The Basic Human Freedom & Right To Inquire

When we suffer, or are made to suffer, when a tragic fate befalls us we each become a little like Hamlet, wondering why this is happening to us: who are the main players in this tragedy, what are the reasons for why we are suffering--the unnamed and unknown sources behind our tragic dilemma.

Something deeply philosophical strikes us. We can't help but ask 'Why?' We can't help but inquire. There is something basic and fundamental behind the right to ask questions about the nature of our suffering. I mean, who hasn't? Who hasn't pondered the nature of a tragic confrontation with one's fate or destiny? Who, in short, has not waxed philosophical when suffering has imposed itself upon us?

Philosophy doesn't stop nor cease. People might consider philosophy to be this arcane, high-faultin', esoteric display of erudition--an edneavour inherent with big words that few can pronounce correctly, let alone understand. But if you have ever sat on the front-porch with your Granny or your Gramps, and listened to them tell a tale of and about their life--a tale from the distant past--then you have had a course in being philosophical. Because when you boil it down, to be human is to be philosophical--no matter the conditions. In fact, some would even argue that the more we suffer the more we ask and inquire as to why things are the way they are. Suffering of the sort found in the counties and districts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Lousiana don't make us more material, as much as more philosophical. The result is that questions we may have not asked for a long time suddenly come out of everyone's mouth. And it's probably high-time they did.

The irony is that something so seemingly brute and raw as a natural disaster could serve to collectively dispose us towards being more prone to inquire--meaning, far more philosophical.