What is philosophy?
Philosophy is generally regarded as perhaps the most abstruse and abstract of all subjects, far removed from the affairs of ordinary life. But although many people think of it as being remote from normal interests and beyond comprehension, nearly all of us have some philosophical views, whether we are aware of them or not. It is curious that although most people are vague about what philosophy is, the term appears frequently in their conversation.
Popular usages
The word "philosophy" is derived from the Greek term meaning "love of wisdom"; but in current popular usage many different ideas are involved in the ways we employ the term. Sometimes we mean by "philosophy" an attitude toward certain activities, as when one says "I disapprove of your philosophy of doing business" or "I am voting for him because I favor his philosophy of government." Again, we talk about being "philosophical" when we mean taking a long-range, detached view of certain immediate problems. When one is disappointed, we suggest to him/her that he/she ought to be more "philosophical," as when one misses a plane. Here we mean to say that the person should not be overconcerned with the events of the moment but should try instead to place these in perspective. In still another sense, we think of philosophy as an evaluation or interpretation of what is important or meaningful in life. This usage may be indicated by the story of two men who were drinking beer together. One of them held his glass to the light, scrutinized it thoughtfully, and then observed, "Life is like a glass of beer."
His companion looked up at the glass, turned to his friend, and asked, "Why is life like a glass of beer?"
"How should I know," the other answered, "I'm not a philosopher."
Popular conceptions
By and large, in spite of the many different ways we may use the words "philosophy" and "philosophical" in ordinary speech, we tend to think of philosophy as some extremely complex intellectual activity. We often imagine the philosopher (as in Rodin's statue of The Thinker) as one who sits pondering questions of the ultimate significance of human life while the rest of us have only the time or the energy to live it. Occasionally, when our newspapers or magazines publish a story about the important philosophers of the past, such as Bertrand Russell or Aristotle, the impression is given that they devoted themselves to contemplation of the problems of the world in a most abstract manner and arrived at views or theories that may sound splendid but can hardly be of much practical value.
While this picture has been created of the philosopher and what he/she is trying to do, there is also another image. This is that the philosopher is one who is ultimately responsible for the general outlook and the ideals of certain societies and cultures. Thinkers such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, we are told, were the ones who created the point of view of the Communist party; while others, such as Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill, developed the theories that prevail in democratic societies.
The Philosophical Enterprise
Regardless of these various conceptions of the role of the philosopher, and regardless of how remote we may think his/her activities are from our immediate concerns, the philosopher has been engaged in considering problems that are of importance to all of us, either directly or indirectly. Through careful critical examination, he/she has tried to evaluate the information and beliefs we have about the universe at large and the world of human affairs. From this investigation, the philosopher has attempted to work out some general, systematic, coherent, and consistent picture of all that we know and think. As we gain more information about the world through the sciences, new interpretations of accepted pictures need to be considered.
This sort of understanding has provided an outlook or framework in which the ordinary person can place his/her own-possibly more limited-conception of the world and human affairs. It has provided as well a focus through which we can see our own roles and activities, and determine if they have any significance. Through such an examination and evaluation, we may all be better able to assess our ideals and aspirations, as well as understand better why we accept these, and possibly whether we ought to.
From the very beginnings of philosophy in ancient Greece, over two and a half millennia ago, it has been the conviction of the serious thinkers who have engaged in this pursuit that it is necessary to scrutinize the views that we accept about our world and ourselves to see if they are rationally defensible. We have all acquired much information and many opinions about the natural and human universe. But few of us have ever considered whether these are reliable or important. We are usually willing to accept without question reported scientific discoveries, certain traditional beliefs, and various views based upon our personal experiences. The philosopher, however, insists upon subjecting all this to intensive critical examination in order to discover if these views and beliefs are based upon adequate evidence and if a reasonable person may be justified in adhering to them.
The Socratic Contention
Socrates, at his trial in 399 B.C., maintained that the reason he philosophized was that "the unexamined life was not worth living." He found that nearly all of his contemporaries spent their lives pursuing various goals, such as fame, riches, pleasure, without ever asking themselves whether these were important. Unless they raised such a question, and seriously sought the answer, they would never be able to know if they were doing the right thing. Their entire lives might be wasted pursuing useless or even dangerous goals.
All of us have some general outlook about the kind of world we think we live in, the sort of things that are worthwhile in such a world, and so on. Most of us, like Socrates' contemporaries, have never bothered to examine our views to discover their foundations, whether we have adequate or acceptable reasons for believing what we do, or whether the totality of our views has any general consistency or coherence. Hence most of us, in one sense, have some kind of a "philosophy," but we have not done any philosophizing to see if it is justified.
The philosopher, following Socrates' contention, insists upon bringing to light what our implicit beliefs are, what assumptions we make about our world, ourselves, our values. He/she insists that these can only be accepted by reasonable and intelligent people if they can meet certain tests set up by the logical mind. Rather than merely possessing an unorganized mass of opinions, the philosopher feels that these must be inspected, scrutinized, and organized into a meaningful and coherent system of views.
What does a philosopher do?
One may be tempted to observe at this point that these initial comments give some slight idea, perhaps, of what philosophy deals with, but that they are too vague to make clear what it is all about. Why can't one just give a straightforward definition of the subject, and then proceed, so that one can see clearly at the outset what a philosopher is trying to do?
The difficulty is that philosophy can be better explained by doing it than by trying to describe it. It is in part a way of dealing with questions, as well as an attempt to resolve certain problems that have been the traditional interest of the persons who have called themselves, or have been called, "philosophers." As we shall see throughout this book, one of the subjects that philosophers have never been able to agree upon is what philosophy consists in.
Varieties of philosophy
The people who have engaged seriously in philosophizing have had varying aims. Some have been religious leaders, like St. Augustine, and have tried to explain and justify certain religious points of view. Some have been scientists, like René Descartes, and have attempted to interpret the meaning and importance of various scientific discoveries and theories. Others, like John Locke and Karl Marx, have philosophized in order to effect certain changes in the political organization of society. Many have been interested in justifying or promulgating some set of ideas which they thought might aid mankind. Others have had no such grandiose purpose, but merely wished to understand certain features of the world in which they lived and certain beliefs that people held.
Who Are Philosophers?
The occupations of philosophers have been as varied as their aims. Some have been teachers, often university professors giving courses in philosophy, as in the instance of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Ages, teaching at the University of Paris; or John Dewey in the twentieth century, lecturing at Columbia University; or Martin Heidegger at the University of Freiburg; or Ludwig Wittgenstein at Cambridge University. Others have been leaders of religious movements, often taking an active part in the affairs of their organizations, like St. Augustine, who was Bishop of Hippo during the decline of the Roman Empire; or George Berkeley, who was the Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland in the eighteenth century. Many philosophers have had ordinary occupations, like Baruch Spinoza, who was a lens-grinder by profession. John Locke was a medical doctor; John Stuart Mill was a writer for magazines, and briefly a member of Parliament. A good many of the most prominent philosophers have been scientists or mathematicians. Some have had careers which kept them far removed from the excitement and crises of everyday life; others...
