Is Philosophy for Laymen?

Philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato.
-Alfred North Whitehead*

Says Yes Mr. Bertrand Russell. Today I stumbled upon his essay 'Philosophy for Laymen' and having known something about the great man, decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. It's good. Really, really good. But instead of me trying to summarize it (an impossibilty), let me give you the flavor of the essay in Russell's own words..

He explains what Philosophy is..

'Philosophy' means love of wisdom.

The pursuit of philosophy is founded on the belief that knowledge is good, even if what is known is painful.

He tells us how it works..

If philosophy is to serve a positive purpose, it must not teach mere skepticism, for, while the dogmatist is harmful, the skeptic is useless. Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or of ignorance.

Then he tells us why it is important..

It is not enough to recognize that all our knowledge is, in a greater or less degree, uncertain and vague; it is necessary, at the same time, to learn to act upon the best hypothesis without dogmatically believing it.

For the learning of every virtue there is an appropriate discipline, and for the learning of suspended judgment the best discipline is philosophy.

And finally, probably why you should do it..

Philosophy.. makes possible the nearest approach to serenity that is available to a sensitive mind in our tortured and uncertain world.

I think that's enough to whet your appetite. Go ahead, read it.

*Russell seems to disagree with Whitehead (his teacher and later collaborator on Principia Mathematica) on this.