Does Christian Philosophy Matter? Part II

In this post I want to finish what was mentioned at the end of Part I of "Does Christian Philosophy Matter?"  Then I will try to explain why I think Christian philosophy does matter.



In his article "Does Philosophy Matter?" Stanley Fish claims that philosophy is

"a special, insular form of thought and  its propositions have weight and value only in the precincts of its game."

I think this is a very narrow understanding of philosophy.  He seems to relegate "philosophy" to a domain accessible only to those who have philosophy degrees, or who have studied enough academic philosophy to understand the language.  This is understandable in that discussions between "trained" philosophers can be difficult to navigate.  Nonetheless, I think it is a mistake to understand "philosophy" in this way.

I could say that for any individual S, S is justified in believing p iff S has evidence that supports p.  Or, I could say that a person is being reasonable in holding a certain belief if and only if she has evidence that supports that belief.  I realize that these two propositions are not exactly the same.  For instance, "justified" seems to mean more than simply "being reasonable."  Nonetheless, both of these propositions are an attempt to express the evidentialist principle of justification.  The first is in a somewhat logical form that may not be clear to the "untrained" reader.  The second is an attempt to say the same thing in "lay-person" terms. In other words, in the second form of the proposition the general meaning comes across in such a way that the philosophically "untrained" individual can grasp it.  My point here is simply this, most philosophical propositions can be stated in terms that are accessible to the non-philosophical reader.  Why these propositions are not always stated in a way that is accessible is another post.  For now, it is enough to understand that even "academic" philosophy is not so "insular" that it cannot be grasped outside of the "precincts of its game."  But, maybe Fish is trying to say something else altogether.

Maybe he is trying to say that philosophy has no bearing on anything outside of the discussions held between philosophers.  I find this hard to believe.  I find it hard to believe that Fish believes this.  I think even Fish would agree that Descartes affected how modern foundationalism, as an epistemological viewpoint, occurred.  I also think Fish would agree that foundationalism can affect and has affected how everyday, work-a-day people view the world.  If this is not one philosopher affecting how a lot of people view the world, then I am at a loss as to the meaning of the very words I am writing!  But enough of this "insular" talk, let's get down to business.

Does Christian philosophy matter?  Maybe we should come to a working definition of "Christian philosophy."  "Philosophy" means simply "love of wisdom."  Hence, "Christian philosophy" means "love of Christian wisdom."  This would be a very wide definition of Christian philosophy if we left it at that.  However, it seems that Christian philosophers are doing more than simply "loving" Christian wisdom.

Why do philosophers discuss, debate, and argue?  Do they debate and argue because they have wisdom and this is how they show their love of wisdom?  The answer here is probably, "No."  The reason philosophers discuss, debate, and argue is because either they are seeking wisdom, or they cannot agree as to which "proposition" is the wisest.  Either way, philosophers are always pursuing wisdom.  They are either pursuing wisdom for themselves, or on behalf of someone else (i.e. their opponent).  Therefore, we might say that Christian philosophy is the pursuit of Christian wisdom.  But, why pursue Christian wisdom?

In some way, asking the question "Why pursue Christian wisdom?" is like asking a lover, "Why pursue the beloved?"  Christians pursue Christian wisdom because of love.  Christians love the Beloved and they love pursuing the Beloved.

Christian philosophy, as a practice, is always pursuing knowledge of God and his creation as these are revealed in Jesus Christ.  But the end of this pursuit is not simply knowing.  The end or culmination of this pursuit is to become.  A Christian philosopher is anyone who pursues knowledge of God as revealed in Jesus Christ for the purpose of becoming the image of God.

Does Christian philosophy matter? Yes.  Christian philosophy matters to those who love God as revealed in Jesus Christ.  Of course, some Christian philosophers are pursuing Christian wisdom for their own sake, and some pursue Christian wisdom for the sake of others.  Nonetheless, all Christian philosophers pursue the Beloved for the sake of knowing the Beloved and becoming that which is pursued by the Beloved.    
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“Does Philosophy Matter?,” by Stanley Fish, The New York Times op-ed page, Aug. 1, 2011. 
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/does-philosophy-matter/