{"id":1543,"date":"2026-01-29T13:56:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/?p=1543"},"modified":"2026-01-29T14:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T14:59:29","slug":"philosophy-as-a-way-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Philosophy as a Way of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1544\" src=\"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius-300x202.jpg\" alt=\"confucian-philosopher\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius-768x518.jpg 768w, https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><br \/>\nThe purpose of this article is to advertise <em>someone else&#8217;s<\/em> work, in this case one who served as my first supervisor during my doctoral studies. Dr Betenson has since left academia, and is undertaking a philosophical life around farming and family, but has a site full of great philosophical ruminations.<\/p>\n<p>This article, in particular, is a great read: <a href=\"https:\/\/tobybetenson.com\/2025\/08\/02\/on-being-someone-who-has-something-to-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/tobybetenson.com\/2025\/08\/02\/on-being-someone-who-has-something-to-say\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The blog itself can be subscribed to and you get emails or alerts if that is your thing, I thoroughly recommend it if you like to be challenged in your thinking which is of course, one of the principles of Socratic thinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The purpose of this article is to advertise someone else&#8217;s work, in this case one who served as my first supervisor during my doctoral studies. Dr Betenson has since left academia, and is undertaking a philosophical life around farming and family, but has a site full of great philosophical ruminations. This article, in particular, is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,13],"tags":[367,366],"class_list":["post-1543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy","category-philosophy-of-religion","tag-ancient-greek-philosophy","tag-socrates"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Philosophy as a Way of Life - Planet M Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Philosophy as a Way of Life\u2014Here I am actually advertising someone else&#039;s work.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philosophy as a Way of Life - Planet M Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Philosophy as a Way of Life\u2014Here I am actually advertising someone else&#039;s work.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planet M Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-29T13:56:53+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-29T14:59:29+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"860\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"580\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Macneil\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Macneil\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Macneil\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33\"},\"headline\":\"Philosophy as a Way of Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-29T13:56:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-29T14:59:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":111,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ancient Greek philosophy\",\"Socrates\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Philosophy\",\"Philosophy of Religion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/\",\"name\":\"Philosophy as a Way of Life - Planet M Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-29T13:56:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-29T14:59:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Philosophy as a Way of Life\u2014Here I am actually advertising someone else's work.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg\",\"width\":860,\"height\":580,\"caption\":\"confucian-philosopher\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Philosophy as a Way of Life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Planet Macneil Blog\",\"description\":\"The blog of Dr Michael P\u00f2l Macneil PhD\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33\",\"name\":\"Michael Macneil\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael Macneil\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g\"},\"description\":\"I write software and am studying part-time for a PhD in philosophy. I have an MSc in Electronic Engineering and an MA in Studies in Philosophy and Religion. I am a Microsoft Certified Professional with an MCSD. I have a teaching qualification in Physics and like most things science. Otherwise I like classic VWs, watching Rodney Howard-Browne, playing guitar and making computer music.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/planetmacneil.org\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/mmacneill123\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philosophy as a Way of Life - Planet M Blog","description":"Philosophy as a Way of Life\u2014Here I am actually advertising someone else's work.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philosophy as a Way of Life - Planet M Blog","og_description":"Philosophy as a Way of Life\u2014Here I am actually advertising someone else's work.","og_url":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/","og_site_name":"Planet M Blog","article_published_time":"2026-01-29T13:56:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-29T14:59:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":860,"height":580,"url":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Macneil","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Macneil","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Macneil","@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33"},"headline":"Philosophy as a Way of Life","datePublished":"2026-01-29T13:56:53+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-29T14:59:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/"},"wordCount":111,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg","keywords":["Ancient Greek philosophy","Socrates"],"articleSection":["Philosophy","Philosophy of Religion"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/","url":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/","name":"Philosophy as a Way of Life - Planet M Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-29T13:56:53+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-29T14:59:29+00:00","description":"Philosophy as a Way of Life\u2014Here I am actually advertising someone else's work.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/confucian-philosopher-mencius.jpg","width":860,"height":580,"caption":"confucian-philosopher"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philosophy as a Way of Life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/","name":"Planet Macneil Blog","description":"The blog of Dr Michael P\u00f2l Macneil PhD","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/78d80b09bb7f5dca3e2779fb6a2c2d33","name":"Michael Macneil","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g","caption":"Michael Macneil"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c23bafa3d0e8438466d9d51dd2b843fab8754f428006edc6c50c8d9b66d9fa1?s=96&r=g"},"description":"I write software and am studying part-time for a PhD in philosophy. I have an MSc in Electronic Engineering and an MA in Studies in Philosophy and Religion. I am a Microsoft Certified Professional with an MCSD. I have a teaching qualification in Physics and like most things science. Otherwise I like classic VWs, watching Rodney Howard-Browne, playing guitar and making computer music.","sameAs":["https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/author\/mmacneill123\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1543"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1567,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1543\/revisions\/1567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetmacneil.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}