Promoting Philosophy
In Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, philosophy was much more popular. People would reconcile their spiritual beliefs with the reflections and morals that philosophy has to offer. The downfall of philosophy began with the spread of Christianity, as one of the main "rules" of Christianity is that you can't believe in anything else, apart from the word of God. In the Middle Ages, looking for knowledge outside of the church was considered blasphemy, so people would generally stay away from things like science and philosophy, because they were told that God's truth was the only thing they needed.
It's fair to say that Christianity also has its own philosophy, but most of it doesn't have another explanation other than "that's what God wants." And that's the main difference between religion and philosophy: while philosophy endorses thinking and asking questions, religion praises the exact opposite. Perhaps that's why people prefer Christianity; it gives them a made-up answer for everything, so it's much easier than going after the truth on your own. Also, philosophy is not just one thing, and it doesn't stay the same forever: it's supposed to change and evolve. But most people are afraid of change.
So how can we try to make philosophy popular again, after all this time? Just like Christianity got some of its ideas from philosophy, I think we should also steal some ideas from Christianity. Here are my proposals:
- Spread the word: One of the main "purposes" of a religious person is to teach other people about their beliefs, in an attempt to persuade them to join the religion. We should do the same with philosophy; let's teach people that there's a world beyond the church and knowledge beyond the Bible. In the early days, philosophers would teach the youth in public places, and they only stopped doing that because of persecution, which today is no longer a problem.
- Build spaces: One of the main ways that Christians show their presence is by building thousands of huge churches around the world. Why don't we also build places dedicated to teaching philosophy that are just as big and prominent? Of course that would require money, but if many people come together, it's definitely possible.
- Make it free: When we are young we go to school, which is free in most parts of the world, but when we become adults the only place we can go for free is the church. If we want to go to a place to learn, such as colleges, we have to pay a lot of money. Many people want to get more knowledge, but simply don't have enough money to do so.
- Create meetups: We could go to public places, such as parks or libraries, and create discussions about philosophy, sharing thoughts and giving away books. Some people just need to know that they are not alone in their pursuit of knowledge to keep learning every day.
- Accept everyone: One of the main problems with religion is that you must meet certain requirements to be part of it, the most obvious one is believing in God. But the great thing about philosophy is that it doesn't care about what you believe; you can be a Christian, an atheist, or a Muslim, it doesn't matter.
- Don't judge: While the goal of religion is to make everyone think the same way about everything, in philosophy people who see the world differently are acclaimed, not subjugated. Different ideas bring more to the table; we can never be afraid to see things from a different perspective.