Letters to law students #35: Why should you study philosophy?

Letters to law students #35??Why should you study philosophy?

My dear law students?

After joining academic administration, the one thing I miss terribly is teaching students.??As soon as Ashish Kulkarni invited me to talk about philosophy to his undergraduate economics students at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, I grabbed the opportunity. Ashish wanted me to talk about why students should study philosophy. Now, there are very many reasons why students should study philosophy. I like, in particular, the following:??

First, philosophy makes any subject interesting. This is not something to be underestimated. If a subject is not interesting, students won’t study it, no matter how important it is in their lives. Take this line from the ICSC 10th grade chapter 1 on the Union Parliament: ‘Our Parliament is a true representation of “We, the People of India”. Its members come from every region, community and faith. Parliament thus came to be recognized as “the Symbol of the Nation’s Hopes and Aspirations.’?

I am glad to note that today’s generation is subjected to the same kind of passages that I was dealt with when I was a student. If I were a student, I would like to know why is our Parliament a ‘true’ representation of something called ‘We the People of India’? There are various answers to this question in the philosophy of democracy. I wish our students were exposed to rather than protected from political philosophy so that there can be a healthy debate on what democracy means and why representation is important. If students were allowed to debate these questions, there is a chance they won’t go to sleep when we tell them that the Parliament came to be recognized as the symbol of the nation’s hopes and aspirations.?

Second, a study of philosophy in any domain goes to the heart of the matter in that domain and when we do that, we unearth insights that might help us navigate the domain better and suggest changes. In my last letter, I talked about how, if we believe law is not primarily about a code of conduct, and is instead about protecting the rights of persons, our analysis of the law changes dramatically. All of a sudden, the judicial function is at least as important as the legislative function.??

Third, philosophy helps us understand that it is okay to challenge orthodoxy. Ronald Dworkin, the great political and legal philosopher, gave the example of courtesy. You might believe that there is a social consensus on what courtesy means. Everyone supposes courtesy means showing respect to others. But if you dig deeper, you might notice that your idea of what respecting others entails might differ from what the rest of the society thinks of respect.?

You continue to be in a conversation with your community about respect, but now you are arguing from a vantage point that is uniquely yours, and your arguments depend on how you understand the deeper meaning behind the idea of respecting others. In some instances, you might have to stand your ground despite everyone else disagreeing with you. In other words your philosophical ideas might lead you to challenge orthodoxy.?

Challenging orthodoxy can come in pretty useful sometimes. I gave the example of courtesy but we can extend the same problem to more lofty issues such as equality. Abraham Lincoln disagreed with plenty of powerful people when he interpreted equality to mean the freedom of slaves. It turns out that the emancipation of slaves was in part the result of Lincoln willing to engage with what equality really required, even if it meant going against the orthodoxy of that time.?

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There are many more reasons to study philosophy but these are the three reasons I find most compelling. Please let me know if you can think of any other reasons. God knows we need more partisans of philosophy today. Most people assume that philosophy is boring, irrelevant and unrelated to reality. Au contraire, whatever philosophy touches, it makes it more interesting; philosophy can make us radically change our perspective, and philosophy can help us stand up to social convention. The last point is particularly relevant to Indian students, who are so used to seeking ready made answers in their textbooks that they tend to first search for a social consensus on any issue rather than strike out on their own.???

Prof Nigam Nuggehalli?

BML Munjal University?

Gurugram?