What is the criteria for asking a genuine philosophic question?

Question

What other kinds of questions are there and how are they catagorized?

Come on now, there must be a classification system. Not all questions are philisophic.

Answer 1

There is no one criterion (singular) for a philosophic question, but there are several criteria (plural), as you suggest.

The very earliest Western philosophic questions were about cosmology (the world as a whole) and involved questions like: What is the basis of reality? Is there one thing (earth, air, fire, water) that makes everything, or are there many things? And what is the nature of this one or the many things? Is change a constant in life or is there anything permenent and lasting?

Later on, the questions changed from cosmology to political and ethical types of questions: What is the good life? What is goodness? What is beauty? What is justice? What is truth? What is the best political system? How can we come to know? What are the ways of knowing?

Out of reflections on questions like these, all of the basic ideas that dominate our social and politcal lives, not to mention our sciences, evolved. As a great 20th century philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, observed, all of Western philosophy is but a series of footnotes to Plato (the first truly great Western philosopher).

Now, what do we see in these questions that makes them philosophic? One is generality or universality. We want to know what is universally true or real. Another criterion is that the method of resolving these questions is generally not empirical (based on experience) or formal (based on logic or mathematics), but is based on reflection, on deep thought over many years, maybe a lifetime or more. That is, these questions involve conceptual anlysis. Another feature of philosophic questions is that they usually admit of several different answers which cannot be ultimately resolved (because they involve assumptions that cannot be proved). Another feature of these questions is that they cannot be answered by some authority (like the bible), but only by a free mind.

The kinds of questions that philosophers ask and try to resolve are usually questions about the deepest assumptions or presuppositions of our lives and world. The principles they come up with are like the laws of mind, sometimes not laws but hypotheses. For example, the whole scientific edifice is based on the assumption that for every effect there is a cause and that the cause comes before the effect. This is a fundamental assumption that cannot itself be proven. It is logically possible that the universe is not a causal system, but we have science because we make that assumption and organize the world in that way. Philosophers analyze what makes a causal system a causal system.

Answer 2

We could argue that a philisophical question is one that is enduring. A question stops being philosophical if it becomes pratical.

A philosophical question is a fundamental quesiton about the nature of existence; e.g.
what are we?
Why are we here?
How did we get here?
Are we alone?
Why is there something? (rather than nothing)
Where does it all come from?
Is there God?
What is God?
Can I talk to God?
What is the meaning of life?
If God did exist, does it continue to exist?
What is good and evil?
And here are the big ones:
What is truth?
What is beauty?
What is the absolute, and what is a reflection of the absolute?

I could go on, but these are, in my opinion, good examples of core philosophical questions. Now, mind you, these are general philosophy quesitons, mostly about the nature of existance. For each academic discipline, I could come up with a new list of questions. :)

Answer 3

It asks for the essence of things. Like, what is "being". It used to be considered that such question should not be utilitarian. Nevertheless, philosophy now is different. The ultimate truth is our lives. I may be mistaken about other things, but I know for sure that I'm alive, commiting mistakes. If that is the initial truth, all the other truths are derivative. Therefore philosophy is now based in our lives, which doesn't necessarily make it utilitarian, but it's defenitaly a change of direction in relation to the past of philosophy.

Answer 4

philosophy is not a question; rather a guide, method or an intuitive suggestion. many questions are asked that do not reach to a level that requires a philosophical examination. in the end, philosophy is nothing more than thinking. you are certainly capable of that. your own consciousness is the only criteria for thinking.

Answer 5

All the academic degrees culminate as "doctorate" at the higher levels , as "Ph.D"..... A reason good enough to be rest assured that when you are asking something which does not easily get classified in any category, it fits into philosophy too... Atleast some of the people who answer can suggest a simultaneous category (the appropriate one, apart from this-welcome-all), since experts in all other categories could end up as good at philosophy too !

Answer 6

You may ask philosophical questions and hope you receive a response that makes sense.
Sadly, the rest go from the sublime to the ridiculous, in most cases.

Answer 7

it is the answer that matter, not the question.......
any question can be philosophic, depend on the answer....

imagine, that you realized that the answer you always said, can have a diffrent meaning,,, and lead you to a diffrent horizon
even start with 1+1 = 2 ?

Answer 8

A philosophical question is one of a timeless nature, and Ethics are the device we use to examine it.

Answer 9

The good thing about philosophy is that it is subjective.
there is no such thing as genuine philosophy and it's up to you to decide how to categorise your thoughts or questions.

Answer 10

there is no criteria at all

ask whatever u wanna ask