Let’s Play “Find the Philosopher”
Philosophers are a useful bunch these days. We’ve always been a useful bunch, but there have been certain points in history, when a critical eye and a decent helping of dialogue were sorely needed. When things are just upside down, philosophers are good at explaining the upside-downness of it all, and on a good day, we might even help find ways to set things right. We often wish we were brought in to help before things got to the upside-down stage, but I digress.
What philosophers don’t seem to have at the moment is visibility. Maybe recognition is a better word. We know we’re out there. We know what needs doing. We are still, however, figuring out how to be recognized, maybe even, dare we say it, appreciated.
In the spirit of recognition and appreciation, and employing our very human desire to grow through play, I propose a game: Find the Philosopher. It’s a philosophical “Where’s Waldo”, if you will. The rules are simple, and it can be played with stuff you already have around the house, specifically, your devices. While parked on the couch, in your pyjama pants, enjoying a snack, partake of your favourite storytelling medium, be it television, movies, music, or video games. Let’s be honest, you were probably going to be doing that anyway. While you are glued to whatever tube, try to point out at least one fictional figure who:
tends to stir things up, not maliciously, but more like that kid in class who keeps putting their hand up every five minutes. In most cases, this character can’t help themselves.
questions other characters (and themselves) about why they’re doing the things they’re doing, and the way they’re doing them. Bonus points if you can find the poor soul who annoys everyone around them in the process.
proposes new ideas, often “out-there” ones, and expounds on how and why they came up with them.
is hell-bent on explaining things, sometimes ad nauseam. And they are also hell-bent on using terms like ad nauseam.
is well-intentioned, but a tad annoying, weird, but harmless. With any luck, they’re also likeable.
In some stories, they’re easy to spot, like Chidi Anagonye in The Good Place, who is, in fact, a philosophy professor, and who meets all the criteria given above. Many philosophical plants in shows are placed in a more subtle manner. They’re appear as an undeclared, unpaid philosophy professor who drops (sometimes lobs) little nuggets for discussion, usually making others stop and think, and sometimes pissing everyone off. Think Murray Bauman in Stranger Things, Phoebe Buffay in Friends, an array of Vulcans in Star Trek, or Linus in Peanuts.
Yes, you can go back and forth on who it is. You can most certainly disagree with others about it. Part of being a philosopher is trying to define what makes someone a philosopher, so have at it!
If you can’t narrow it down to just one character, or if it seems as if every character in the cast is waxing philosophical, then that’s awesome. Maybe you’ve attuned yourself to see the philosophical potential of the entire bunch. Maybe you’ve chosen a story into which many big questions have been woven. Either way, wahoo!
If you want to kick things up a notch, start taking note of the actual questions, the philosophical problems and issues this character tackles. How do they reason their way through them? How do they share them with others? What do they do when they meet with resistance, or run into periods of doubt?
And now, for expert mode: Turn off whatever device you’re connected to and play Find the Philosopher in real life. Take the imaginary folks you’ve been watching as inspiration (or cautionary tales) and venture out into the world in search of philosophical minds. Who are the philosophers at your place of work? At school? In your book club or on your pickleball team? Is there one at your table for dinner? Is there one chattering away inside your own head? Are you yourself “that character”?
The endgame in all of this is threefold, and you’ve probably already gleaned this by now. First, you will see that there is philosophy in all things, in all aspects of our lives, including in the entertainment we allow into our brains. I tell parents this all the time, to look for big questions in everything their kids watch, read, eat, play with, eat, and wear. It works for grown-ups too.
Second, and more importantly, all of us are capable of this kind of thought, this kind of creativity, problem-solving, and deep understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world around us. If a two-dimensional figure on a screen, dreamed up by a stranger, can strike a chord, we can find the same aptitudes in our own minds, our own practices, our own conversations.
Third (a sweet little bonus round, really), this philosophy stuff is not only helpful, but it’s fun and interesting. There would be no point in sneaking it into our media productions if it weren’t. It’s a little scarier, a little more intense when it leaps off the screen and into our daily routines, but there’s still joy in the mulling over of ideas, in the pulling apart of old assumptions and the imagining of new solutions.
There are no losers in this game. You may hit pause now and again, but your points can only go up. In Find the Philosopher, there are only learners who are rewarded with understanding, wonder, and connection. One just has to choose to start playing.