If you teach philosophy to someone, what one good thing would you teach?

Question

why teach this?

Answer 1

Hi Wisdom.

I would teach someone young to study different philosophical beliefs so he/she will understand all beliefs & religions.

Then I would teach them to see that almost all philosophical beliefs teach people not to desire material things in this world. It is more important to be virtuous & love other people.

They should spend much time in meditation & prayer, trying to be patient for the feeling of peace & contentment to come. It can take many years to reach a level of enlightenment & then to truly feel peace and tranquility.

There is a path we must each get on and follow. It will not be easy at first, because, for most people, letting go of earthly desires is difficult. There will be many experiences along the path of virtuous life, and we need to focus on helping others instead of focusing on ourselves, selfishly.

The more we focus on loving & helping others, the less we will be worried about ourselves. We will learn much along this path, the most important is that there is much suffering in this world. Suffering is there for us and for other people, too. Very often we bring this suffering upon ourselves, not on purpose, but because we are thinking too much about what we would like to do, what we would like to have, etc.

As we study, & as we help others, we will gain more & more knowledge as we learn. We will also learn how difficult the path is, yet we will become stronger in our gentleness. This may sound like a contradiction, but it is not. It does require strength of character to be gentle & slow to anger.

Patience is a very important virtue to learn. Of course, they are all important, but if we gain patience, we will be able to master other virtues much more easily.

Prayer is important and necessary. I believe in God, and I would teach my children to believe the same. Jesus teaches us, like Buddha, that suffering comes from desires; and once we free ourselves from these desires on earth, we will find true peace and tranquility.

Our bodies may suffer, but we will be able to rise above that, to the height where it does not bother us. I know this because that is where I am. All day today I had a smile on my face. I was mostly alone in my room, & I had to say good-bye to one long-time teacher. She is leaving. I will not have to miss her, because I carry her in my heart, so she will still be here with me in spirit.

One day Heaven will be the place we all meet again, because we will have reached that height. Until then,

Peace.

Answer 2

In life there is a conflicting view, as some say we must do to be. Others say we must be to do. It is not to one extreme or the other we must gravitate towards. But we must find balance between being and doing, here is where success is found, and here is where happiness is found. If I do all the time and never take time to be, I become like as a automated robot, a machine; this can lead to depression as feeling like we are in a rut everyday doing the same things.
If I am too much into being, then I stagnate and become like a rock stuck in hard ground, I am not moving, I am not gowning, I am just being, this as well can lead to depression because I feel I am not going anywhere in life I am stuck in a rut but this feels more like a grave because even a rut moves this is stagnate! So when I take time to be, and find answers and plan, then I take time to do the things that I planned while I was being: I create!
We are creative beings, that is a being that be's and does and in that is creating, that is where success is and happiness in the balance of being and doing.

Answer 3

I would teach the different ethics so the students can learn about making qualified decisions and if it's a higher level I might teach Emmanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative because it teaches you about life and living without being religious propaganda like some of the other suggestions in this Q-A

Answer 4

i'd teach to him/her that philosophy in general is constructed by a lot of theories and reasoning and logic, and a lot of wild imagonation but it doesn't mean that there is a right or wrong answer; just a best one or good one. and that philosophy in a sense, changes the same time the world's view changes. why? cause i'm taking philosophy third year and i havinga hard time listening to my professor imply that we don't have what it takes to pass philosophy third year. i can pass this subject. no one has to be really philosophical in thinking to be considered as a philospher. answers is what the subject philosophy searches for, not the intelligence, althoug i must admit, it takes a lot of mental capability to discern what truth and philosophy is all about. =)

Answer 5

I would first teach a person how philosophy came about (it started as a wonder.. the who am i,. what am i.. where am i.. that respectively corresponds to the psycho centric, anthropocentric thinking) then i would teach the importance of philosophy in daily life. It is better to start by making them interested. Cite scenarios here one needs and uses philosophy even without actually realizing it. do not use heavy terminologies at first. it will bore them.

Answer 6

Good question you got. First i will teach him or her the very basic why is the world formed or created. This i think is very basic for a child to know the importance of all the living and non-livings. Why are their creatures we see. All these must be explained to Him to appreciate the beauty of Nature created by God.

Thanks for an interesting question.

Answer 7

I'd try to teach the way to get to that word on your avatar; wisdom. I think that's a good thing. I'd teach it because there is a dearth of it in the world these days, especially the world I know best, the US---

Answer 8

To approach any question, theory, information empirical, or theoretical with the same large dose of scepticism, and apply your own logic based on your own experience. Why? To teach that one must first start with a empty page to write something

Answer 9

That there are no truths in man-made structures of any kind, particularly organisations. Truths only exist in people. Why? All of us need to understand this in order to prevent being corrupted by materialism.

Answer 10

Nothing - because it the most challenging thing to teach!