What is Philosophy?

It is not known for sure whether happiness. For the medievals, philosophy
philosophy has more or less 2600 or would have been subject to theology,
5000 years of tradition. If we consider the and the infinite wisdom of God would have
influence of Egyptian thought on the given man the possibility of rational
Greek peoples, Philosophy can be more knowledge.
than 3000 years old, and if we consider
Already the moderns turned to the
that there was already a production of a
question of knowledge and science, in
type of philosophical thought in the Far
addition to politics and ethics,
East, the first root of Philosophy that can
developing a thought that rescued certain
be identified in the ancient Buddhist
characteristics of the Greeks, but
teachings already exceeds 5,000 years
improved them. Already in
of existence.
contemporaneity, Philosophy has
It is a fact that Philosophy is a form of embraced new problems, characteristic of
organized, conceptual thought that has our time, to develop new problems and
the ability to move one's own thought new concepts about them.
through the identification and formulation
of problems, that is, Philosophy is, by Concept of Philosophy
nature, problematizing, avoiding
It is not possible to present a ready,
providing ready answers to the
definitive and final answer to the question
questions raised and creating new
about the essence of Philosophy. What
questions, new questions and new
we will present here will be an attempt at
problems that make thought never
a generic answer, but it does not fail to
cease its cycle of existence.
start from certain points of view that can
No matter, for now, its certain origin, the be applied in certain circumstances.
important thing is to know that there is no
Philosophy is a branch of knowledge
single and definitive answer to the
that seeks to understand the concepts or
question "what is philosophy?". Several
essences of everything that exists in
philosophers, in many different places and
the world, thus creating conceptual
times, have answered this question, not
definitions. The concepts, which arise
necessarily in an explicit way. Many have
from those definitions, are, in turn,
done so through practice (doing their
complex meanings that move
philosophies), each in their own way.
problematics. Problems are also
For the pre-Socratic Greeks, philosophy processes by which philosophy works.
was a rational way of investigating the
A problem, a question, a question is a
origin of the universe by formulating
process that aims to look for a definition
theories often contrary to the claims of
about something. To ask "what is it?",
myths. For Socrates, philosophy would
"how is it?" or "why is it?" is to formulate a
be a look inside and a way to extract true
problem, and to answer that question is to
ideas about what the human being himself
create a concept. Therefore, to ask what
developed through the creation of
philosophy is is a philosophical
societies.
attitude.
For the Hellenists, philosophy was a kind
The contemporary philosophers Gilles
of life practice to achieve wholeness and
Deleuze and Félix Guattari, who wrote a
book entitled What is Philosophy?, Today, especially in Brazil, several higher
stated, in response, that "philosophy, education courses in Philosophy offer a
more rigorously, is the discipline that training focused in general on the
consists in creating concepts"i, that is, history of Philosophy, that is,
it is an area of knowledge that is philosophers and professors of
dedicated to creating, shaping, Philosophy in training study the
formulating and reformulating production of thinkers already
meanings for the world. consecrated as canons of the world
intelligentsia.
Working with that opposition that the
ancient Greeks tried to make between This conception clashes with the
mythology and reason (which does not conception of several scholars of the
represent a radical break from one to the teaching of Philosophy and of
other), Philosophy would be a new way of philosophical methodology who affirm that
creating meanings for the world, moving one only learns to philosophize
away from that religious way of thinking philosophizing iv. In this sense, we can
about the world itself. Philosophy would distinguish two variants of philosophical
be, according to philosophers, a way of study: one focused on the History of
creating mechanisms (which they called Philosophy, which is dedicated to
devices) that provide a first capacity for analyzing the canonical production of
understanding the world. world philosophical thought, and another
that aims at learning philosophical
In another writing, this feat in the company
methodologies, which does not dispense
of the journalist Claire Parnet, Deleuze
with the understanding of the History of
says that: "the concepts are exactly like
Philosophy.
sounds, colors or images, they are
intensities that suit them or not, that pass In short, we can say that Philosophy, to
or do not pass"ii. take a reference in Deleuze, is a study of
concepts. For Kant, philosophy is a way of
Thus, concepts are creations that, like
establishing a critique of knowledge. For
objects, have a defined and marked
ancient philosophers, such as Socrates,
existence in the world.
and moderns, such as Descartes,
Marilena Chaui, professor emerita of philosophical knowledge must be done
Philosophy at USP, says that the through a search, often rigorous, for the
philosophical activity comes to call into pure and immutable definitions that seek a
question our customary beliefs. This universal truth.
means that, just as Socrates intended in
Whereas for Nietzsche, the contemporary
antiquity, philosophy is a time when we
philosopher, there are no universal truths,
stop and think about whether what we
but there are perspectives and
normally do, believe, or see is true.
genealogies that shape what we call truth.
