What is Philosophy and why is it worthwhile?

Playboy

I thought it might be good idea to sticky a thread on the Value of Philosophy and why it is a worthwhile pursuit so that people who are interested and have questions can be directed here for answers and/or help. Links to any relevant articles and personal thoughts are welcome

Article 1 - In defence of philosophy and the role of the philosopher
Article 2 - The Value of Philosophy
Article 3 - American Philosopical Association - The Value of Philosophy

simu

Good idea! Stickied.

Relevant links and posts only, please!

Nevyn

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Philosophy

1. the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

2. any of the three branches, namely natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysical philosophy, that are accepted as composing this study.

3. a system of philosophical doctrine: the philosophy of Spinoza.

4. the critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge, esp. with a view to improving or reconstituting them: the philosophy of science.

5. a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs.

6. a philosophical attitude, as one of composure and calm in the presence of troubles or annoyances.

Playboy

Wikipedia Philosophy Article
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Good of Philosophy

bogwalrus

"Philosophy is what makes the genius miserable and makes the idiot ambitious"

Mathius

"Philosophy is the pessimists tool to reassure himself as to why life is not worth living, but it is the optimists tool for revolution and the perseverance of the human soul"

Mathius

How's this for a philosophy:

"The search for the question as to why we are here is so important to the existence of life that if it were to be taken away from the cosmological to do list we would find that nothing will have a purpose and thus nothing will need to exist"

Mathius early works

SASQUATCH

Philosophy is like, talking about ideas and ****

LaVidaLoca

that with philosophy one has to section out the academic meaning of the term from the popular meaning of it.

In the popular conception, philosophy means thinking about things 'deeply', asking interesting questions to do with the "meaning of life" etc.

In academic circles it is often anything but. It is basically the areas of thought which are left over when you take away the sciences, sociology, psychology, political science, and so on.

In times past, such disciplines were in their infancy and were often branches of what is was called philosophy , i.e the 'love of knowledge'.

Now the best definition I can come up with for what philosophy is (in the academic sense) is "arguing about the truth of falsehood of things, the truth or falsehood of which could never make a damn bit of difference to anything at all."

Joe1919

Now the best definition I can come up with for what philosophy is (in the academic sense) is "arguing about the truth of falsehood of things, the truth or falsehood of which could never make a damn bit of difference to anything at all."

I totality disagree with you. Martin Luther King was a doctor of Philosophy and he argued the coloured people of America were as equally entitled to take a seat on a bus as any white person and that, for Martin Luther King was a truth.

The world is still full of moral and ethical problems and to say this is not the case is to be as blind as the people in Alabama were in the 1950s

LaVidaLoca

dont get discussed in philopsophy departments anymore. They get discussed in sociology, politics, economics and psychology departments.

Philosophy depatments are laregly talking about "if a a tree falls in a forest type" stuff nowadays.

Joe1919

I done two modules especially on Moral Philosophy and we done a lot of the classical texts, such as Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics and of course Plato. Almost all of Plato is moral and political political philosophy. e.g. What is Justice, Virtue, etc. and I dont know anyone who studied philosophy and dident meet Plato.Moral philosophy was very important to almost all the Philosophers e.g Hobbs,Locke,Hume, Kant,Mill, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc.
Moral philosophy is still also alive and well and still being discussed and written about.
Indeed history students also come across moral philosophy such as Machevelli and of Voltare and his famous Dr. Pangloss. Morality and Ethics is everywhere.

Joanne87

I agree with Joe. I've studied moral philosophy for two semesters, and also philosophy of religion, political philosophy, logic etc.
We studied a bit of Chinese philosophy too, and that included some ideas similar to the tree in forest but it's a lot more interesting and academic than that!:p

DionysusReborn

Did they actually forget the philosophy of mind, Thaedydal? or was that you?

Article43

Here is a famous quote from a very modern day philosopher;

"There is a big difference between knowing the path - and walking it"

How many of us today, in our busy and hectic lifestyles, read about this and that, contemplate on doing one thing or another, but never actually get around to doing it; think that just because we find some article on the internet we are suddenly a vault of information for to share with our fellow prisoners - and we call this progress like has been never seen before!

