Philosophy, Past and Present: John Macmurray and Our Future

John Macmurray's controversial thesis: “All meaningful knowledge is for the sake of action and all meaningful action for the sake of friendship” is unpacked by explaining and illustrating what he means by the “personal.” He sees philosophy as a cultural phenomenon which expresses and responds to its historical context, and in turn affects how people think and behave. The Subject as Thinker, which has dominated modern philosophy, has led us to value knowledge for its own sake and trust theory over practice, needs to be replaced by the self as agent. The logic of the personal, in which the positive (e.g. action, love) is constituted and sustained by its negative (e.g. thinking, fear) arises out of personal relationship (“I-and-you”). Facing the problematic personhood may enable us to find meaning in relations with others, and face the future with hope.