How Philosophy, Psychology, And The Love Of Wisdom Are Related

When we think of love, we often think of romantic love. However, love can also exist between families, close friends, or even between pets and their owners. There is some conversation about whether people can love non-living things like activities, objects, or concepts, and if that would be the same “love” we use when we refer to a romantic partner. At least as far back as the ancient Greeks, thinkers have often argued that it is possible and good to love wisdom. The word "philosophy," in fact, roughly translates to "love of wisdom."  Throughout history, Plato, Aristotle, Milton, Jung, and many others contributed to these fields. If you’re interested in exploring the role wisdom may play in your life, you might consider scheduling a session with an online therapist.

The love of wisdom

Plato's dialogues on love generally include a love of wisdom. In his psalms, King Solomon wrote about his love of wisdom. But can a person love wisdom? And can that love of wisdom replace other loves, such as the love of a life partner?

While it wasn't necessarily a rule that the ancient Greek philosophers weren't allowed to marry, many chose not to. However, a love of wisdom didn't stop Aristotle from having children, so the love of wisdom may not always be exclusive to other loves. Sometimes, the love of wisdom can be a part of love for something else, such as the pursuit of wisdom brings you closer to a spiritual figure.

The love of wisdom, according to Plato, could give a person's life meaning.

Some people may suggest that using the word “love” to talk about the way one feels about wisdom could take away from the significance of love when discussing feelings that people have for one another. Others may argue that a person ought to find love with another person, rather than with an abstraction like wisdom. However, one may argue that one person's ability to love wisdom does not have to detract from their ability to love another human.

Psychology and the love of wisdom

Just like there can be many reasons to love wisdom, there can also be many reasons to study and practice psychology.

Some people may study and practice psychology to get in touch with something greater. There may be nothing on this planet more complex and mystifying than the human mind, and trying to understand it can make a person have a sense of being a part of something larger than themselves.

Love of wisdom in action

Psychology can also be a way of developing an interest in people. As we will see later in the article, some people who have made huge contributions to psychology did so out of an interest in other topics, like economics.

Finally, psychology can develop out of love for other people. After all, psychologists frequently help people with serious challenges and disorders. As a result, a person might be interested in psychology for the same reasons that they would be interested in being a nurse, firefighter, or surgeon.

Psychologist philosophers: The ancient Greeks

Philosophy in practice

A generation after Plato, Aristotle covered early psychological questions like how people make decisions and how they evaluate life experiences. The interesting thing about Aristotle may be that these notes were published not with his philosophical works, but with science textbooks, making them quite possibly the earliest dedicated books on the science of human thought.

Psychologist philosophers: The Renaissance

For some time, both philosophy and the proto-psychology of the ancient Greeks largely disappeared in Europe until the Renaissance. During this period, several factors coincided, likely giving the average person more time to reflect on the human experience, as well as an easier route to the work of other thinkers.

When proto-psychology did return, it generally looked similar to that of Ancient Greece.

One of the most famous psychologist philosophers of this era was Niccolò Machiavelli. In Machiavelli's classic book The Prince, the topics of what makes a good leader, how people form relationships, and how people make decisions are all examined. Of course, the aim of the book isn't necessarily a deeper understanding of the human mind, but a better understanding of how a person can run a successful government.

A much later writer but part of the same movement was René Descartes. His work, Meditations on First Philosophy, attempted to prove the certainty to which a person could know something. It is believed to have proven that there may be very little that humans can be certain of in a life when our senses, and those around us, often betray us. The work gave us the famous line, "I think. Therefore, I am." This was the summary line in which Descartes explained that if all that you know is a lie, you must exist to be lied to.

Psychologist philosophers: The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment could be viewed as similar to the Renaissance but occurred much later. While the Renaissance was not necessarily an explicitly religious event, it may have never lost its Christian leanings. The Enlightenment, on the other hand, is generally considered to have been a deliberately secular event. Asking questions about the human condition may have been more appealing to this class of psychologist philosophers because they didn't typically use the creation account as the be-all-end-all of human understanding. However, they sometimes used it as a jumping-off point to ask and explore deeper questions.

The love of wisdom in verse: Milton's philosophical approach to human nature in Paradise Lost

In his lengthy epic poem Paradise Lost, John Milton used the familiar creation story laid out in the Jewish scriptures and Christian Old Testament to ask questions about human nature. The story famously and controversially explores Satan's reasons for rebelling against God and tempting Eve in the Garden. The poem further analyzes the thought process that Eve, and subsequently, Adam, went through in electing to eat the only fruit that God had forbidden them in the Garden of Eden. Like Plato used dialogues to approach his questions about human thought and actions from multiple angles at once, Milton used the characters in Paradise Lost to explore human emotion and reasoning.

Perhaps the best example of a psychologist-philosopher is  John Locke. In the generation after Milton, Locke was an English economist, political writer, and proto-psychologist. Locke is probably best known for his writings on economics. However, his writing on the nature of identity is still often considered foundational in discussions of criminal justice, bioethics, and gender politics. 

Specifically, Locke's idea of "personal continuity" held that if someone was aware of having done something, they were the one who did it. In Locke's view, if someone had a head injury and lost their memory, they essentially started life as a new individual. As a result, someone who has limited memory or no short-term memory may not be seen as a person at all. This line of thought may have its critics, but it can remain an important part of the discussion.

Psychologist philosophers: Twentieth-century thinkers

Even after psychology became a developed practice, the line between psychology and philosophy has sometimes remained blurry.

Carl Jung, one of the earliest Freudian psychologists, generally believed that symbols, including those that we see in our dreams and in myths, can tell us a great deal about our subconscious selves. His life's work led him to study and catalog symbols and their meanings worldwide. Further, his studies led him to the belief in a universal subconscious, which can be defined as a kind of distributed humanity derived from the experiences of our early ancestors. While this idea has generally had a tremendous influence on psychology, it can read more like a philosophical perspective than a psychological one.

Campbell's belief in the shared human experience

Conversely, the anthropologist Joseph Campbell, a generation after Jung, studied the myths and legends of different cultures around the world. His studies led him to believe that myths and legends in different cultures tend to have similarities because the human experience is largely the same. Though we may seem different, we likely all face the same basic trials with the same basic hopes and fears. This is frequently viewed as a very psychological conclusion.

Online therapy

To gain more wisdom or examine the role wisdom plays in your life, consider talking to a therapist online or in person. Online therapy is generally growing in popularity, thanks to its convenience and customizability. It can be possible to connect with a licensed therapist within a couple of days and work with them from the comfort of your own home.

The therapists at BetterHelp, an online therapy platform, often use therapeutic practices such as CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, which can identify and re-work negative thought patterns that can lead to feelings like depression or anxiety. Clinical studies prove that online CBT can be just as effective as in-person CBT.