Why Philosophy?

To be ignorant and simple now–not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground–would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.

- C.S. Lewis, “Learning in War-Time,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses

Why Philosophy Matters?

  • Common understanding is shaped by key terms and basic paradigms of meaning.
  • Philosophers wrestle with most fundamental terms and paradigms.
  • False philosophy (“intellectualism”) renders moral liberty blind, deaf and dumb.
  • True philosophy liberates and ennobles moral goodness.
  • The contest between true and false philosophy underlies political and moral debates.

“Intellectuals” and Philosophers

  • Intellectuals exalt themselves by debunking simple moral and religious beliefs.
  • Two mistakes in confronting challenges of intellectuals:
    • Rejection of quest for understanding
    • Slavish accommodation to fashionable currents: “temptation to kneel before the world.”
  • Philosophers assume responsibility to articulate and defend truths implicit in good common sense and in healthy traditions.

The Sound of Guns

Elder Dallin Oaks on right

In choosing my subject I have relied on an old military maxim that when there is a battle underway, persons who desire to join the fray should ‘march to the sound of the guns.’ So it is that I invite you to march with me as I speak about religious freedom under the United States Constitution. There is a battle over the meaning of that freedom. The contest is of eternal importance, and it is your generation that must understand the issues and make the efforts to prevail.
- Elder Dallin Oaks, 13 October 2009

[W]o unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
- 2 Nephi 15:20

Freedom and Truth at Risk

  • Political & personal freedom depend on moral character.
  • Moral character depends on spiritual truth.
  • Spiritual truth must be affirmed, articulated and defended by and for each generation.