As I write this, we’re months into a pandemic that has claimed at least 300,000 lives around the world; healthcare workers are risking their safety every day; and many of the rest of us have been feeling isolated and alone after social distancing for so long. It has been a challenging time. So for the next two weeks, we’re talking to different Stanford scholars who find roads to comfort, connection, and a sense of common purpose in literature, philosophy, and music.

But can thearts and在这样的困难时期，人文真的有帮助吗?特别是哲学?

Just to be clear, nobody would suggest that philosophy should be theprimarysource of help: I want to see medical experts, not philosophers, giving the briefings and doing the research. What we need most is sound medical research coupled with effective, altruistic, honest, and even-handed governance. The kind of governance that would have worked to create a healthcare system that works for all and is equipped to handle a crisis.

Still, philosophers and their friends may yet havesomepart to play, even if it’s a small one. For one thing, when governance isnoteffective, altruistic, and even-handed, philosophy—the moral and political kind—can help us articulate why. Maybe we should all stock up on someMarx,Du Bois, andSatzwhen we’re putting in our next order of antiseptic wipes.

Those same moral philosophers will also have light to shed on quandaries that arise in our personal lives, helping us to figure out whether ordering those wipes online—not to mention a new TV—is really the right thing to do. And discourse analysts, likethis smart personandthat smart person, can tell us whether politicians should really be calling this a “war.” (Hint:they shouldn’t.)

Maybe the greatest philosophical help might come from the ancient Stoics, who would advise us to focus on what we can control and not on what we can’t. Be safe, be kind, be responsible, help others, resist injustice, and work for better political days—but for the rest, if you can, let each day take its course. Easier said than done, admittedly, but maybe not impossible some of the time. We don’t have to beperfectStoics, as the Stoics themselves were the first to admit.

最重要的是，我认为无论我们读的是哪位思想家的作品，我们都能从(好的)哲学中学到一些东西，那就是一组有益的智力习惯。For many ancient thinkers, philosophy wasn't just a set of ideas—it was a way of life.It was a set of habits of thinking, habits that translated into habits of being. And one of those habits is the practice of constantly evaluating claims, spotting fallacies, calling BS on nonsense.

Good philosophers really do question everything (except, well, you know the rest). That’s not to say theyrejecteverything; most philosophers accept plenty of true statements. They just demand evidence. So I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate that folks who spend time around philosophy arenotthe ones who are going tobrag about shaking hands with everyoneat a hospital full of Covid patients, embracecrackpot conspiracy theories, or start injecting ourselves with bleach.

Stay safe and thoughtful, everybody! And don't forget to tune into Comforting Conversations, Parts1and2!

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