why philosophy

            During the last meeting of class we were led through a scattered discussion of the various philosophers and philosophies discussed throughout the year. If we are to find a common problem that offers any sort of unity to what we have been studying, it must be that each philosopher wants to discover how to go about experiencing reality. Philosophers such as Pierce, Tolstoy, Camus, Bergson, Russell, and Sartre have attempted to define an unconditional experience with varying degrees of success. To appreciate an experience unconditionally, it must be shorn of that which is sensed and that which is opined. .
             Pierce, perhaps unknowingly offering insult to Tolstoy, proposed that people adopt beliefs as an escape from their inability to understand the world. Tolstoy, in religious fervor, determined that, because one believes in God, there is no need to fear the confusing world. Both philosophers believed that humans were neither diligent nor intelligent enough to interpret reality and react appropriately so they responded with a rather simple solution. To live without routines and values and to have pure experience, we must live spontaneously. Anything that restricts our spontaneity - reason, habit, and monotony - must be discarded. Once this task is complete all that is left is the unpredictability and the excitement of undefined outcomes, of pure experience.
             Camus became frustrated by the routines followed by most of society because he felt that the routine one follows makes obscure the existence of any fear or worry. The prospect of completing an endless "to-do" list pushed him to think of its purpose. Just as Sisyphus discovered another rock to push as soon as he had completed his original task, Camus felt that his routine, though maybe not as tedious as pushing rocks, was completely useless and would never serve to satisfy his desires. The recognition of this ugly fact caused any hope that he may have had to sink to the bottom of his soul and proclaim that human endeavor is necessarily a disappointment and always will be because of the absurdity of the world.