Dear Readers,
Perhaps the first thing that comes to your mind when you pick up this book is: Why would a medical doctor, who is familiar with operating rooms, patient records, and complex biochemical terminology, write a book about philosophy? For many people, medicine and philosophy seem to be two separate oceans: one is empirical science, the other is abstract thinking.But to me, they are two inseparable aspects of the same entity: Human.
Throughout my years of practicing medicine, I have seen countless patients. I have seen bodies miraculously healed by the advances of modern medicine. But I have also seen people who, despite being completely healthy physically, continue to suffer from invisible pain. It is chronic anxiety, exhaustion from work pressure, a feeling of emptiness despite having many conveniences, and a nagging question about the true meaning of life.
Medicine can patch up a bleeding wound, can regulate an irregular heartbeat, but it is often powerless against a lost soul. We have the most sophisticated toolkits to intervene in the body, but seem to lack the necessary "surgical instruments" for the inner self.
That's when I turned to Philosophy.