INFJs and philosophy? Yum yum
It's definitely an interesting topic. I think there is something kind of unique about INFJ philosophers. They tend not to be the best at creating nearly perfectly consistent systems - INTPs are. INFJ philosophers are often quite idiosyncratic and will gladly risk being guilty of a fallacy here and there, if that must come as an inevitable by-product of expressing an original insight. It's quite striking really: INFJ philosophers have the insight almost before they begin writing, with the benefit of their Ni. The same applies to INTJ philosophers, who also benefit from Ni-dom, but their INFJ counterparts, through Fe, will tend to be much more concerned about the human condition - morals, in other words. You see that in Plato, Wittgenstein, Spinoza, even Schopenhauer: "How can human being be happy?" pervades their work, even though the work, because of Ni and Ti, might sometimes be very abstract or esoteric. You don't see moral concerns so much in INTJ philosophers like Hegel, Sartre and company. While in the case of INFP philosophers, like Rousseau and Kierkegaard, the question will be posed in more individual terms (Fi): "How can
I be happy?" and a reader may get inspiration from them by mirroring.
I think that's what is best about INFJ philosophers: they tend to put their vision at the service of the universal, of humanity as a whole. Their philosophy, or their fiction (in the case of Dostoevsky, say) may begin with a specific example or character, but it will always expand outwards until it is universalized. So yes, Ni-Fe can yield incredible insights into the infinite layers of the human psyche, and human motivations, and it also has the ability to convey the notion that "this applies to
everyone". What reader, when he reads Dostoevsky's
Crime and Punishment, doesn't identify with Raskolnikov's life and plight, even though he's a murderer? Spinoza's philosophy is universal, so is Plato's and Plotinus's. Even Wittgenstein, though he was arguably not the most proficient Fe user, thought about philosophy as 'quietism', that is, as a way to resolve problems and puzzles and reach inner peace in that way - a method accessible to everyone. A great individual insight at the service of a universal mission: that is, in my eyes, the unique worth of an INFJ philosopher.