Here’s a little haiku inspired by Wittgenstein:

All open to view
Bringing itself to an end
Nothing to explain

In Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein posits that “philosophy simply puts everything before us, and neither explains nor deduces anything.—Since everything lies open to view there is nothing to explain” (Anscombe translation, 1958). This last phrase felt very Zen, so it seemed apt to write a haiku!

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Objectivity is an abstraction, obviously. We only ever have access to direct, subjective experience. Even the stories (theories, concepts, interpretations) we tell about those experiences are themselves experienced. So don’t you think it’s weird that we favour that to which we never have direct access – namely, objective truth – over that which is – namely, subjective experience?

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The single most important sentence I read in my formal study of Western philosophy came from the Uber-philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, Bertrand Russell. Wonderfully, it’s a hidden gem, tucked away in Chapter 3 of his great tomb A History of Western Philosophy; in which he surveys the relatively obscure pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus.

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Agreeable people are dishonest because they say “yes” when they mean “no”. They do and say what they think you want them to do and say, because they want a certain response out of you. Now this does not mean they aren’t trying to act nobly, they often are; but let’s just call a spade a spade: they’re being manipulative.

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In a compelling scene from smash-hit film Legally Blonde (2001), a stern, commanding professor says “The law is reason free from passion. Does anyone know who spoke those immortal words?”. Apparently the answer is Aristotle, but I don’t think this is a direct quote. (Fun fact: “Excellence is not an act, but a habit” is also oft attributed to Aristotle, but it comes from Will Durant who wished to sum up an Aristotelian point in The Story of Philosophy)

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