The Philosopher's Way

Did you know there is a “Philosophers Way” (Philosophenweg)) in Heidelberg, Germany?  I didn’t know this until D. Elton Trueblood told me years ago that he wrote his first notes for his book, General Philosophy, while walking this path.  Professors and philosophers of Heidelberg walked this path for hundreds of years and enjoyed the vineyards through which it passed and the solitude, views of the town and the natural beauty it offered.  Thus, the path became known as the Philosophenweg (Philosophers Way) and still exists today.  

There is also a Philosopher’s Way in San Francisco, California.  It is a 2.7 mile loop trail around the perimeter of John McLaren Park.  The trail, according to my source, was dedicated on January 5, 2013, and is the first and only path built for philosophers in the US.  Along the path there are fourteen stone markers called “musing stations” to stimulate contemplation.

The word “philosophy” means a love of wisdom or of knowing. I suppose all of us are philosophers of a sort.  We all think about the big questions of life that seem to have no answers.  That is what a philosopher does.  He or she questions everything—taking every experience and seeking to understand it without preconceived notions.  A philosopher is one who things big, musing over all things.  They spend time thinking about the world,  God, what it means to live, to love, to hate, to die, to exist.  Don’t we all do this to some degree?  Of course, we do.  Thus, our way or path (our journey) through life becomes A Philosophers Way and we are in the company of the great philosophers who came before us (Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, Descartes, Rosseau, Voltaire, Kant, Sartre, and so many “Toms, Dicks and Harrys” and “Harriets, Evelyns and Katherines”).  Everyone who thinks, wonders and wants to know is a philosopher.  

Along our individual Philosopher’s Way there are a wide variety of “musing stations.”  Some of these are developmental—moving from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to adulthood, from middle-age to maturity, and then to the closing chapter.  Some of these “musing stations” are experiential—and we ponder what this or that experience means.  Trueblood wrote, “Philosophy, because it is fundamentally a process, flourishes best on the Philosopher’s Way.  We did not construct the path, but we can tread it, conscious of the many who have trod it before.  In one sense we walk with them, but in another sense each walks alone.”  Socrates said, “This sense of wonder is the mark of the philosopher.”  Do you have a sense of wonder about everything?  Do you muse (think, ponder, contemplate, examine) over all your experiences and those of others and ask the big questions?  If  you do, you are a philosopher and your way is A Philosopher’s Way.

Iris of the Day