Philosoffee

The following is a Content Contributor Essay, by my friend Andrew Eick. It is part of our theme of selfhood. I hope you enjoy! The problem of "Self" is a philosophical quandary which I find more a nuisance than anything else. It is an elusive game of shadows we play with our own psyche. Largely, the notion of self has to do with our conscious state, although as someone influenced by Jung, I have difficult ignoring the unconscious cultural gravity wells that constantly impress upon this notion of who am I ? I attribute most of my lack of interest in the notion of the self in what I view as my own lack of sense of self. I genuinely do not hold a strong sense of who I am as a person independent of my lived social experience. I'm too aware of all the various and ubiquitous cultural milieu which has influenced me that I've never seen or had a sense of "me" outside a mask I've selected to represent a state,or a fraction of some vague notion that gives me a d...

(Note: I am still working on the audio recording for this essay. I believe I'll have it done later today, and I'll post it this afternoon or early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I wanted to at least get the essay up for those who'd rather read than listen. Thank you! ) The Problem I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that quite a few people are of the opinion that philosophy is a privileged waste of time. An activity for "soft" people without the hard-nosed common sense to tackle the world, or a concern only for those who can afford to spend time thinking about things that have no impact on their lives. Despite all its claims that its concerns are of deep human relevance, there is an air of stale remoteness to much of philosophy that makes people believe it is something that only those who do not have anything of "real importance" (or any "real work") can indulge in. To an extent, I can sympathize with this view. There are many dea...