Philosophy - R.I.P.!?

Question

'All I know is that I know nothing' (Socrates)

'Philosophy does not solve anything; philosophy leaves everything as it is' (Wittgenstein)

...'thinking is always that which we know we have not yet begun to do'.. (Derrida)

2500 years from Socrates to the 20th century and philosophy has not progressed one jot. Why? Because there is no such thing as a body of knowledge called ''Philosophy''. It either asks pseudo and hollow questions that have no objective answer (e.g. 'What is the meaning of life?' 'What is happiness'? 'Is there an objective morality?' etc or asks questions that science has not yet found an answer to: e.g. 'Is the mind identical with the brain' which is typical of a question that cannot, and will not ever be answered by philosophical enquiry.

As Wittgenstein said: 'there are problems of logic, problems of mind, of language...but there are no actual philosophical questions. There is no such thing as the 'problems of Philosophy'.

Thank you, and good night!

Answer 1

'2500 years from Socrates to the 20th century and philosophy has not progressed one jot. Why? Because there is no such thing as a body of knowledge called ''Philosophy''. It either asks pseudo and hollow questions that have no objective answer'

The number of people with the mental capacity to analyze various aspects of this universe to the depth that philosophy does is infinitesimal when you compare it to the other sciences...the reason we see so much bullcr@p masquerading as philosophy is because most people cant really understand how congruent with reality philosophy is...you cant disguise hippy and new-age BS as physics because physics is very easy to comprehend when compared to actual philosophy...you read physics and immediately know if its plausible or not...but when people read philosophy they dont know what they dont know...which is why they confuse it with spirituality and new age ****...both(phil & new age) SEEM obscure but that is where the similarity ends...philosophy is only for the creme de la creme of intellectuals...
the layman sees a zeppelin and confuses it for a fkin balloon because anything more than that is way beyond his comprehension ...and starts calling other big balloons zeppelins...
yes most philosophy that you come across everyday is baseless candy-in-the-sky thinking but there is a body of knowledge called philosophy...its just not accesible to the average joe unlike physics and other sciences...

ps:you know...even the questions that youve mentioned have precise provable answers eventhough you may not find em in your current textbooks...

Answer 2

Modern philosophers posited the idea that philosophy was a science. This happened within a certain historical context in which it was thought that science (or reason) had to be the ultimate key to provide solutions to the ills of mankind. Thus the idea of progress came to infiltrate itself into philosophy; the idea that somehow, every generation of philosophers would come to a better understanding of a set of problems which would come to be accepted as philosophy.
But what is philsophy? Taking it back to its Greek roots, it is the love of (or appreciation for) wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is different from understanding or intelligence. Wisdom tells a person how they should act, what kind of world they live in, how to evaluate things, etc... So philosophy is a kind of education, one that must be repeated with every new generation. In a democracy, it is particularly important to raise citizens who can make judgements for themselves - i.e. responsible citizens. Mere knowledge is not sufficient. This does not constitute education as the ancients used to understand the term - it merely aims at creating automatons which serve a reductionist, materialistic view of man, society and the Universe.
Thus, philosophy is about an art of living,and living well. It is not mere knowledge and that is how the philosophers of the enlightment are wrong. As for the anglo-american philosophers, they merely study specialized branches of formal logic - what they do is not truly philosophy.

Answer 3

The philosophical discussion of great ideas like Truth, Beauty, the Good(ideas we judge by); Liberty, Justice, Equality(ideas we act on) are not trivial matters. These ideas are explored and discussed by all inside and outside of philosophy classes. Wittgenstein and Derrida are two philosophers who became disenchanted with philosophy. Wittgenstein was a logical positivist who surrendered himself to nihilism at the end of his life and Derrida was one of the founder-promoters of Post-Modernism. Philosophy is based on thinking based on reason and it's no cakewalk. Many get discouraged and dismiss it because of the open-ended nature of the Q's and the topics. I think everyone needs to pause and take a deep breath and continue to read, study and discuss philosophical ideas. Eventually you will be rewarded for the effort and many will turn to you for the wisdom and knowledge you gained struggling like Sisyphus did at an endless task and like many other mythological heroes tortured by the Gods for their curiosity and perseverance.

May, I suggest reading Mortimer Adler's introduction to the great ideas entitled " Six Great Ideas" bec it would help counterbalance the negativity you currently feel.

Answer 4

You have reduced the discipline of philosophy with problem solving, and have missed the point. Philosophy is not simply about correlating questions and answers in an attempt to solve problems, it is a humble search for wisdom and an appreciation for the epiphany of existence.

Answer 5

Asking a question in a way can be an answer to another question in itself.
I'm giving a non-philosophical example to this. :)
Suppose you want to take your 2-year old toddler outside, and s/he is in the "no"-phase. In that case, if you ask whether s/he wants to go outside, you can be sure it will be a point of fight to do so. But this question will loose relevance if you ask which pair of shoes to ask instead. You can argue about that for a while, but the "we go outside" is standing.
Philosophy in itself may not hold the answers to all questions mankind can ask, but being able to do so might provide us with insights in daily life issues.

Answer 6

Philosophy is not meant to solve a problem or give an answer.

Say that you and I are having a philosophical debate over the existence of God. Assume you win the debate. Does this affirm the existence of God? No, it just means you argued your side more clearly and made more sense, thus resulting in convincing others to believe your case.

Philosophical ideas are just mind provoking thoughts, perhaps opening a door to finding the answer, but not finding the answer on its own.

Answer 7

You see the results of philosophy in action around you every day.

Every one of us has a philosophy. Every politician, every voter, every author, every script writer, every professor, every parent.

The way we vote, work, play, think - all depends on our philosophy.

The USA is becoming more socialistic because of philosophy. The compromises with terrorist nations is based on philosophy. Michaels Moore's movies are based on his philosophy. People go to church because of their philosophy. We have amazing achievements because of someone's philosophy.

You get your philosophy from newspapers, books, teachers, discussions, television, movies, etc. The fundamental source is, of course, philosophers.

As a human, you have no choice - you have a philosophy. But you do have a choice about what kind of philosophy you have. as Ayn Rand says:

"Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation — or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind's wings should have grown."

We see all sorts of miserable, confused people on yahoo answers philosophy - and that's because of their philosophy and their opinion of it.

Answer 8

Gooood night Sweetheart ,Good Niiiight ... And Thank you .!( I was atempting to sing)
Philosophy could be any ones opinion , thoughts on a subject, a way of working things out .
A different way of looking at something. Perhaps thoughts on how to solve a problem.
Maybe philosophy has little to do with science and, more to do with being a thinking human being.???
The more I know -the more I know ,I know nothing !

Answer 9

one problem that i often see, is letting others define things for you, sure they may have well thought out opinions, and be noted and recognized, yet they are still human, a person just like you and i, our thoughts and opinions are just as valid, so to me the goal is to take what you can from what they have spoken, then move on with it, there is no thought of the past that is any more valid then the thought of today
our concepts of the meaning of life, and happiness, may differ from years ago, our priorities may of changed, so philosophy remains what it basically has always been, the quest for knowledge, and thinking about the things for which we have no concrete answers, i feel no one branch, whether science, philosophy, religion etc etc can possibly provide all the answers, nor will it satisfy most humans, it takes a mixing of all of it

Answer 10

Philosophy is about asking quetions that's what philosophy is about. because you can't get ansewers without questions otherwise there wold be no point in ansewring the ansewer at all.