The Intellectual Affects The Personal

Nothing about possessing intellectual depth and personal depth at the same time is impossible, and yet many continue to treat the two as natural enemies.  The intellectual and personal dimensions of human nature are not inherently at war, and there is no use in pitting one against the other because they are not exclusive to begin with.  However, one does always impact the other, regardless of how strong the other is.

It is, of course, entirely possible to engage in philosophy without one's personal preferences interfering; all that is required to do so is an adherence to reason.  However, the inverse is not true: it is impossible for one to engage in philosophy without one's personal life being affected by it in at least some small way.  The process of pursuing truth will inevitably affect the personal side of the person involved in that pursuit.

The personal never has to overpower the intellectual, but the intellectual will always impose itself on the personal to at least some small extent.  A person's worldview determines how they behave, react, and approach the circumstances of their life.  As such, one cannot escape the personal consequences of holding to a certain worldview by denying or failing to acknowledge them.

Human existence is an inherently personal one.  This fact, like most others, is often misunderstood by laypeople and academia alike.  It does not mean that we are incapable of achieving a truly rationalistic worldview, nor does it mean that we will invariably allow our personal desires to lead us away from demonstrable truths.  Instead, it simply means that each of us must bear the personal consequences of our worldviews, desirable or not.

The journey towards understanding as much of reality as can be verified, given one's epistemic limitations, is a thoroughly transformative one.  A concern for truth will change a person as he or she reasons various facts out, and this change will unavoidably affect how that person lives.  Indeed, the intersection of the intellectual and personal can be the most subjectively fulfilling part of existence when verifiable certainty collides with passion.  There is no greater flourishing that can be enjoyed than that which comes about when both central aspects of human nature are integrated properly.