Engineers as philosophers, Part 3
This is what Aristotle called Telos: the ultimate end, and reason for existence.
Richard Meadows • Optionality: How to Survive and Thrive in a Volatile World
He believes in the scientific importance of final causes, and this implies the belief that purpose governs the course of development in the universe. He thinks that changes are, in the main, such as embody an increase of organization or “form,” and at bottom virtuous actions are those that favour this tendency.
Bertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Philosophy, at least in Hadot’s reconstruction, thus rediscovers its original purpose: it is a discipline, or spiritual exercise, that trains your character to mesh with a set of moral principles.
Robert Zaretsky • The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas
If you have ideals but you don't take responsibility for making a change in the world, you are working on your self-image, not a product for other people. If all you have is pragmatism, then you have speed but not a direction and the purpose of your work will get set by default to, at best, the same conventional things that everyone else is chasing
... See more“Is this the proper function of a philosopher?” they will ask. It is, if we think, as the Stoics did, that the proper role of philosophy is to develop a philosophy of life.
William B. Irvine • A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
Stuart Evans added
We need modern philosophers -- much better philosophers than me -- to wrestle with modern questions. It would be foolish to be the generation with the most individual agency and the least intentional thought about what to do with it.
Packy McCormick • Existential Optimism
sari added