Philosophy Undergraduate Problem. Most Big Problems Seem To Be Solved By Nonduality.

[Dan Arnautu]

So, I am 2 years in my philosophy major and on some disciplines I am starting to not see the value of studying and writing papers about. 

I do like to study things like social and political philosophy, which really do bring my perspectives into a new light, but things like modern philosophy starting from Locke and going on to Hume, Kant, Hegel etc. and philosophy of language create knee jerk reactions in me and even though I read them, I feel that they don't bring me any value. They bring me just some nice fantasies of how people thought the world works in the past and I see how most of the problems they raise would be solved with a nondual approach. Their theoretical base seems shaky to me.

I do not condemn them for thinking that way. They did the best they could in their time, but it's really hard for me to entertain or make myself read about them.

Although, if I would write papers on these by bringing non duality to the table, my teachers would just think I am nuts, except one, who may entertain the idea. Writing papers becomes hard when you know about nonduality. My teachers are so caught in the rationalist trap that they dismiss nonduality entirely and see it as a dogma where some mystics do pseudo-science/pseudo-philosophy and have some funny experiences. 

Actually, I would dare say that my teachers are just running in circles trying to find truth when it's been there for thousands of years, hidding in the background, tainted by eastern cultural baggage.

I would personally just drop the degree altogether but I am already 2 years in and I am doing some things on the side in the city where I'm at for my real career.

Although, I have already failed some classes I don't like such as:

-Medieval Philosophy

-The origins of european philosophy (because of the teachers there)

-Modern logic (highly technical, failed only the last exam, which was the hardest)

QUESTION: How do I keep doing this soul draining kinda need-to-play-dogmatic paper work till I finish college? Any way I can make it easier on myself? It's just one more year, and I'm gonna specialize in moral philosophy in this third year, after which I'm gonna continue with my music career. 

[Dan Arnautu]

@Dingus Interesting. Thanks for the tip.

I might ask him to read this post and give me some feedback if he is willing.

[AlwaysBeNice]

Yeah.. I see it also this way: philosophy is just a rather unfulfilling trap to spend a lot of time on.

Let interesting deep thoughts come as will if they come, and then just let them go, there is nothing to figure out, and you can't figure out emptiness, you can only be it and let it flow.

So yeah my would be advice leave it all behind, and focus on things the stuff that has soul, like music, and spirituality, and just have a little bit of faith in the universe that it will support your brave soulful decision.

[Dan Arnautu]

@AlwaysBeNice It was extremely nice at first. At this I point I already got what I wanted from it and it was a good experiment in order to figure what paths would work for me or not. Being a researcher is not for me and neither am I able to sit all day thinking about complex theories with no real life implementation.

I have a more pragmatic, entrepreneurial drive that is not satisfied in the library. When I'm on stage I feel in my element and I'm gonna trust that intuition. 

In the meanwhile, philosophy helped me open up my mind, develop my own opinions and see the limits of reason. I also got to work on my communications skills a lot. I think it will help me later in teaching, coaching and mentoring.

[AlwaysBeNice]

How so? It's just a bunch of thinking. 

Why not either have direct experiences of altered states or experience other dimensions/realms directly.

[AlwaysBeNice]

Okay, yeah it was useful, I see, it was useful for me at the time too.

But to ironically get to the point of seeing it's not really useful ^ ^ oh paradox

 

[AlwaysBeNice]

1 minute ago, Dingus said:

 

That's why I said "philosophy done right", which is not philosophy as it is commonly perceived these days.

Besides that, maybe it never occured to you that there are practical applications of philosophy. It doesn't have to be about enlightenment.

It's not my particular interest either, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist or has no value.

Fair enough. Then I mostly mean it in the context of solving a 'problem' or mystery or to find joy, instead practical philosophy.

[Dan Arnautu]

@AlwaysBeNice You will rarely find ”answers” in philosophy. Bertrand Russell argues in the book ”The Problems of Philosophy” (cap. The Value of Philosophy) that the value of philosophy rests in the questions themselves. 

