Ode to the Unsure Philosopher: A Sophism in Several Parts

Here's a light take on the principles of philosophy, a staple of those far more intelligent than ourselves. Just because you don't write it, though, doesn't mean you can't dive on in. The true triumph here? Working that beast of a word, 'phenomenological,' into a poem.


Ode to the Unsure Philosopher: A Sophism in Several Parts

The philosopher’s life is a difficult one;
there are so many choices to make,
and it is an arduous task to discern
the truly wise man from the flake.

Do you choose Plato, in all of his forms,
to lead you out into the sun?
Or does intuition prove Aristotle
to be the most rational one.

You could always empirically end with Hume
when searching your senses to find
if Descartes’ cogito was right all along:
to know, you must start in the mind.

Perhaps, still unsure, you may feel, with Kant,
the phenomenological call,
or, in despair, give a tug at your hair
and declare you know nothing at all.

But whatever the state of the truth you can know,
just keep this one thought in your head:
the philosopher’s life is a difficult one;
that’s why all the greatest are dead.