Go There, Do It, Write It

Parallels Between History and Philosophy

I've just started reading David Hackett Fischer's massive book African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals, a worthy follow-up to the magisterial Albion's Seed (which I also happen to be re-reading as background to my in-progress poem "Song of the Nations"). In the introduction, Fischer cites three rules for historical research that were originally formulated by Francis Parkman: "Go There", "Do It", and "Write It" (advice that Parkman followed in spades, for example in his well-known work on the Oregon Trail).

Parkman's rules are strikingly similar to my own process for encountering great philosophers.

For me, "Go There" means to immerse myself in the ideas and thought patterns of a philosopher by reading and thoroughly understanding all that they wrote, preferably in the original language. It also involves reading the prior thinkers who most influenced my subject (e.g., with Aristotle that is primarily Plato) and large swathes of the scholarly literature. Ideally I might also travel to places of interest, but I'm a homebody so I haven't done that.

In the search for wisdom, I interpret "Do It" as "Live It": put the ideas into practice and reflect on the results. This is an iterative process of applying the insights over time in a wide variety of situations.

Although "Write It" sounds straightforward enough, distilling years of reading and experience into a brief, engaging book is a difficult task because every word counts. Naturally, producing a book is not the only way to "Write It" - blogging or journaling might be just as effective in accounting for what you've learned and how you've lived. I just happen to be partial to the jewel-like beauty of a well-crafted book.

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