What is PHilosophy?

Answer 1

The word philosophy comes from the ancient Greek words philo-, to love or to befriend, and, -sophia, to be wise. It can be construed then either as the love of wisdom or the wisdom of love. The answer to the question "what is philosophy?", has almost as many varieties as there are philosophers.

In the contemporary English-speaking world it is often used implicitly to refer only to analytic philosophy and, on the other hand, in non-English speaking countries, it often refers implicitly only to continental philosophy. This modern-day division of analytic and continental philosophy (confined largely to academia) is problematic for understanding the current use of the word philosophy since both of these two areas talk of philosophy in general but are often only referring to that school. The easiest clue to indicate which of these philosophies is being referred to by the word philosophy is to note the language used. But modern usage of the term is much broader than this rather academic division.

Since the ancient Greeks discovered many of the ideas of logic, math, and geometry that are often associated with classical ideas of philosophy, it behooves us to ask what they meant by it. Human curiosity and the compulsion to ask questions has always existed. But the ancient Greeks were perhaps the first to explicitly ask: Is the world (of which we are also a part) intelligible? And if so, how? They answered in the affirmative through the human capacity to reason. Their view of reason rested in the creation of concepts using the deductive method operating on the data provided by the senses as its basic material, and then reasoning further from this conceptual base. They invented the concept of philosophy to designate the whole endeavor of making sense of all aspects of existence. As a consequence the ancient Greek philosophers identified philosophy with rationalism. But rationalism is only one possible answer to the question of intelligibility. Throughout the history of human thought since the ancient Greeks many thinkers have argued that aspects of reality are not intelligible in a strictly rational sense. A range of answers to philosophical questions were subsequently proposed that fall somewhere on a spectrum between the two poles of rational and non-rational. As a consequence modern usage no longer limits the term philosophy to the original ancient Greek idea but has broadened the concept as covering the entire spectrum of thought on these questions.

Mankind only began to philosophise, Aristotle considered, after all of the normal necessities of life had been achieved. For him then it is a non-practical kind of leisure activity. However, Socrates before him considered it to be the most valuable and, in that sense, most practical activity.

Philosophy as a concept and a subject encompases all of knowledge and all that can be known including the means by which such knowledge can be acquired. The ancient Greeks organized the subject into five basic categories: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics and aesthetics. This organization of the subject is still largely in use today and can be profitably used regardless of where one's answers to specific philosophical questions lie.

Metaphysics is concerned with the nature of existence in the most fundamental sense. It attempts to answer the question as to what are the most fundamental attributes that all existing things share, if any, as well as fundamental questions concerning how they relate to one another. Epistemology is concerned with the nature of knowledge and how man can know things. As such certain aspects of the functioning of man's mind is included -- his rational faculty (particularly his conceptual capacity) and how it functions as well as his emotional nature. Ethics is concerned with the nature of values and in particular how this concept applies to man and his relationship to the external world and to other men. Politics is concerned with the behavior of men toward one another in the social context. Hence the first question of politics as a philosophical subject might be: how should men deal with one another in such a social context? Thus it can be seen that politics is really a sub-category of ethics since ethical criteria must be used in order to answer its questions. Aesthetics is concerned with man's artistic creations. It also involves choice, i.e., value criteria and as such can also be viewed as a sub-category of ethics.

There are a number of broad approaches to the subject as a whole which vary according to the traditions of people all over the world. One notable approach is that of Western philosophy, a school of thought originated by the Greeks and developed in the West (discussed above). Eastern philosophy is considered its counterpart since subjective non-rational criteria are largely used to evaluate and resolve issues. The methodology of philosophy is itself debated within the field of metaphilosophy and epistemology.

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Answer 2

Bertrand Russell said that philosophy was midway
between science and theology. I tend to agree with BR
in the recognition that philosophy is distinct from both
science and theology; but the question is: What is it
about philosophy that makes it unique and separate?
Science, in the most general sense, is the study of the
universe (ie. a small bit of it at a time). In the same
way, Theology is the study of the divine, and its
relations with this world and humanity.
.
Now the biggest problem with philosophy today is
that science and theology have taken away most of
philosophy's traditional subject matter, and left it with
precious little that it can call its own. This is why philo-
sophy is now so barren and lifeless and passionless
and devoid of any real contact with people and their
lives. Philosophy today is such a bad joke primarily
because most people have a seriously flawed under-
standing about what philosophy is.
.
Philosophy is NOT an enterprise that seeks to know
things for the sake of increasing knowledge. No indeed,
philosophy is a *practical* activity that seeks to change
and improve minds and lives! Philosophy is the *art* of
reasoning about anything and everything, and as such
its subject matter is anything and everything.
.
Heraclitus said it best over 25 centuries ago:
"The goal of philosophy is not to know the world,
but rather to put men on the right path."

Answer 3

I quote Robert Arp, editor of the book South Park and Philosophy, who says: ‘… the goal of … philosophy is to discover truth and make the world a better place’. Now, if I conjoin this with the actual meaning of the word philosophy – the love of wisdom, then the answer to your question is: the love of discovering truth for the purpose of making this world a better, intelligent, comprehensible and no nonsense place for an intelligent, happy and peaceful living.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=27419&in_page_id=2

On the other hand, purely intellectual or even philosophical interpretations of Philosophy often relate to academic pursuits of philosophical knowledge. For a normal person, however, philosophy could be just another pertinent name for practical wisdom – the wisdom that we apply in our daily living. We all need to bring our heart and mind at one place.

Philosophical broodings for their own sake can be very absorbing and distracting leading to inactiveness and deep critical introspection. A distinction, therefore, needs to be made between various thinking modes – or thinking caps, if you use caps. Philosophical insight can be applied to situations that require some deeper considerations before some decisions are made, whereas at the same time too much thinking often makes it difficult to come to choose one out of many options on the table.

Answer 4

The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.

Answer 5

To me any deep logical thinking that brings up wise conclusions is philosophy...... of course conclusions on the most important issues often point towards indeterminable status...... and that is how it ought to be in this enigmatic universe defined by uncertainties.

Answer 6

philosophy is the act of talking a good line of bullshit while making the rest of the world think youre a sage.

Answer 7

The study of Phil?

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy

Answer 9

It's a degree that makes it very hard to get a job.

Answer 10

When you don't have a foundation in Christ you philsofy...