We expect philosophy to help us to live happily and wisely, yet many philosophers not only fail to do this, but are dull or unpleasant into the bargain. What I want to ask here, though, is whether philosophy is any help in providing a happy, meaningful and ethical life for ordinary people, not just full-time philosophers. In ancient Greece, India or China, people would have claimed either that philosophy was the way to live the good life, or that it had nothing to offer at all. To this day Chinese people consult the Analects of Confucius to make decisions about their family or business, in the same way that fundamentalist Christians consult the Bible. Yet Confucius did not claim to have a hotline to God, but only to have thought about things carefully, which is essentially what philosophy is.
Philosophy comes in many forms, and has many associated practices.
Standing Back Sometimes the contemplation of abstract ideas is a pleasure in itself. This doesn't only apply to philosophy, of course - the same could be said of physics or chess. In all these cases, it can also provide much-needed detatchment from our everyday problems. I'm not saying that we should always live at a theoretical level, but it often makes a nice change to read Plato's Republic rather than the sordid doings of our own government, to discuss ethics rather than our neighbours' extra-marital affairs, or to puzzle over logical problems rather than financial ones. Well that's enough court intrigue and courtly love for me, I'm off to my estates to read a bit of Cicero.