So what exactly is open philosophy? Well, first let’s consider the age we live in. It is one of particular technological excellence in the fields of transport, computing, design and communications. Indeed it is from the world of computing that the open methodology perhaps comes.
During the late nineteen seventies and early eighties the advancements in microprocessor technology and thus the proliferation of computing machines meant an explosion in the nature of the computer languages from just a few, understood by a small group of unusual people, to a huge variety of languages that today permeates society and culture to the extent that nearly every public building in the modern world has code running some element of the offices whether in the form of word processors and printers to more advanced building systems. Although computers are not quite yet every where they are omnipresent and have a fundamental role in the modern world.
It is the nature of this intelligent code that concerns us here and the legal challenge that presents itself everyday to the users and developers of the code. The legal challenge concerns intellectual property rights and whether or not any given code may be copied, altered or otherwise used to help us get through this life. In other words the source code of any given program is either freely available or its use restricted. In other words code is either open source or closed source.
Leaving for a moment the debate, we have here a very modern philosophical matter. That matter is whether we can think in certain ways or not. To put it simply, language is the engine of thinking. It is the very medium of thought and communication. This is important because computer languages and their programs (particular expressions within the languages) represent a major element in the technological future of the galaxy and all that dwells within it.
While this is all of great interest to the thinking individual, or, the philosopher, we must return to the point. Taking as a metaphor the open source/closed source copyright status we can consider too, the endeavours of thinking people as being open or closed. Open to the cooperation and sharing of societies resources and responsibilities or closed to them. Open to the ideas of others or closed to them.
In this way, part thought experiment/part lived experience, we can philosophise on the nature of being in the world as humans.
Now we have arrived at the central theme of the book: Whether the philosopher considers the love of wisdom to be an open or a closed affair.
