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Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Focusing with Philosophy

Reason allows us to tackle whatever life throws at us.
Brussels,-,June,22:,Brussels,-,Statue,Of,Ancient,Orator

I bet you have heard people say that you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it and
thought to yourself, “What nonsense!” After all, the world does not bend to our rules or ideas. There is, however, a kernel of truth to this mantra, because it reminds us of the power of our minds and the sad fact that we are not using them to the extent we could. Bruce Lee captures this when he said: “As you think, so you shall become!” 

I was reminded of what Lee said as I watched Cobra Kai, a television-show sequel to The Karate Kid movies of the ’80s about teenagers in martial arts. The kids in the show find a way to transcend their problems through karate. By learning to focus their minds, they acquire the mental (and physical) discipline required to overcome obstacles and shape themselves into the people they want to be—whether good or bad. 

Such mental discipline is not only key to success in martial arts but any undertaking in life. And while there are many ways to acquire it, I think the most basic can be found in philosophy. I can offer my own life story as an example. Two years ago, after two of my children were diagnosed with ADHD, I decided to undergo testing myself. “There is no question. You have a severe case of ADHD,” the psychologist told me. As he went over my test results, I went from being embarrassed to relieved and, ultimately, amused. The diagnosis led me down a road of self-discovery as I wondered how I had been able to achieve two doctorates, write books, and hold a chair at a major university in spite of my diagnosis. To my surprise, the coping mechanisms most crucial to my success—the ones I had been cultivating since middle school—were fed by philosophy. 

My philosophy senseis were the teachers in middle and high school who handed me the philosophical texts of Cicero and Marcus Aurelius in Latin, followed by Plato and Aristotle in Greek. A lot of training was required to read those texts. Learning grammar and vocabulary were just as boring as the initial karate lessons taught by Daniel Russo in Cobra Kai, but those lessons created a foundation for healthy habits of the mind, allowing me to focus more effectively and grow in mental discipline. Polishing a car by hand might teach your muscles certain movements and instill them into your memory. Focusing on words and their meanings makes you similarly attentive to texts. 

The result was that my classmates and I could “walk” in the shoes of our ancient heroes and wrestle with questions of what it means to be human and whether freedom was worth dying for. I was hooked on the adventure of reason, but I also realized that the logic of the ancients had given me a road map for the intellectual adventures yet to come in life. Passionate and focused thinking was possible for me; I could even excel in it because I had found a structure that helped my restless brain to work successfully.

My Latin teacher was a mixture of Cicero and sensei Kreese. When he marched into the classroom—and yes, he marched—the chalkboard shook. We feared him and loved him at the same time. Every lesson was like a military drill. The precise reading of the Latin text, following the logic of the author, demanded mental discipline. It fascinated me. Imitating such structured thinking taught me to use my mind productively. The lessons focused even my imagination, because I could suddenly form intentions and follow them through. By imagining my goals in detailed and colorful ways, I was able to achieve them! Decades later. I found that this was a crucial aspect of good time management and called “prospective thinking”—but I learned it from Cicero, not a self-help book. Such prospective thinking allowed me to anticipate roadblocks in life and devise strategies to overcome them. It gave me confidence in my own creativity. 

Psychological studies have shown that many people suppress their creativity because they have exaggerated expectations or they deny their creativity altogether. Certainly, not everybody has the same genius for invention, but creative thinking can be taught, developed, and nourished. Good philosophical thinking shows us how to view an object from different perspectives and thus forces us to think outside the box. But how?

Human minds are accustomed to think from inside the “box” because to do so involves less work. We are also used to repetitive actions and the familiar objects around us. Therefore, we fail to really see the world. Philosophy teaches ways to “unlearn” such impediments and rediscover things anew.

Language is our key to understanding this world. By shifting our language, we are also shifting our mental focus. Try this out on yourself: try calling the desk you are sitting at “duck.” Close your eyes and envision the desk in detail, but call it “duck.” Repeat that a dozen times, and each time you will feel your mind rebelling against you. It knows you are using the wrong word, but by doing so, you suddenly become aware of more details of the object—the shape, surface, color, and structure of the desk becomes vivid again. Another example of this phenomenon is when one of my students responds to a question by saying “I don’t know.” I respond by asking the student to clarify what it is that they don’t know, because when they do, they realize they have the tools to answer the question. By describing what we do not know, we take a step toward discovering an answer. 

Reason and philosophy can help guide you, but good reasoning is hard work. After all, a philosopher once joked, “Common sense is the gift most justly distributed among humans, because nobody complains they do not have it.” Good reasoning begins with you. It will help you discover what drives you, what you appreciate, and most importantly, how you see the world, the people around you, and yourself. 

Good reasoning teaches us a disciplined way of thinking, which allows us to tackle whatever life throws at us. My friend Ralph, a New Yorker, proved it to me. He was a real sensei who ran his own karate dojo and was a philosopher. One day, he received a cancer diagnosis. He had exactly six more weeks to live. The gentleness, discipline, and tranquility he demonstrated were of the sort I had hitherto only read about in books. Ralph will always be my sensei role model. 

Whatever you plan on doing this year, remember that there are not many things that are as useful as unlocking the power of reason and meditating on the mystery that makes you “you.”

Ulrich L. Lehner is the William K. Warren Professor at the University of Notre Dame. He has written or edited 30 books, which have been translated into six languages. His newest book is “Think Better. Unlocking the Power of Reason.” (Baker Academic Press, 2021). 

 

 

 

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