After deciding on a philosophy type, learn the background history of your chosen philosophy, including readings from the key philosophers. Understand the key questions that were addressed and get a solid understanding of the key concepts. Improve your basic understanding of other types of philosophies. You cannot be an expert in everything but recognize that there is great value in understanding the basics of what others have done. A broad understanding of what people are struggling with and what the discussions have been about will help you to develop your own personal philosophy. Feel free to learn and build on existing ideas. It is difficult starting from scratch, so why not take another philosopher’s ideas as a basic framework to get started? Many well known philosophers started like this. For example, Plato took the undoubtedly oral and sociable Socratic method from the real Socrates,[2] X Research source and used it as the basis for his highly polished literary Socratic method, which in turn was taken by Aristotle to form the basis of Logic particularly syllogisms. [3] X Research source
Become a critical thinker. Keep track of where you have obtained the basis for ideas, tenets, theories, etc. , in your new philosophy. Being able to trace your theorizing or conclusions back to their source will help you defending your ideas or pushing them further. Very little develops in a vacuum. [4] X Research source Referring to what other philosophers have said gives your philosophy greater credibility because you are displaying your depth of knowledge and understanding of existing philosophies.
Keep a journal and continue writing down your thoughts and ideas, even if they’re not coherent. Patience is essential because it may take you years to sort through all the discarded notions to find the treasure buried underneath. The passage of time is healthy, as it allows your ideas to keep evolving and to be tested by daily events. Ask some pertinent questions, such as: What is the purpose of your philosophy? Do you want to apply it to all of society or just a sector? What is your role in your philosophy? What, if any, are the roles of particular people in your philosophy? How will you explain the basis of your philosophy to others? Is it helpful on a practical level, or Utopian? How do other belief sets or philosophies fit in with or go against your philosophy? Are you willing to write down a thesis or book of your philosophy? Or would you rather write stories that contain your philosophy but are not overtly a philosophical work in structure?
Join a local philosophy group, club, or chapter. Join an online group that has private forums where you can share your ideas freely and get responses. Visit your local university and ask to speak with philosophy professors to share your thoughts with them. If you find someone else who really understands where your new philosophy is headed, embrace their enthusiasm but take care to keep working on your understandings separate from their enthusiasm. It is hard to follow someone else while they are still working out what it is that they believe, so their enthusiasm may just be because they like and trust you.
Keep an open mind. Learn to accept criticism and grow from it; it might just help strengthen you and your philosophy. Always have a pencil and a notebook to note down ideas as they occur to you, or as you come across them.
For example, take a serious news story that involves issues impacting many sectors of society and ask yourself: “What would I have done?” Work your answers into your developing philosophy to see if it can withstand actual events and provide explanations, instruction, or greater understanding.
