Political Discussion and Philosophical Discussion

Aspasia Conversing with Socrates and Alcibiades

Introduction

Political discussion is about the issues that affect how a society is run, such as laws, policies, rights, etc. It uses evidence, facts, logic, and consequences to persuade or influence others.

Philosophical discussion is about the questions that affect how we understand ourselves and the world, such as ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, etc. It uses analysis, intuition, experiments, and dialectics to clarify or seek the truth.

Political and philosophical discussions can overlap and interact with each other, especially in political philosophy, which deals with the fundamental questions about politics.

Political Discussion

For professional politicians, the motive of political discussion or debate is often about influencing voters and winning votes.

For ordinary people, the reasons for engaging in political discussion or debate are more varied and could range from simply pride to a genuine wish to share ideas and knowledge.

Philosophical Discussion

The following are some features of philosophical discussion from my personal perspective:

1.  Backed by reasons

A philosophical argument should have proper premises and logic so that the argument would be sound. 

2.  It's important

Philosophical discussion should be about important questions.  Whether a question is important or not probably depends on the values a person holds. 

Philosophers often wish to look at the more basic or fundamental questions.  So if a particular issue is based on certain premises, these premises lead to more basic questions.  These basic or fundamental questions are often considered more important by philosophers as they affect a range of issues.

3.  A neutral perspective 

A philosopher should attempt to consider the issue from a neutral perspective similar to what a judge would do when considering a legal case.  The philosopher should avoid being emotionally involved in either side of the argument.

4.  The Platonic world of philosophical ideas

In Professor Roger Penrose's "Three Worlds" model, the timeless and universal mathematical truth belongs in the Platonic  mathematical world.  Similarly we can imagine a Platonic philosophical world where timeless and universal philosophical truth belongs.  The ideas (or truth) that philosophers aim to grasp would be in this Platonic philosophical world.  

This diagram shows a particular way of looking at the differences between philosophical and political discussion, and also about the differences between fact and truth, and between reality and the physical world:  

Political vs Philosophical Discussion

Some suggestions

The following are some suggestions for philosophical discourse:

• Expect people to disagree with us because people are different and have different opinions.

• Expect people to tell you that you are wrong because that is what people do.

• Expect some people to laugh at our ideas because it is said "Low level scholars hear Dao, laugh loudly."[1]

• Do not try to convince others by debating or by using reasons, because: 
• people generally do not change their minds because they lost the debate or have been overwhelmed by reasons; and
• people often decide first before coming up with reasons and arguments to justify their decisions.  So when you debate with them and show them that they are illogical and insufficient in their reasoning, they get upset but would not change their minds. They will try to come up with better reasons; and
• One can learn more by listening and asking questions than by debating; and
• Laozi said "To teach without words, rarely anything can compare" [2]; and 
• Zhuanzi says all theories and opinions are equal [3].

• Do not simply repeat what others said.

• There are times for silence, times for theorising, and times for discussion.  Zhuanzi said "As to what is beyond the Six Realms,[4] the sage admits it exists but does not theorise. As to what is within the Six Realms, he theorises but does not discuss. In the case of the Spring and Autumn,[5] the record of the former kings of past ages, the sage discusses but does not debate. " [6]

References:

1. Chapter 41, Daodejing.
2. Chapter 43, Daodejing.
3. Section 1, Chapter 2, Zhuangzi.  In this section of chapter 2, Zhuangzi uses the allegory of the huge tree that has many hollows and openings, and they make different sounds when the wind blows.  Humans are like the different hollows and openings.  We are all different.  Human theories and opinions are like the sounds of the hollows and openings of the huge tree.  They sound different, but they are all caused by the wind which represents Dao.  All theories and opinions are equal because they react to the same basic cause -- Dao.  However, for practical purposes, some theories and opinions are correct and some are not.  For philosophical discussion though, we are not dealing with practical issues.  Therefore, all theories and opinions can be said to be equal.
4. Heaven, earth, and the four directions, that is, the universe.  The "Six Realms" can be interpreted as the "Six Harmonies" or the "Six Togetherness".  In Daodejing, chapter two, it says "Being and non-being create each other; difficult and easy support each other; long and short define each other; high and low depend on each other; musical notes and tones harmonise with each other, before and after follow each other."  Laozi gives these six situations as examples of how humans group things together and at the same time differentiate them.  Humans create this concept of length and then differentiate long and short.  While long and short are different, they define each other.  Long poles have their use, and short sticks also have their use.  Therefore, the Six Realms can be interpreted as the different situations that we interact with the world around us.
5. Perhaps a reference to the Spring and Autumn Annals, a history of the state of Lu said to have been compiled by Confucius. But it may be a generic term referring to the chronicles of the various feudal states.
6. Burton Watson has a slightly different translation: "As to what is within the Six Realms, he theorises but does not debate. In the case of the Spring and Autumn, the record of the former kings of past ages, the sage debate but does not discriminate."  Note that in debate, the aim is generally to influence the opinions of the debating judges, voters, juries, or judges in courts.  Philosophers aim to find truth and knowledge; so they should not debate.  The Socratic method is a form of argumentative dialogue called dialectic. Dialectic is different from debate in that dialectic is to search for truth and debate is to influence people.   For both translations, Zhuangzi believes that the sage does not theorise about things beyond the Six Realms.  These might be beliefs about what happens after death, about heaven and hell.  For things within the Six Realms, the sage listens and learns and theorises.  In the case of practical issues (which the Spring and Autumn, the record of the former kings of past ages presumably implies),  The first translation in the text above would say Zhuanzi believes the sage discuss practical issues with others but does not try to influence others using debate.  For Watson's translation, Zhuangzi believes the sage would debate with others but does not discriminate which side of the argument is better, similar to dialectic.