatically believe something without thinking it through first.

Answer 6

I love the hunt of the chase, so to speak, with philosophy...

The trick is to not think of it in terms of answers or questions, the questions asked necessarily aren't meant to receive actual answers but spur conversation and debate...

To me, it is not about looking inside oneself when one answers, it is about whether you can articulate free of your internal issues with the subject matter (if this makes sense): your principles should be unaffected if you can do this

I will debate anything whether I believe it or not, whether it is right or wrong it doesn't matter or indeed whether I know it is true or not: it matters not, philosophy is a process or an exercise rather than a principle

Answer 7

Well now, let's see. I took my first philosophy course (101) at the University of Georgia when I was 17 years old, but it didn't rock my world. I had firm beliefs before that, and I still had them after, but I did enjoy the course. The prof was something of a nut and a comic, and I enjoyed his antics. He would bounce around the room and say things like, "Look at that tree through the window. Now close your eyes. Now look again. Was the tree still there when you weren't looking at it?" It was entertainment more than anything else.

Answer 8

Philo-sofia means the love of knowledge. But in the name of philosophy what is taught is an historical account of other's thoughts of life in the Past, which is irrelevent to your life in the Present, apart from having a job of course. Because it pretends to hold the answers to your life, that is where you get depressed. It would be proper to rename it as "study of History of Philosophy"

Answer 9

Studying philosophy should not make you depressed because philosophy at its highest level of attainment shows that nothing in the world really matters. And understanding that will set you free.

Answer 10

Hell Yes, when you get to the wall, you want to die but you know you can't cuz you don't want to hurt any one. When there's nothing left to do, what is there to do when you know everything? After all scents you've already played everything out in your mind, you have lived forever. You search for some one that's like you but can't fined them. You lorn little odd trick on how to stay just happy Enif to get by.

Well I'm going too far into this. lol Its not fun. I suggest doing drugs before you need some one to fores you to do them. Wale you still have a chances.