Has philosophy answered any questions or do they keep asking the same ones and disagreeing on the answers?

Question

I had a friend studying philosophy for a doctorate and he had to quit. Said it was driving him crazy.

Perfect has more than one definition. Perfect could mean the end and that's not so perfect. I believe with you that we can have if reasonably perfect, but we'll always have situations to handle, how boring otherwise. New information now should cause a big mind shift, it's just whether it will get out there soon enough to make a big enough difference. It might if the media gets bored with itself and decides to report all the breakthroughs. The newspapers are doing a better job.

Answer 1

Bertrand Russell gave a good answer to this question in his book 'The Problems of Philosophy.'
In the chapter, 'The Value of Philosophy' he wrote that philosophy has had success over the years, but every time that definite knowledge is acheived, the subject ceases to be philosophy, becoming another science instead.

Just as we once wondered about the heavens, we now have hard facts in astronomy. The workings the mind can now be studied in psychology whereas it once was a philosophical mystery.

So, by definition philosophy will attempt to answer the questions that conventional science cannot, and these kind of questions take many many years to solve and require lots of thought and debate. If this means asking the same questions over and over again then so be it..

Answer 2

If a theory cannot be proven, it's forced to be considered philosophy. Philosophy is an means to its own end and is the end, itself. Asking cyclical questions... All nonsense really.

Theren't really any answers in a sense of facts. Philosophists ask, what is the purpose of life? If some day the universe stopped and looked at us, gave us the anwer - there would then be a factual answer. (meaning it would no longer be philosophy).

It is an academic discipline that is often divided into five major branches: logic; metaphysics; epistemology; ethics; and aesthetics.

Interesting but often it is not fun. :-)

Answer 3

Whilst i would say this is a good question,it would probably
depend on ur age(!)

Sir karl Popper answered the chicken-or-egg question;
The polish philosopher jan lucasiuwicz gave an answer
to the question whether there is another Logic not based
on just Truth and Falsity("the third way")
i quit studying a History-of-Ideas course because i got ill;
But,we got to read,study and even see(on tv,in debate)
the brilliant teacher below.
And he has taught me more than i ever imagined(even though always incomplete).

Answer 4

I think Philosophy was not meant to answer questions but pose them. It is a form of supposition, of suggesting possibilities, of listening to one`s intuition, of observing the state of the World and desiring to change it for the better.
Naturally it looks for answers but it is not insistant when it thinks it has found them. It maintains an open-mind, always. It listens, it considers, and maintains its desire that a better and more just World is possible.
That is what, in part, Philosophy means for me atleast.
After all, we should accept that achieving a perfect world is most likely impossible, but we should not give up trying, nor hoping.

Answer 5

It cannot unify. There would always be diversions and more questions. However, the benefit of such is that the more questions answered, and the more questions questioned, it will lead you to a deeper understanding. The more you understand, the more you would be confident and truthful.

Some people could not survive such mental stress but some do.

Answer 6

Philosophy answers many questions to many different levels of discrimination/scrutiny and satisfaction. It also allows for many questions to be found/posed!
There are hard questions that can drive some crazy for many reasons..., but that is not indication of pointlessness of any subject! Rather it is more indicative of its complexity, difficulty and depth...

Answer 7

It answers questions if it's a personal quest. As a discourse, it can help with personal quests but appears to an observer to be just an exercise in how many ways language can fail to help us understand each other.

Answer 8

Philosophy is an on-going exercise of the mind. It is an exploration not a destination.

Answer 9

I think that any question with a definite, universally accepted answer ceases to be philosophy.

Answer 10

Yeah, search the question: "What is the meaning of life" and you'll get about 100,000,000 results. And the answers will include:
-To give life meaning.
-To procreate.
-To love and enjoy.
-42.