This is even true for those who have never given much thought to questions of worldview. One’s philosophy of the world, or worldview, is still the backbone for how we view everything else, whether we realize it or not. We have come a long way from the time when philosophy was considered to be the backbone of all the disciplines, including the sciences (indeed, the early scientists called themselves “Natural Philosophers”). Reflection on ideas has little or no relevance to the world of everyday affairs, many people think. Such a statement may seem out of place in a society that has long since relegated philosophy (the science of correct thinking) to a specialist discipline. In fact, we could state the matter in even stronger terms: there has never been a more powerful influence, a greater agency of change or a stronger force for good or ill in this world than that of human ideas. The more one studies history, the more apparent it becomes that William Temple’s father had a point.
It is reported that William Temple, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942, once asked his father, who was then the Archbishop, “Daddy, why don’t the philosophers rule the world?” His father looked down at the boy and replied, “Of course they do, silly-two hundred years after they’re dead!” For a complete directory of all my Colson Center articles, click here. This article was originally published in my column at the Colson Center.
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