What does “contemplative philosophy” mean? How can philosophy be contemplative?

Philosophy is a search for the fundamental principles of life and the world, the deepest truths, the ground, the essence. It investigates the basis of reality (or a slice of reality), especially human reality. This is what virtually every philosopher did throughout history. Even philosophers who were relativists or skeptics, even they searched for the most basic principles of reality, although they found them to be relative or unknown.

Philosophical contemplation is philosophy because it tries to understand the depth of human reality. We contemplate because we realize that theoretical understanding is not enough. Philosophical theories have a limited ability to understand reality as we encounter it. A theory looks at reality from the perspective of experiences which may not be mine, from the perspective of cultural and personal convictions which may not be mine. More importantly, a theory looks at reality from the outside, as an external observer, as if reality was an object in front of our thought. But in real life, I am not just an “observer” on human reality. I encounter reality from the inside, like a molecule of water in the vast ocean.

We contemplate because we want to understand reality from the inside: to understand the way it moves within us, the way it touches and inspires us, the way it is real for us. When we use a philosophical text, we don’t regard it simply as a theory ABOUT the world. When we read a philosophical text, we do so slowly, attentively, and contemplate on it in togetherness – in togetherness with our companions, in togetherness with the text, and with human reality of which we are a part. We push aside our opinions, we let go of our smartness, and then we can “hear” within us something deep resonating with the text and responding to it. The words are no longer coming from the text, nor are they coming from our opinions – they are coming from our inner depth, from our encounter with reality, from reality itself.

A philosophical text speaks “about” basic, deep, fundamental issues of life. But it may also come FROM life, and it express the movements of life that move in the human ocean. When we contemplate on such a text, we resonate with the words. In this way we give voice to our inner depth, we let the depth of reality express itself through our words, to speak through us and in us.