Quote

"the man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation of consent of his deliberate reason."

Also, 

Quote

"through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great."

 

[Flare]

@Dan Arnautu Sorry for that, but I really do have to ask if you maybe just focused on the wrong "western" philosophers? 

What's about Schopenhauer, he does actually have most of his inspirations out of the Veda, which are actually the root of Buddhism as well as Hinduism and non duality in general. He was the opposing part to Hegel, both lived at the same time, so it's not even nearly far away. 

Whats about Adorno and Horkheimer, putting Kant down? 

And to be serious, what is about Derrida? Derrida is actually "better" than anything about non duality, because he is much more precise. Most literature about non duality nowadays is dumbing down the topic. Derrida is not. As well as Lacan - he does implement non duality as well, even if it is just under the surface. The whole Post-Structualism movement is at his core about the exact idea, since they did get Ferdinand de Saussure right. Even Hegel does have some ideas that are in complete line with buddhism. Not to speak of Camus - I mean that is in fact like buddhism, completely accepting one's faith and reality. 

The Stoics and Seneca in general might even be the superior source to study how you should live in comparison to buddhism, because it is much more practical. If you follow greeks down the road the real genius Heraclitus. 

Or even the Chinese one's, Menghzi, Confucius, Zhouangzi, Lao Tse etc. - these are philosopher completely demolishing Descartes ideas, which poisend us nearly 400 years. Or even the newest: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a real genius. 

Philosophy is really full of treasures. But I still get the problem that your teachers might have a narrow mind. I had the same. Maybe the real art lies in transporting your ideas in such a way that they can understand. Which means, basing your arguments maybe not on the Linjii but on Heidegger (what a strange example) to make the understand in some way. I would agree though, that every Platonic philosopher might be a genius, but will be wrong in the end because of his conceptional thinking. But there is so much more. 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Flare

[Dan Arnautu]

@Flare I have no beef with philosophers in general, just some of them. I love reading Seneca, Plato, Mill etc. I may be focused on the wrong western philosophers but it's mandatory that I study them, and that's what I don't like.

We are now getting into Schopenhauer, although we don't study Adorno, Hokheimer, Derrida (only in aesthetics we did).

Also, we don't study the stoics anymore (we did in the first year).

As for Eastern Philosophy, my teachers dismiss it entirely. It's not valuable information. It's not a ”trusted resource”. A teacher of mine claimed there is no such thing as eastern philosophy, which is sad coming from someone so intelligent.

Basically, here I can't study what I want to study like in other countries where you select your own courses.

 

 

 

[Leo Gura]

@Dan Arnautu Yes, good... you've discovered that 95% of Western philosophy is a circle jerk. Most people studying philosophy never realize that, so consider yourself lucky. You've dodged a huge bullet.

You could change majors, or be more selective about the classes you take. There are some good philosophy teachers and classes.

You could also still pass all the test and essays by playing the skeptic philosophy. Take all your know about how conceptualizing works, and apply it to your critiques of all those European philosophers. Tear them a new corn hole

Philosophy is one of the easiest majors and it's not at all difficult to ace all the classes. Logic is trickier. Less room for bullshitting your way out of logic.

But also don't loose sight of the big picture! Your main objective is not to get a college degree. Your main objective is to pursue Truth, to self-actualize, to grow your consciousness. Since philosophy is such an easy major, you should be acing all the tests and investing your free time in self-education, pursuing non-duality, etc.

[Dan Arnautu]

@Leo Gura Thank you very much for answering, Leo.

Playing the skeptic. Never thought about that. I could do some real damage I think then, haha. I'll try that.

Unfortunately, I can't select my classes. They are the same for everyone. Except, in the third year you can choose between 3 specializations: Theoretical Philosophy, Moral-Political Philosophy or History of Philosophy/Cultural Philosophy, where you are still not able to choose your own classes.

As for changing majors, I'll look into it and see if it is worth it.

Do you think a philosophy major will help me out in some way in my music career? I also plan to teach and mentor (in music), but I'm still not on the other side of the fence and your point of view on this might be valuable to me.

