What's the point of philosophy?

Question

Philosophy only generates more questions and has never solved anything.A question only brings another question and then you go deeper and that brings you to the beginning again...In my opinion philosophy can't be used at this current era because of our "limit" of knowledge,I'm saying the mind is infinite but we just can't fill it to the rim,you know?We can only reach a limit and until we develop bigger brains we will just ask more questions,some questions aren't even questions because they have no answer although it is a question,like a scissor without the handling part,it'll be just two razors although it's still a scissor because you can still cut.Same with questions,it's missing the answer part although it's still a "scissor".So,what's the point of philosophy?Ask more and leave work uncompleted?

Well song,if you put it that way......No.I'm saying,who started thinking?Why?What was the point?Simply,why?

Vidual,I like your thinking..........

Geo,if your IQ is lower than an apples IQ then sorry,you can't answer or even have the right to.

Answer 1

The very first thought of philosophy by a primative man was probably, "I am different than the other animals." He may not have known why, but it was the philosophical science of epistemolgy, working automatically in his mind, that made him think it.
Before he thought it, he metaphysically "knew" it, but only subconsciously. Metaphysics assigns values to the concepts we identify, consciously or sub-consciously.
That is the "point" of philosophy. It works automatically, on the informal level, so there is no point in asking why it exists. Without it, we would be as the brutes, who "abstract not." Philosophy is the result of abstractions.
Formal philosophy is the study of thinking. Think of that whatever you wish. I think it has solved many things. For you, it "solved" that there is no point in philosophy. Without philosophy, you could not conclude that "a question only brings another question."

Answer 2

You are right. Some questions do not have a clear answer. But some do. Now... here's the key question: how will you know the difference between the two unless you investigate?

If you're looking for useful pieces of philosophy, though, it's easy to produce a number of them.

Take logic, for example. A very powerful (if not universal) tool to determine relationships between ideas. And one that is leaned on heavily by many fields... math without logic is essentially just a numbering system.

There is also ethics. This is not only the foundation of most systems of law that are truly worthy of the name, but also of enough importance that most major businesses and government offices have at least one ethicist on hand. Even if there is no one clear-cut answer for 'what is right', being able to figure such things out as the need arises is (I hope) relevant to every adult human.

Or there's also the entirety of science. To this day most universities call a degree in science 'natural philosophy'. This isn't just pretty verbiage - scientists operate using certain philosophical viewpoints and to what is essentially the end that any philosopher seeks: knowledge.

In math and science particularly it is easy to find examples of things that were proven by certain geniuses in the past but which we today still struggle with. This is part of the lure of all philosophy - some answers which SEEM elusive may actually be very clear with just the right viewpoint. That, I think, is why many philosophers want to adopt others into their fold: if your reasoning is good, you have nothing to fear from bad ideas and everything to gain from good ones, whether they are spoken by a genius or a fool.

That's my take anyway, for what it's worth. Peace.

Answer 3

i really like the first part or ur own answer;
that we cannot "fill the mind(or brain) to the brim".And i think
that there is mounting evidence to affirm this(My one example
here would be the historical one;that "history"as we know it
only contains a FRACTION of all "History";And usually power-
based(see popper's dictum that history is really Power-Politics,the history of!),though in the light of what you said,this
could be a fraction as well).
We could easily "work in" as evidence for this that laws are
continually being re-discovered,and forgotten; eg Godel's
math Proof that arithmetic is and will always be Incomplete.
Another would be that the recent Theory-of-Everything is just
another rediscovery example;the task in all this is to formulate a comprehensive description of when and how this
limit occurs;And especially how our knowledge can"carry on"
and progress,IN A MEANINGFUL WAY.
I will just give y'all(excuse that,im still practising some local
sayings!) one (possibly)relevant example of mine.

Well, just spent a half hour typing it and its bin all erased!
Doh; if i have time i'll add some more tomorrow!
(and ive got to try to use this new computor!)

Answer 4

the point of philosophers is to do the deep thinking so that others don't
have to.and apologies if somebody has already mentioned it (i missed it if
they did) but surely the most important and influential role philosophy has
ever played is in religion? theology is essentially, to my mind, the branch
of philosophy that deals specifically with religion (the truth of whichever
religion is entirely irrelevant here, what is important is that they are
thinking about things in a way that is philosophical)

this is also true of politics and many other areas - philosophers provide
the justification for things to exist/happen.i think the most important
thing is to leave the scope as broad as possible when defining philosophy -
most people wouldn't count themselves as being philosphers, but i'll bet
they've all thought about things philosophically from time to time.

this is because everyone feels the need to question the basis of
reality/things at times - the only difference is that philosophers feel
this need more strongly, and hence dedicate their lives to it, which will
inevitably lead to a more detailed and sophisticated knowledge of the
issues.and at the end of the day, most people would be interested in our
conclusions.(provided we reach any)

Answer 5

Sometimes a different point of view can help one. For instance in the movie The Last King of Scotland, Idi Amin has a poisoning scare which Scottish doctor diagnosed as
gas caused my mixing beer and aspirin. Amin mulls this over thinking "how could this be that I was afraid I was dying?", to which
the doctor answers "Someone who is afraid of dying has a life worth saving". Amin: " Ah, the doctor playing the philosopher!"

Answer 6

The point is that we have the capability to ask questions and formulate systems of knowledge that are consistent and attempt to explain our place in this universe. What other animal do you know that can do that? We do philosophy because we can and because some of us love the truth.

Answer 7

Philosophy, more than any other Liberal Arts course teaches you to think. You say that we should not use it until we get 'bigger brains' and the fact is Philosophy is a major factor of making that happen.

Answer 8

We want clear cut answers all the time, but life is not about answers, it's about exploration.

One question will always lead to another.

Evolution of reality will never end and what a wonderful thing that is.

Answer 9

It lessens some of our terror to feel we at least understand some of the forces in nature around us, possibly can even affect some of them. Central to this ability is knowing the diference between what we know and what we don't know. Hence philosophy.

Answer 10

The purpose of philosophy is to rotate your brain about the universe that you might understand it from many points of view in the hopes that your own understanding of yourself may deepen and become more appreciative.