In most people's minds, philosophy is "metaphysics", which is lofty, profound and obscure. When it comes to philosophy, everyone will only give a perfunctory smile. But in Zhou's works, philosophy is approachable and grounded. What is philosophy? What does philosophy have to do with us? I think Zhou's exposition in this part is very wonderful. In order not to affect the accuracy, I try to quote the author's original words to answer this question.
In fact, philosophy is always talking to itself. Talking is not talking about things, but talking. We are often stuck in things at ordinary times, and philosophy requires you to think about the big problems and truths in life and try to understand them, so that you will have a better attitude. Don't be confused about big things, don't entangle in small things, and live more clearly and detached.
Philosophy is a reflection on the basic problems of the world and life. So, what big problems does philosophy want us to think about? Simply put, there are two kinds, one is the big problem of the world universe, and the other is the big problem of life. In this definition, we should pay attention to three words: wholeness, fundamentality and thinking, which represent three characteristics of philosophy.
First, philosophy is facing the whole of the world and life, which requires us to look at the whole outside the part and then look at the part from the whole. Generally speaking, we usually walk with our heads down, and philosophy is to let us look up at the road, look at the road we are taking based on the overall situation of life, see if the road we are taking is right, whether the life we live is meaningful, and how to live it is meaningful.
Second, philosophy is thinking about fundamental issues. What is the fundamental problem? In the final analysis, there are two, one is what the nature of the world is, and the other is what the meaning of life is. Philosophy, in essence, is not to solve specific problems and their solutions in your work and life, but to think about fundamental problems.
Third, think independently. Philosophy requires you to face the whole world and life and think about fundamental questions, but there is no ultimate answer to fundamental questions, at least there is no standard answer, which requires you to think independently. World outlook, outlook on life, emphasize the word "view", don't fix it as a noun, as a verb, you have to see the world and life by yourself, which is independent thinking.
Philosophy only asks you questions and doesn't give you answers. It leads you to the highest question, and it does its duty. If you really think about these highest questions, you will keep a keen and serious thinking state. Even if there is no answer in the end, you are different from those who don't want to ask such questions. In real life, you will have a different mentality and realm from them.
What is happiness? Happiness can be simply summarized as happiness, including happiness in life itself and happiness in spirit. But this kind of happiness must be rich, multi-level, long-term, sustainable and growing. The happiness of life is deep happiness, and the happiness of spirit is high happiness.
The first is the happiness brought by life itself. It is a great miracle that people gradually evolved from a small fertilized egg to a rich life system. Everyone is unique on the earth. With such a sense of life, how can you not feel happy? In addition, living healthily is also one of the greatest happiness, and peace is a blessing.
The second is the happiness brought by nature. Bathing in warm sunshine and breathing fresh air will make you feel comfortable. When you see the eagle hitting the sky and the fish flying under the water, it will lead to ambition and yearning for freedom; When you see a hundred flowers blooming, you will be elated ... in short, nature can bring great happiness to people by stimulating their senses. But if you close your eyes and don't feel it with your heart, you won't understand.
The third is the happiness brought by family, love and friendship. This is the most important happiness in life, and it is also the happiness most easily felt by the general public. When she went to college in the 1960s, she didn't have the freedom to fall in love, but you can't stop her youth. This feeling is there. "The fashion of that era, ladies and young ladies wear a delicate straw hat. My feeling at that time was that there seemed to be something unknown, unclear, but very beautiful waiting for me, which was a very strong sense of happiness. "
We can divide people's spiritual attributes into three aspects: one is intelligence, intelligence and rationality, and people have the ability to think; The second is affection, emotion and people's ability to feel; The third is will. People have the ability to practice and control their own behavior, which actually means that people have the pursuit of morality and belief. Corresponding to the three abilities, wisdom pursues truth, emotion pursues beauty, and Italy (Germany) pursues goodness.
First of all, intellectual happiness, on the one hand, means that people are curious, like thinking, like learning, and have fun in the process of exploring things, on the other hand, means that people should have the ability to think independently and learn to learn independently, so as to grow intellectually.
Secondly, the happiness of emotional experience. The emotion mentioned here is generalized, which refers to people's ability to feel. People not only have intelligence (cognitive ability), but also have feelings. People living with feelings, likes and dislikes, joys and sorrows are actually wealth. How can we turn external experience into internal wealth? You record, think and summarize your life by reading and writing a diary, so that your inner life will not be interrupted, and your mind will be richer and richer, thus enjoying the happiness of emotional experience.
Then there is moral and religious happiness. What is the root of morality? One is compassion. The so-called compassion means that oneself is life and others are life. People should treat each other with their lives, with their lives. On the basis of sympathy, two basic social morals are formed: justice and kindness. Whether a person is kind or not is manifested in these two aspects. The other is to have dignity, to be sacred, to be noble and to have a sacred source. Therefore, people should not only regard each other as life and life, but also regard each other as soul and soul, and have self-esteem and respect for others.
At this level, morality is also a belief. Whether a person believes or not does not depend on whether he believes in a certain religion. The most important thing is to believe that there is something inviolable in a person. Whether it is called divinity, soul or anything else, he is loyal to it, guarding it, and embodying his dignity as a human being in all his actions. In a sense, it can be said that the happiness of faith is the highest happiness of being a man.
Having said that, if happiness is discussed purely as a science, there are always so many tall articles, but in fact, the happiness of each of us is very simple, and it is two in the simplest language.
First, stay with the people you like and make them happy because of your existence. This is actually an important content in the happiness of life-love, affection and family.
Second, do what you like and support your family with it. This is actually the implementation of spiritual happiness in secular life.
In fact, when Zhou talks about the purpose of education, the purpose of reading and many other issues later, he will return to the three elements of happiness: intelligence, emotion and morality.
What is the purpose of education? First of all, we should know what is the most precious value of life. From the author's point of view, the most important value of life is Excellence and happiness. How to have the ability to be happy and become an excellent person? We should start from three aspects: intelligence, emotion and morality. Then the purpose of education should be to let students grow up in these three aspects.
The same is true of reading. Why study? First, in order to acquire knowledge of a certain major, second, for recreation, and third, to enrich spiritual life, how to improve spiritual life? This brings us back to the topic of intelligence, emotion and morality. So how to read, the author's point of view is "reading classics directly", that is, reading the original works of the masters directly, rather than second-hand books. what are you reading? Reading classics, what is a classic? First, look at the time, that is, see if this work has been preserved in the long river of time. Second, look at the reader experience. After reading this book, does it inspire people? Does it make people feel happy and improved? What kind of classics should I read? It is a work that can edify people intellectually, emotionally and morally.
Generally speaking, this book discusses some big problems in life, and it can also be said that most people are confused. In addition to the above, there are wealth and happiness, Excellence and success, enterprising and detachment, communication and solitude, and so on. Zhou used his plain language to explain these big problems in life for us. We don't have to accept everything, but at least he leads us to face these problems honestly and seriously think about what is most important and what is secondary to us.
"For important things, you should accurately grasp; For those things that are not too important, you have to let go and let go. "