Dear Jeyamohan,
I came to know about the Western philosophy classes at your institution. I am skeptical of these kinds of education. What can be taught in a 3-day class on Western philosophy, which has more than three thousand years of history? Can we really understand anything with just an introductory class?
Sadagopan Ramaswamy
Dear Sadagopan,
I can’t really understand your question. So, you are trying to tell me that Western philosophy is not teachable, right?
If someone is eager to learn Western philosophy, they must start somewhere. Then, what is a perfect starting?
There are two ways. One is starting from the first point of history and learning it chronologically. It is the way adopted by academia. But a more useful way is to start with our current philosophical issues. We can enter into philosophy by philosophizing our problems and paradoxes of life.
We are trying to give an idea of each philosopher’s approach and the development of philosophical concepts over time. We can easily enter into the realm of philosophy within days and get an overall picture of it. We can quickly grasp the fundamental concepts and logic of philosophy. Then we can develop it step by step over years.
This is the best way to learn philosophy, and we are adopting it. We came to understand it is the most useful method through our practical experience and feedback.
Jeyamohan
