Gadamer’s On the Natural Inclination of Human Beings...

Gadamer’s On the Natural Inclination of Human Beings Toward Philosophy follows an idea that a desire for knowledge, in researching philosophy and sciences, can be related to Platos thaumazein, the idea of wonder. The specifically human function of thinking starts, not routinely or in merriment, but at †¦a point where something strikes us as alien because it runs counter to habitual expectation. (Gadamer 143) The fascination and wonderment towards ideas Gadamer claims, †¦comes to me above all in the face of the alien and the strange. (145). He is emphasizing that it is philosophy specifically, in the practice of thinking and understanding is susceptible by technology and contemporary society. Self-knowledge alone is capable of saving a†¦show more content†¦Our inclination stems from our need to fulfill that wonder, and in fact becomes much more of an important subject because of the growing need for instant gratification. He does call into question whether or not the definition of philosophy is the same as that of past philosophers. He is point of whether â€Å"†¦there (is) still time for leisure and for leisurely speculation about the insoluble questions†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (139) does resonate more now than when written in 1979. It’s amazing to see how well he predicted our growing dependency on technology when not much was to be known about how one lives in today’s â€Å"technology, instant-gratification, gimme-gimme† society. The overall idea of what philosophy is in itself a Greek idea. However, he strives to claim that even though the â€Å"old† idea for philosophy does not answer the current idea, it is still prevalent in different forms. As he explains, Plato’s â€Å"definition† states the well known Greek idea that the meaning is the â€Å"†¦incessant though constantly unfulfilled striving after truth, whereas knowing is for the gods.† (141) Being that Western ideas now take a different path of science, and that definition being Platonic, Gadamer gives a more â€Å"contemporary† definition. This is the most important thing in human understanding, to genuinely experience and grasp for knowledge Gadamer emphasizes that being wise, the ability to