Edited May 8, 2017 by Dan Arnautu

[Leo Gura]

@Dan Arnautu Why do you need a degree at all? If your LP is music and nonduality, why waste time?

Maybe your higher self is telling you all this philosophy business isn't worth your time.

[Dan Arnautu]

@Leo Gura

My higher self has been telling me that for the past year and a half. I just don't know how to convince my parents about that without damaging my relationship with them.

 I don't need it per se at all. My parents think I need it and had some discussions about dropping out but they did not want to hear about it (I had more than 3 discussion with each parent). They said that without a degree, no one is going to look at you and yada yada yada. Same old limiting beliefs.

I told them that a philosophy degree won't help my music career or entrepreneurial endeavours. They argued against and so on.

I got to a compromise with them. I do my best in college and they pay for my meetings with my music career mentor and my lessons with him (he is one of the best guitar coaches in Europe and the best in the country, also meaning he is pretty expensive) + they paid for a lot of my current equipment. I can't follow their logic.

My sister also dropped out and that's why I think they have a knee jerk reaction towards this decision. 

I don't know how to make a decision that will benefit all parties involved. I don't know what to say to them so they agree I drop out.

On the other end I figure it's just one more year. I don't know if I should go through with it or not.

Edited May 8, 2017 by Dan Arnautu

[cetus]

 @Dan Arnautu May Steve Hackett inspire you as a guitar player as much as he does me. Check out the lyrics of Dance on a Volcano. "You Better Start doing it Right"

Edited May 9, 2017 by cetus56

[AlwaysBeNice]

Parents shouldn't be holding you back, keep in mind, people, whether parents are not, are largely very insane (I'm lolling when I say this, but it's true), very out of alignment with the true reality of things (God, synchronicity) etc.

Parents relationships are really interesting in general I think:

They are the ones who did almost all the work to make you unenlightened. Projection many frustrations onto you, often trying molding you into their idea of the 'ideal person' they crave to be, and you took with it all their fears intuitively.

It's okay, that's what we singed up for, part of the human journey of this time, it's a co-created.

I think they should be largely avoided when you get on this path, especially as 'mentors', because they aren't spiritual guides and worse, they often think themselves to be.

So unless you still have loving parents who are really open to your process and are humble about it, and there can be a mutual adult relationship between two equals.. leave them alone (a lot, maybe not totally), until you are sufficiently enlightened you won't budge under their toxicity (because you are used to doing so) and you can truly help them (if they are willing of course, if they aren't just trust their God given path and part ways for the time being).

[Dan Arnautu]

3 hours ago, Dingus said:

What would you do if you dropped out? Would you be able to start your music thing right away and make a living with it and pay for all the investments?

I'm just riffing here, but maybe you could see your remaining time in university as a paid job. You "work" at some bullshit major, and in return, your parents pay your bills and your investments in the music business. Could this not be a golden opportunity for you, given the alternatives?

@Dingus Yea, I thought about that too.

If I would drop out I would need to go back home and start a guitar teaching business, which is no easy thing. I would be able to make a very good income 2-3 years from that point, but until then I would have to live with my parents, This is also the plan I wanted to implement after I finish college. 

But, in the 2 separate cases, my parents attitudes would be different. If I dropped out and started the business, they would watch me like a hawk,  maybe give me negative talks about dropping out all day, and it's hard to run a business even without that.

On the other hand, if I finish this degree, they would give me full lenience to do whatever the fuck I want, and maybe continue to invest in whatever I want to do. They just want the security that I have a degree to fall back on, which is a stupid thing, because I won't ever in my life come back to researching or stuff like that. I would rather clean tables somewhere.

[oats]

Hey cheers for this thread, I relate to this deeply. 

I'm a second year uni student also weighing up between finishing a degree in philosophy or dropping out to work on personal development full time. My Dad's an academic, so he's pretty keen on me finishing my degree. I enjoy the campus lifestyle but just find my classes to be a waste of time.