What is the essence of the philosopher?

Answer 1

Heard of the philosopher's stone? It's supposedly a stone that turns junk into gold. The role of the philosopher is to find reason to why things happen in life and turn these random observances and ideas into a thought process that works in all cases and enriches it's believers. We're still trying to turn junk into gold, but we're still working on it.

Answer 2

Plato has a good view on this at the end of book five of "The Republic".

What he considers to be an initial defining characteristic is that a philosopher (unlike someone who is a connoisseur of any one particular thing) doesn't just want knowledge... he wants ALL knowledge. Only a person who "is curious to learn and is never satisfied" meets this first hurdle.

Another part of the distinction and reason for this curiousity on the part of the philosopher has to do with his view of the nature of knowledge. True knowledge, he argues, is completely and objectively true... something that makes it distinct from things which are just a matter of opinion. And to Plato, the ultimate truth of things lie only in the perfect world of ideas that can be associated with the Divine itself.

This is important because a person who can percieve this inner truth in things will see it in all things (as mentioned above). Thus, someone who just likes music and has an unlimited interest in just that is no philosopher - if he saw the inner nature of music, Plato thinks he would see the music intrinsic to all things, and find them all just as beautiful.

Likewise, a person who sees this inner truth has the virtue of not being swayed much by opinion (who would succum to illusion who could see reality?). Because opinion is not knowledge, this can only get in the way of a philosopher's interests. And since using knowledge and truth are superior to using ignorance and lies, the decisions of a philosopher are presumably far better than those of anyone else.

Another interesting quirk of this comes a bit later in the book. Because philosophers are interested in primarily knowledge, and not power, wealth, glory, and other such stuff they have no inherent interest in ruling, even though Socrates thinks they would make ideal rulers. In fact, to make his own ideal philosopher-led state to work, he essentially has to force them to rule through tradition and law.

An interesting read, nonetheless. I recommend it!

Answer 3

In my opinion the essence of philosophers is that they ask questions no one else asked before. Philosophers show us how little we really know about our existence, life etc.

Answer 4

I believe the philosopher's essence is that of an aspiration to be knowledgeable; the truth-seeker. There is a love and passion for the intellectual challenges in life. The philosopher is essentially an analytical-meticulous thinker in all aspects of their life, in which the dedication to intrinsic and essential laws of truth and/of existence can be attributed.

Answer 5

To the philosopher is given the responsibility of synthesizing, of harmoniously blending all knowledge into a unified whole. The philosopher seeks not merely answers but the fundamental principles that underlie those answers. With the purity of a truly open mind the philosopher seeks to know and yet transcend knowing, to understand and yet transcend understanding, to perceive the interrelatedness of all fields of knowledge, indeed of all things.

Answer 6

The essence of the philosopher is to complete desires to be alone and to think. A philosopher could speak to others, but instead prefers to speak to the self (thought). The philosopher could interact with others, however, the preference is generally to be alone.

The philosopher method evolved as means to maintain being alone and to sustain the desire to think. The desire to think leads to difficult situations which then require thought for resolution. Anyone who thinks alot is prone to depression. Anyone who thinks alot is prone to anxiety.

Thinking is both our strength and our weakness as a species.

Answer 7

A philosopher is a person who finds a problem for every solution, and pisses alot of people off. It's the nature of the beast of being a logical thinker and not swallowing all the medicine just because you're told it will help.

Answer 8

Open-mindedness.

Answer 9

rationality defines a philosopher.

Answer 10

Addiction to the comprehension of meaning; in the pursuit of the nature of being and reality.