This moment, the apex of philosophical For thinkers who have dedicated
thought, is, according to Chauiiii, a themselves to studying the theory of
moment of crisis, in which our customary knowledge, philosophy should seek to
beliefs, always taken as true, are understand how understanding is
questioned, are put in suspension by possible.
doubt.
For metaphysicians, philosophy would be
the search for the "being" and "essences"
What does philosophy of things. For Political Philosophy,
study? philosophical thought must address real-
world issues that concern politics, ethics, It is worth mentioning that the statement
and life in society. that Philosophy has its origins in Greece
can be adopted, provided that with
So, as has been said, it is impossible to
reservations. First, it must be considered
present a ready and definitive answer
that there was an Eastern philosophical
about what philosophy is. At this point, we
production and that this production
also add that the field of action of
influenced Greeks such as Thales (who
philosophers is vast, and there is not a
knew the Babylonian and Egyptian
single activity that cannot be considered
culture). Secondly, it must be considered
as philosophical activity.
not that there is a Greek exclusivity, but
that there was a different way, on the part
Origins of Philosophy of the Greeks, in treating the Philosophy
There is no final and final consensus on in question.
the origin of philosophy. What most
Therefore, we can say that Western
historians of philosophy claim is that this
philosophy had its origin in Greece, with
origin would be in Greece, with Thales of
Thales. The term was developed later by
Miletus, around the year 2585 BC. But
Pythagoras of Samos, who chose the
even if this statement has its reasons for
Greek words philia (love or friendship) and
existing (Greek philosophy may not have
sophia (wisdom) to form the word
been the first philosophical production, but
philosophia (friend or lover of wisdom).
it was unlike anything that came before it),
Thales did not recognize that he was
it does not contemplate the fact that
doing something unheard of in the West
Egyptians, Hindus, and Chinese had
and that his name would go down in
already produced something similar to
history. It was only Aristotle, some 200
what we call philosophy.
years later, who classified him as the first
If we extend the concept beyond what we philosopher.
usually understand by philosophy, we can
say that the Buddhist and Taoist precepts What is Philosophy for?
had already formed a philosophical
Difficult question to answer. We can say
thought. This time, thinkers who inhabited
firsthand that philosophy is of no use.
the Far East, prior to or contemporary with
Does this statement seem strange? At
the first philosophers, such as Mozi and
first, yes. If we take into account that the
Lao-Tsé, left records of what seems to be
term utility, in our contemporary
a philosophical production as authentic as
vocabulary, refers to something that
Western production.
modifies the medium, that creates
something concrete and that, in the first
place, has a monetary value, then, yes,
Marilena Chaui attests to this thesis, Philosophy has no use.
saying that it is not absurd to think about
this relationship and, in fairness, to Philosophy, according to Chaui, does not
recognize traits that influenced the Greeks present concrete, visible results capable
to do what they did more than 2600 years of changing the world immediately.
ago. Therefore, the question "what is
philosophy for?" is constant, since its
Sculpture of Confucius, a Chinese sage of usefulness is perceived gradually and
the sixth century BC who formulated through a complex exercise of abstraction.
philosophical and moral doctrines.
Chaui also states a first answer, ironic as
well as the question when asked by
malicious people: "philosophy is a science
with which and without which the world
remains such and such", that is,
Philosophy is useless.
In a certain sense, that is, starting from
the pragmatic point of view of utility, which
claims to be useful that which modifies the
environment with a concrete intervention,
Philosophy serves no purpose. We can
also affirm that Philosophy serves no
purpose, serves no one, because
Philosophy, since its origin, seeks to
problematize and question. In this sense,
slowly and laboriously, Philosophy is
showing its usefulness: to put thought in
motion, to question and, why not, to
bother.
According to Deleuze, philosophy serves
neither the State nor the Church, which
have other concerns. It serves no
established power. Philosophy serves to
sadden. A philosophy that does not grieve
anyone and does not contradict anyone is
not a philosophy. Philosophy serves to
harm foolishness, it makes foolishness
shameful. It has no other use than the
following: to denounce the baseness of
thought in all its formsvii.
Philosophy serves itself, as an artificer
and constant mover of thought. It serves
to question, problematize and bother. It
serves to conceptualize. Philosophy
denounces foolishness for being itself a
lover of wisdom who will never accept
vulgar ignorance as something normally
bearable.