The dry youthfulness of answering a question

mortenwittgenstein August 05, 2020 at 00:16 900 views 1 comments

I once knew this guy who knew a guy who, yes, knew a guy who was a kund of a philosopher. I think this philosophers name was Ludwig Einstein or something very similar. He participated in WW1. Google gives me nuttin on this. Anyway the guy who was known by the guy I knew told me that Einstein or whatever his name was had once spoken to him of the youthful dryness of answering a question. Please enlighten me as I live in Botswana. What does it mean? It's very dry here and I'm not young. Who was Einstein and what is the meaning of those memorable words?

Comments (1)

khaled August 05, 2020 at 04:24 #440124 0 likes

I have no idea who that is but maybe he meant that people are inclined to dryly answer philosophical questions at the beginning and to defend the answers. So when someone says “Is it right to kill in self defense?” a beginner in philosophy would just say “yes” or “no” and try to justify their answers afterwards whereas a non beginner would maybe ask “what counts as self defense?” “Should killing be justified in self defense even when it is likely that one would be able to defend themselves without killing?” Etc. I think he was saying that the more you do philosophy the more simple answers become a rarity.