Is the pursuit of wisdom a form of philosophy or just the means to an empirical method of knowledge?

Answer 1

If "wisdom" as you understand it is merely empirical, then the pursuit of it would be not only a form of philosophy but also a method of knowledge.

However, if you can find any example of a "pursuit of knowledge" which is transcendental and/or non-empirical, then it would be philosophy but not a method of empirical knowledge.

Answer 2

I'd say a big fat Yes to philosophy as pursuit of wisdom. If by "the means to an empirical method of knowledge" you mean a gateway to something like modern physics or psychology, it's not such a simple matter.

I gather you're thinking about the history of philosophy, which branched out into the empirical sciences. As our thinking has developed, we've found ways to handle questions of physics that formerly philosophers would've treated. Maybe the concepts even originated in philosophical speculation - the atomic theory, for instance.

But philosophy hasn't gone away by any means. If anything, it's bigger than ever - the traditional questions of knowledge and the good, etc., plus new branches like phenomenological inquiries. Just when you think it's all been covered, or the problems are all insoluble, someone comes along and cracks open a new direction. That's what guys like Plato, Kant, and Wittgenstein have done. And yes, there's wisdom in them books, but it needs to be chewed on. Seek and you shall find - but first you must seek.

If we figure out an empirical method of settling those questions, fine. But I don't think we'll develop philosophy out of existence. It's radical inquiry at root, so as long as there are presuppositions, there'll be a need for philosophy. I forget who defined philosophy as "the persistent attempt to think things through", but in my opinion, whoever it was had it right on the money.

Answer 3

The key word is 'pursuit'.

My thought is that knowledge tends to be pursuable, whereas wisdom get's sneakier and more difficult to find the more it's pursued.

Philosophy's not a pursuit. It's just a way of thinking.