Is philosophy the answer? For many, a perfect photo of a surfing legend speaks to their inner search for meaning. Some think the answer lies in the most ancient kind of knowledge.
Surge in search for higher meaning
Is philosophy the answer? For many, a perfect photo of a surfing legend speaks to their inner search for meaning. Some think the answer lies in the most ancient kind of knowledge.
Do you ever feel like the universe is trying to tell you something? A photographer at the Paris OlympicsA major international multi-sport event held every four years. certainly felt that way on Monday when he captured the photo of a lifetime: a Brazilian surfer, one finger outstretched in triumph, seeming to hover in the stormy air through the strength of his self-confidence alone.
If the world has been awestruck by this image, it is perhaps because many of us are looking for a sign that the universe carries some deeper truth for us to find.
After all, we have always read meaning into moments of natural wonder. In ancient Greece, for example, it was believed that the majesty of a solar eclipseA solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow over parts of Earth and blocking the face of the Sun for observers in those locations. was a sign of divine disfavour.1 To punish humans, they thought, the gods had taken away the Sun.
Many cultures also have myths about a wrathfulVery angry. deityA god or goddess. sending a flood to destroy humanity, probably reflecting the common human experience of finding one's entire life upended by natural disaster.2
In these circumstances, it can be comforting to believe there is some meaning behind the disasters that befall us.
Many feel we are deeply in need of such meaning today, when the news often seems to be one disaster after another: climate breakdown, war, crime, political chaos.
But today we can find little comfort in myths - which is why some think we can get to grips with the fundamental truths of the universe only through philosophy.
Today, we tend to think philosophers are working in their own little world, with airy-fairy theories that are far removed from real life.
But philosophy began as a way of understanding the world. Most of the early philosophers were also scientists with a profound interest in the natural world: AristotleA student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great and the father of political philosophy. spent much of his life dissecting and studying marine life.3
And most philosophers throughout history believed truth is something that we can find in the world if we train our minds in the right way.
Aristotle's tutor, PlatoOne of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers. , believed that everything we see is a copy of a set of "forms" that we cannot access through our senses but that we can perceive through reason.4
Many thinkers, such as Immanuel KantA German Enlightenment philosopher who is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the modern era. He fundamentally changed the way we think about a variety of subjects, from aesthetics to cognition to morality., also thought that the laws of true morality could be discovered in the same way as the laws of nature: through a mix of empiricalThrough observation or experience, rather than just theory. observation and critical thinking.5
So it is little wonder that in the modern day, more and more people are turning to philosophers to help them figure out the truth of their own lives.
The last few years have seen a surge of interest in philosophical counselling, a kind of therapy that encourages people to reconsider, not their thoughts or behaviours, but their value systems.
For example, certain people might want to break up a happy marriage because they have a sense that they want to be free. A philosophical counsellor can help them see that freedom is not just doing whatever they want, but making a choice about the kind of life they want to lead.
Which is why some think that when the world seems to be telling us something, as it did on Monday, philosophy can help us understand what it is.
Is philosophy the answer?
Yes: Philosophy had its start as a way of understanding the world and its connection with our own minds. Today it can still help us find the meaning in tricky situations.
No: Karl MarxA 19th-Century German economist and philosopher who argued that capitalism was doomed to collapse. once said, "the philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." There is no point in understanding things if we are not moved to better them.
Or... Philosophy is one arrow in our intellectual quiver. But there are also other ways of finding truth and meaning in a chaotic world, such as science or faith. We should keep an open mind.
FOR YOUR SUMMER READING CHALLENGE CLUE GO TO STEP SIX IN THE SIX STEPS TO DISCOVERY BELOW.
Olympics - A major international multi-sport event held every four years.
Solar eclipse - A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow over parts of Earth and blocking the face of the Sun for observers in those locations.
Wrathful - Very angry.
Deity - A god or goddess.
Aristotle - A student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great and the father of political philosophy.
Plato - One of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.
Immanuel Kant - A German Enlightenment philosopher who is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the modern era. He fundamentally changed the way we think about a variety of subjects, from aesthetics to cognition to morality.
Empirical - Through observation or experience, rather than just theory.
Karl Marx - A 19th-Century German economist and philosopher who argued that capitalism was doomed to collapse.
Surge in search for higher meaning

Glossary
Olympics - A major international multi-sport event held every four years.
Solar eclipse - A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow over parts of Earth and blocking the face of the Sun for observers in those locations.
Wrathful - Very angry.
Deity - A god or goddess.
Aristotle - A student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great and the father of political philosophy.
Plato - One of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.
Immanuel Kant - A German Enlightenment philosopher who is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the modern era. He fundamentally changed the way we think about a variety of subjects, from aesthetics to cognition to morality.
Empirical - Through observation or experience, rather than just theory.
Karl Marx - A 19th-Century German economist and philosopher who argued that capitalism was doomed to collapse.