What IS and what is NOT philosophical inquiry

Philosophical inquiry is NOT debate.

While we seek excellence and rigor and precision in our thinking and listening and articulation, we do not entertain tribalism, the gathering into an ideological “side”, which must (therefore) oppose another side. Philosophical inquiry is not competition. Philosophical inquiry requires that we trust each other. This comes about through telling the truth about what we see and understand, not from arguing any particular beliefs to which we may be personally or emotionally or culturally attached. We look. We see. And then we show others what we see so that they may also see. This process frees us from delusion, from attachments and addictions to false beliefs. Bad faith behaviors do not survive any considerable duration in the open-eyed examination and rigor of philosophical inquiry. We do not seek to win, nor for anyone to lose. Winning and losing take place in the context of a game, and philosophical inquiry is antithetical to game-playing.

Philosophical inquiry is NOT conversation.

We use the careful formulation of a precise question to act as a laser or scalpel, to cut into and illuminate obtuse, poorly-constructed, disorderly, vague, or other such low-performing conceptual terrain and mental process. Conversations wander, and typically adapt toward personal interests and/or familiarity. Philosophical inquiry is closer to scientific method than it is to personal conversation. The singular guide and rule to executing philosophical inqury well is to “follow the inquiry”. Our aim is to sharpen and tighten and elevate and strengthen our attention, awareness, precision, and truthfulness, while restricting entropic dissipation, distraction, inattention, and carelessness.

Philosophical inquiry is NOT religious instruction.

No facilitator will be welcome or appreciated in using the platform to proselytize, promote, bully-pulpit, or sell any beliefs, particularly those regarding “matters of ultimate concern”. Such matters require intelligence and care, of the nature found in rigorous inquiry, not through the mental process of buying and selling hand-me-down beliefs. The facilitator of philosophical inquiry has nothing to sell, and the community of philosophical inquiry is not a market for buying or selling preferences regarding matters of ultimate concern.

Philosophical inquiry is NOT group therapy.

We will not be entertaining any delve or inquiry into any personal psychological or emotional issues, from any unique person or persons. We may, however, appreciate and refine skillfulness in understanding the nature of emotion, the nature of thinking, as well as its disorders, the nature of personality and other such phenomena through the use of personal examples. No one will ever be compelled to reveal or share anything whatsoever. While participation in community is an inherent and irreducible feature of community per se, we invite, and welcome, and offer space as free of judgment as we are able, just for listening and learning together.

Philosophical inquiry is NOT entertainment.

The manner of participation on anyone’s part is a sovereign choice. One need not speak, if one chooses, but we give our best attention, respect, honor, care and appreciation for each other in making the choice to share inquiry together. Philosophical inquiry in community is neither sport nor spectacle. We encourage you not to sit back and watch, but to lean forward your attention and care and honor and appreciation for others coming to hold this space together, which—by your election to attend—includes you, necessarily.

No ONE has all the answers.

Knowledge—in the form of models and conclusions and judgments and measurements (which actually all necessarily rest upon some contingent assumption or cognitive cheat code or false premise or hood-winking deception)—is transferable. Understanding is not transferable. Understanding/insight/realization is a deeply and necessarily personal and moral imperative. While transfer of insight or deep personal realization is not possible, only through SHARING our understanding can we elevate our civil and political process toward solutions to egregious and grave problems that existentially threaten our entire planet, and which are the result of—and inarguably exacerbated by—ignore-ance and the suppression of understanding by the addiction to and urgent ideological promotion of beliefs, judgments and conclusions.

This is NOT time for phone use.

While videotaping the session is a matter of public right, phone use is unwelcome, as it steals and corrodes attention and intelligence and inter-social response-ability. While we each appreciate being heard and honored with attention and care when we are speaking, we then, thereby and therefore OWE attention and care to others when they are speaking.

Philosophical inquiry IS community-building.

One of the greatest values and benefits to be gained by members of the community of philosophical inquiry will not be in the form of found and saved/stored answers to philosophical questions. The greatest benefit will be our understanding of and caring for and sharing with and trusting and appreciating and learning from and giving to each other. The realization that this is so may—for some—be more of an echo than foreground feature, but be assured that the development of trust and honor and care and value for and with each other—through longer and deeper duration of this process—will be unavoidable.

Philosophical inquiry is ego-terminating, and intelligence-freeing.

Our (language-driven) mental process of “thinking” invariably seeks toward solidification, calcification, occupation, conclusion, toward states of possession, ownership and control, for the purposes of leverage and transactionalism to achieve desires, which then eventually become addictions. This is the irreducible nature of mental process. Anxiety, alienation, depersonalization, trauma, meaninglessness, and narcissism are necessary and inevitable outcomes of total and unmitihgated investment into the mental process and the thinking mind(-ing).

This is no description of freedom, but rather, of power, which is the operational platform of ego. Ego/power defines as the ability to do, to execute action according to desire, or will, or compulsion, or agenda, or obsession, or occupation, or protocol of control, or addiction, or fear, or aversion, or some other consequentially-conditioned state. Ego operates in degrees of moral and intellectual mischeif. It cannot do otherwise; this is its nature.

Freedom is the ability to operate otherwise. Freedom is to be unconditioned and to operate unconditionally. This freedom from conditioning is of the same nature and ontology as our natural intelligence, compassion, love, courage, honor, and beauty. As AI draws a finer and finer bead on these mental processes in your psyche, threatening to turn you into a robot consumer as economic profit engine, and soon enough, energy battery, philosophical inquiry is a Red Pill.