I have a better term to describe what we have all become - but I will refrain for now :eek:

REPSOC1916

Philosophy is the Logical Clarification of thoughts.

- Ludwig Wittgenstein

Irlandese

I learned for the very first time about the life and work of john stephen Moriarity on the wonderful net today. I cannot share his religious convictions, as a devout agnostic, but can appreciate the depth of his vital and intelligent humanity and was deeply moved by the material I could read and look at on his site.

I often meet students of philosophy here in Italy, who can name and give perhaps vaguely important bio data about every important philosopher in the literature. Yet they usually admit to not having changed anything of their way of thinking or living or choosing, as a result of their time spent "studying" philosophy. I find this a great pity.

I will probably never have an academic qualification in philosophy. I fail to register the importance of many threads so earnestly investigated, with such rich multi-syllabic terms, in the formal literature. My resistance to cant and rhetoric have clouded my mind to even valid dissection of constructs and meaning, as I work to simplify everything about my life. Yet I am drawn to philosophy like a moth to a flame and used to figuratively, conceptually, even morally burn myself more than I ought, as I self-evaluated with pitiless rigor a life spent too long on the other path. Now budhism has taught me to be equally vigorous in evaluating my positives and celebrating that part of our wonderful nature that evolution has entrusted to the care of my own free will. In short, philosophy, of the "thesaurical common" but undeniably truthful and deep variety, occupies my waking thoughts more and more with time. Philosophy or it's unending examination and celebration may indeed be a large part of the practice of my own personal "religion"?

The words and expressions of Moriarity reverberated in deep druidic ways that caused many feelings and emotions, while starting conversations and raising questions, again, that stop me in my tracks, losing touch with the reality around me that I would like to forget, a while, to concentrate on deeper growth and solace.

A thought that Paul Durcan would understand and has probably already thought himself, but in a far more elegant way: I would that I could posthumously, figuratively, offer a large flat stone here, in Southern Italy, for Moriarity's living soul, to lie on and think, far from the damp and debilitating rain of our native shore, where he so often did the same in life.

I sometimes think that the damp grey clouds and economic woes of home have robbed us of a lot more than just a tan. Joy, born of warmth and free comfort , laughter, spurred by communal eating and play, in a hospitable nature, time spent outside with neighbours or drifting, alone, on a sandy, sun-kissed beach or mountain, all help to grant the spiritual, emotional and intellectual energy to think and grow, with more ease and perhaps even enlightenment, than even our own rich, green, druidic cultural nourishment, in pre-christian Ireland. Such physical and social comforts are so much more accessible in those fortunate, sunny lands, chosen by our nomadic ancestors, thousands of years ago, for perhaps these very reasons.

Just a thought, or two.......

havetoquit

Hi, loved your comments and think you are so very fortunate to be in beautiful Italy, my very favourite of all the countries I have seen and lived in. Would it be intrusive to ask you which part you are in, but please do not feel that I expect you to respond.

Irlandese

Irlandese wrote: »

I learned for the very first time about the life and work of john stephen Moriarity on the wonderful net today. I cannot share his religious convictions, as a devout agnostic, but can appreciate the depth of his vital and intelligent humanity and was deeply moved by the material I could read and look at on his site.

I often meet students of philosophy here in Italy, who can name and give perhaps vaguely important bio data about every important philosopher in the literature. Yet they usually admit to not having changed anything of their way of thinking or living or choosing, as a result of their time spent "studying" philosophy. I find this a great pity.

I will probably never have an academic qualification in philosophy. I fail to register the importance of many threads so earnestly investigated, with such rich multi-syllabic terms, in the formal literature. My resistance to cant and rhetoric have clouded my mind to even valid dissection of constructs and meaning, as I work to simplify everything about my life. Yet I am drawn to philosophy like a moth to a flame and used to figuratively, conceptually, even morally burn myself more than I ought, as I self-evaluated with pitiless rigor a life spent too long on the other path. Now budhism has taught me to be equally vigorous in evaluating my positives and celebrating that part of our wonderful nature that evolution has entrusted to the care of my own free will. In short, philosophy, of the "thesaurical common" but undeniably truthful and deep variety, occupies my waking thoughts more and more with time. Philosophy or it's unending examination and celebration may indeed be a large part of the practice of my own personal "religion"?

