This essay seeks to explore the practice of contemplation as a method to cultivate insight into some of the key concerns of philosophy. In our discussion, philosophical contemplation is understood as a phenomenological method that instigates dynamic patterns of understanding(s) of an issue or object. Seen in this light, contemplation involves the cultivation of certain introspective qualities that are central to widening the parameters of attention. It is the contention of this paper that a contemplative approach to philosophical inquiry generates a basis for multi-dimensional understandings that can facilitate the possibility of “doing conceptual justice to the world in all its variety” (Sanders 207). In line with the idea of philosophy as a way of life, contemplation as philosophical practice envisions philosophy not simply as a system of propositions but also as an existential practice that both offers ways of gathering knowledge and that can provide epistemic justification for multiplicity, diversity, and seemingly contradictory modes of thought. From the beginning it is important to note that we are not positing a philosophy of contemplation but, following Russell (1912) and Sherman (2014), we are exploring a contemplative conception of philosophy that is predicated on the classical understanding of philosophy as a way of life with an integral practice component that instigates a mutually enriching union of theory and praxis.
History
Journal
Poetica
Season
Spring
Pagination
39-51
Location
Tokyo, Japan
ISSN
0287-1629
Language
eng
Publication classification
C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal