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Chapter 12

Philosophy is an activity of critical and comprehensive thought aimed at seeking wisdom. It involves resolving confusion, unmasking assumptions, and questioning frameworks through logical reasoning rather than empirical methods. Philosophy addresses fundamental questions about existence, reality, knowledge, and ethics. It contributes to other fields like politics, science, and literature. While it may not reveal the meaning of life, philosophy encourages self-examination and clear thinking.

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57 views3 pages

Chapter 12

Philosophy is an activity of critical and comprehensive thought aimed at seeking wisdom. It involves resolving confusion, unmasking assumptions, and questioning frameworks through logical reasoning rather than empirical methods. Philosophy addresses fundamental questions about existence, reality, knowledge, and ethics. It contributes to other fields like politics, science, and literature. While it may not reveal the meaning of life, philosophy encourages self-examination and clear thinking.

Uploaded by

Francine Ligan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 12.

CONCLUSION
Just what is Philosophy, anyway?
Here as a set of concluding remarks , I offer a view of what Philosophy itself is and what it isn't.  We'll start with
what it isn't and attempt to dispel some common misunderstandings and misuses of the word.

    Philosophy is not a "Way of Life" . Every person does not have his or her own "Philosophy".   Philosophy is not

simply a theory about something. Nor is Philosophy a belief or a wish.  Philosophy is an activity: a quest after

wisdom.  Philosophy is an activity of thought.  Philosophy is a particular unique type of thought or style of

thinking.  Philosophy is not to be confused with its product.  What a philosopher provides is a body of philosophic

thought NOT a Philosophy. A philosopher enacts a Philosophy, a quest after wisdom.

          Philosophy is not a picking and choosing what body of thought one would like to call one's own or would like

to believe in; a choice based upon personal preferences or feelings.  Philosophy is a pursuit.  One can choose to be

philosophical. One can choose to be a philosopher.  One can NOT choose a Philosophy. Philosophy, insofar as it

may be correlated at all to a "way of Life", is a form of thinking meant to guide action or to prescribe a way of life.  

The philosophic way of life , if there is one, is displayed in a life in which action is held to be best directed when

philosophical reflection has provided that direction; e.g., SOCRATES the paradigm of a philosopher.

Philosophy is an activity of thought, a type of thinking. Philosophy is critical and comprehensive thought, the most

critical and comprehensive manner of thinking which the human species has yet devised.  This intellectual process

includes both an analytic and synthetic mode of operation.  Philosophy as a critical and comprehensive process of

thought involves resolving confusion, unmasking assumptions, revealing presuppositions, distinguishing

importance, testing positions, correcting distortions, looking for reasons, examining world-views and questioning

conceptual frameworks.  It also includes dispelling ignorance, enriching understanding, broadening experience,

expanding horizons, developing imagination , controlling emotion, exploring values, fixing beliefs by rational

inquiry, establishing habits of acting, widening considerations, synthesizing knowledge and questing for wisdom.

          Philosophy as a process functions as an activity which responds to society's demand for wisdom, which is

bringing together all that we know in order to obtain what we value.  Viewed in this way Philosophy is part of the
activity of human growth and thus an integral, essential part of the process of education.  Philosophy and education

have as a common goal the development of the total intellect of a person, the realization of the human potential.

 the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live


(ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential
natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge
(epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning
(logic) (Wikipedia)
 investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality,
knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than
empirical methods (American Heritage Dictionary)
 the study of the ultimate nature of existence, reality, knowledge and
goodness, as discoverable by human reasoning (Penguin English
Dictionary)
 the rational investigation of questions about existence and
knowledge and ethics (WordNet)
 the search for knowledge and truth, especially about the nature of
man and his behavior and beliefs (Kernerman English Multilingual
Dictionary)
 the rational and critical inquiry into basic principles (Microsoft
Encarta Encyclopedia)
 the study of the most general and abstract features of the world and
categories with which we think: mind, matter, reason, proof, truth,
etc. (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy)
 careful thought about the fundamental nature of the world, the
grounds for human knowledge, and the evaluation of human
conduct (The Philosophy Pages)

As used originally by the ancient Greeks, the term


"philosophy" meant the pursuit of knowledge for its own
sake, and comprised ALL areas of speculative thought,
including the arts, sciences and religion.
Philosophical questions (unlike those of the sciences) are
usually foundational and abstract in nature. Philosophy is
done primarily through reflection and does not tend to rely
on experiment, although the methods used to study it may
be analogous to those used in the study of the natural
sciences.
In common usage, it sometimes carries the sense of
unproductive or frivolous musings, but over the centuries it
has produced some of the most important original
thought, and its contribution to politics, sociology,
mathematics, science and literature has been
inestimable. Although the study of philosophy may not yield
"the meaning of life, the universe and everything", many
philosophers believe that it is important that each of us
examines such questions and even that an unexamined
life is not worth living. It also provides a good way
of learning to think more clearly about a wide range of
issues, and its methods of analyzing arguments can be
useful in a variety of situations in other areas of life.
Philosophy is such a huge subject that it is difficult to know
how to break it down into manageable and logical sections.
Perhaps the most basic overall split at the highest level
is geographical, between Eastern Philosophy and Western
Philosophy (with, arguably, African Philosophy as a possible
third branch at this level).

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