The words and expressions of Moriarity reverberated in deep druidic ways that caused many feelings and emotions, while starting conversations and raising questions, again, that stop me in my tracks, losing touch with the reality around me that I would like to forget, a while, to concentrate on deeper growth and solace.

A thought that Paul Durcan would understand and has probably already thought himself, but in a far more elegant way: I would that I could posthumously, figuratively, offer a large flat stone here, in Southern Italy, for Moriarity's living soul, to lie on and think, far from the damp and debilitating rain of our native shore, where he so often did the same in life.

I sometimes think that the damp grey clouds and economic woes of home have robbed us of a lot more than just a tan. Joy, born of warmth and free comfort , laughter, spurred by communal eating and play, in a hospitable nature, time spent outside with neighbours or drifting, alone, on a sandy, sun-kissed beach or mountain, all help to grant the spiritual, emotional and intellectual energy to think and grow, with more ease and perhaps even enlightenment, than even our own rich, green, druidic cultural nourishment, in pre-christian Ireland. Such physical and social comforts are so much more accessible in those fortunate, sunny lands, chosen by our nomadic ancestors, thousands of years ago, for perhaps these very reasons.

Just a thought, or two.......

havetoquit sent a reply, according to my e-mail, asking where i am in Italy. Cannot find it here for some reason. Is he/she blacklisted?

Auto-crit, while I am here:
This first missive seems more than a bit long and windy on reflection ! Apologies to all.I could have said it in a couple of lines. But, it is all too true that a lot of so-called philosophy students or "experts" are just playing with themselves or looking for what all too often is a handy degree.
Less "academic" psychobabble and more real life changes perhaps?

Irlandese

havetoquit wrote: »

Hi, loved your comments and think you are so very fortunate to be in beautiful Italy, my very favourite of all the countries I have seen and lived in. Would it be intrusive to ask you which part you are in, but please do not feel that I expect you to respond.

Ah, you appear !

I am in Puglia, close to the sea. Magic place. Magic culture and people. I am losing my english and am content to do so.

postypat

Philosophy can seem like theorizing and discussion about issues that just do not seem relevant to everyday life. I have always been more interested in psychology but realized after studying it for two years that the questions I had were more of a philosophical nature. Although studying the mind and behaviour is interesting, it just did not have the depth that I was looking for. I am still studying psychology but now see it more as a subset of the broader philosophical domain. The early philosophers contemplated life not only as a set of rules or for theory sake but as a real question. People often use words like happiness and success in relation to a person or their life without questioning where the criteria for these came from in the first place. Do we decide on the criteria or how many of are values/beliefs have been inherited from our elders or conditioned by the culture we live in? We buy into a whole system without questioning the fundamentals or find ourselves distraught when not achieving societys expectations. Philosophy offers wisdom to reflect on our own ideas/beliefs/morals and the nature of our existence. One website I found useful was http://www.pcireland.net/. I emailed and met with the director and he assisted me with book choices, questions and guidance.
Good idea for listing resources....

David Matthew

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

that with philosophy one has to section out the academic meaning of the term from the popular meaning of it.

In the popular conception, philosophy means thinking about things 'deeply', asking interesting questions to do with the "meaning of life" etc.

In academic circles it is often anything but."

I have to agree with you LaVidaLoca. I did my BA and MA in philosophy, and while I met doctors and professors both profound and superficial, to a large extent it is a battle to bring back true depth to the academic community.

I wonder is this thread dead?? No harm in resurrecting it I suppose. Sure aren't philosophical issues eternal anyhow?...

bastados

Philosophy is a way of passing the hour till the reaper arrives...and every now and again in your thoughts you hit a sublime moment of clarity , it resonates and uplifts your spirit.

Trog

postypat wrote: »

Philosophy can seem like theorizing and discussion about issues that just do not seem relevant to everyday life.

I agree with this your post, and would like to add to it. The above misconception is a serious one. Objective natural science is regarded as more 'real' that philosophy. I would like to point out that ALL of the natural sciences are founded on statements which cannot be proven in terms of science. Science NEEDS philosophy if it is to have any justification for the statements it makes.

