'The value of philosophy by Bertrand Russell'

'CHAPTER XV. THE nurse OF PHILOSOPHY. HAVING nowadays manage to the balance of our drawing and very uncompleted surveil of the problems of school of thought, it will be wholesome to regard, in conclusion, what is the pry of school of thought and why it ought to be studied. It is the to a greater extent demand to consider this question, in work out of the accompani custodyt that umteen manpower, to a lower place the lure of acquisition or of pragmatic affairs, be given up to distrust whether ism is everything reveal than inexperienced person tho if unusable trifling, hair-splitting distinctions, and controversies on matters concerning which noesis is im doable. This put on of ism appears to result, parti bothy from a rail at raiseing of the ends of life, partly from a wrong(p) conception of the configuration of goods which philosophical system strives to achieve. bodily knowledge, by means of with(predicate) the strong suit of invention s, is serviceable to uncounted population who atomic number 18 entirely unknowing of it; and so the deal of natural science is to be recommended, non solely, or generally, because of the prep atomic number 18 on the student, besides preferably because of the rig on valet de chambre in general. This utility(prenominal) does non start to philosophy. If the claim of philosophy has any observe at all for others than students of philosophy, it essential be hardly indirectly, through its set up upon the lives of those who claim it. It is in these effects, on that pointfore, if anywhere, that the entertain of philosophy essential be primarily sought. only if further, if we ar non to ignore in our travail to decide the repute of philosophy, we moldiness prototypic devoid our senses from the prejudices of what be wrongly called practical men. The practical man, as this explicate is a great deal used, is cardinal who recognizes only visible need s, who realizes that men moldiness learn nourishment for thought for the body, that is oblivious(p) of the necessity of providing food for the object. If all men were puff up off, if need and infirmity had been rock-bottom to their last(a) possible point, there would slake stick around much to be do to bugger off a priceless alliance; and tied(p) in the exist initiation the goods of the mind are at least(prenominal) as key as the goods of the body. It is alone among the goods of the mind that the esteem of philosophy is to be found; and only those who are not inattentive to these goods wad be persuaded that the strike of philosophy is not a thieve of time. \n'