What's more, science of the 'objective' world is less real than any other academic pursuit. For example, terms like 'gravity', 'force' etc. are used in physics as an 'explanation' for certain phenomena in the world. Nobody has ever observed any kind of proof for gravity's existence, it is merely a name to describe the way in which things tend to act. When we come to more modern physics, we hear talk of quarks, string theory and extra dimensions. All of these things are theoretical constructs to explain things which cannot be observed. They are unreal.

My final point is that all of natural science, and mathematics, has it's root in philosophy. Who first published a book on physics (the study of the nature of the world)? Aristotle. Where did geometry come from? The Greek school of philosophical thought that the world could be ordered in terms of whole fractions. What about modern mathematics, Hilbert, Einstein, Godel etc.? Formal logicists.

Philosophy is not just a wishy-washy practice of thinking about things, in fact it is the foundation of human knowledge. It is only trough philosophy can any other form of intellectual inquiry exist.

Beingolderis better

Ireland is finding herself again after maybe centuries
of oppression by a culture,which is the least questioning of all,a culture
which believed only in power of the physical type,not the kind of culture
which asks questions which have their base in the human heart.

Don't forget that it was the Irish monks etc who took 'higher' learning
to a 'darkened europe'.

Many so called philosophers are not that indeed ,for they have an agenda in advance.True philosophic thinkers are not afraid to reach out into the unknown,without a preconceived agenda. They are the ones who find large clues as to whom and why, and where we are.

I remember getting to know well, as an adult, my greek /latin, head of department, of whom, I was more than a little awestruck ,but found out that I need not have been, for she was no questioner; nor did she engage in 'philosophic 'discussion' at any meaningful level.
Indeed ,what she had was a good memory ,not much more.

Beingolderis better

Irlandese wrote: »

Ah, you appear !

I am in Puglia, close to the sea. Magic place. Magic culture and people. I am losing my english and am content to do so.

Thankyou for your posts.
They are excellent,and I hope you will go back to Ireland for at least periods of time ,she needs your type of person.

All cultures which have balance,self awareness,and have time to reflect
are philosophic. There is too much made of known philosophers,who are often less wise than so called primitive ones.

What are proverbs, but the 'folk 'philosophy of people accumulated
through experience of generations.
The empty heads who have filled many ,if not all departments of
philosophy [and art] for the last 30 years are posers ,not philosophers.
But they have done a lot of damage to young questioning minds with their
cynical manipulations.

meryem

Philosophy is all about the way people base their life to run upon(beliefs and way of thinking).

A good philosophy is all about following true values of life.

Boroimhe

Trog wrote: »

When we come to more modern physics, we hear talk of quarks, string theory and extra dimensions. All of these things are theoretical constructs to explain things which cannot be observed. They are unreal.

Excellent post, excellent. I just want to add something if you don't mind. That is the fact that the above are theorys created with the use of philosophy, the "theorists" took what they knew and extrapolated on it.

The only "difference" is that they are "theorizing" not contemplating

bastados

Boroimhe wrote: »

The only "difference" is that they are "theorizing" not contemplating

To theorize or contemplate?..muddy waters indeed trying to disentangle the validity of words.

The origin of the word theory is "a looking at", "viewing", "beholding"...and I would suggest the philosopher's eye is key to the process of thinking.

etheric

Philosophy can be interpretted in many ways. Simply because it is many things to many people.
To me, Philosophy is listening to that quite, inner voice that shadows the ego only when the mind is free of nonsence (most of your daily stuff)
The voice that you call your gut instinght, when you simply just 'know'.
Read. Read a lot. Start with Gandhi. Read about those who inspire people! You are about to go down a rabbit hole. You will, after investigation both externally and internally, go insane.(this is a good thing)
But..... "Insanity is a perfectly natural adaptation, to a perfectly insane and abnormal world"
This is the road to enlightenment - take not this message lightly.
MMmmm... Read: "Robert Monroe". try it but only if you really want to break the 'Veil'. It requires Patience... (key is letting go)
Recently the Mayan Calander ended. "Maya" means 'Illusion'.
The old walls are coming down. Dont get caught under the bricks of society. Free your mind. Free your soul.
Hari Krishna.