The limits of philosophy

hello guys, i was asked this week by my sceptic friend (who thinks that philosophy is useless) “what does philosophy doesnt deal with”, interesting question i thought…

Witgenstein said that “the limits of my language are the limits of my world”, i thought that the limits of philosophy and human mind is the limits of the world… but what are the limits of philosophy? what do philosophers dont think of if there is anything? is there…???

Well, skepticism (scepticism) is a philosophical position.

Nyah-nyah.

If philosophers don’t think of it, how can one answer that question?

Philosophy has limits, but they’re beyond the limits of everything else, so like, talking about the limits of philosophy is kind of speculative, and most of the time moot.

he he… logical, can then anyone answear a question that a philosopher cant… :-k

therefore i asume that you agree that the limit of philosophy is the limit of the human mind… i mean that you can philosophyze and think about the things that exist even if only in mind…

this qouestion arose when i thought that almost all ather subjects or sciences have a strict limit (math deals with numbers, geometry… economics with economy etc.) and philosophy is like all penetrating subject…

i mean that all the subjects were born from philosophy (philosophyzing about the world and self, making crazy hyphothezis etc.)… math, psichology, phisics and so on where philosophy at some time… that leaves just then 2 posibilities

1 is that philosophy has no limits (the limits of mind)
2 philosophy ends where other sciences\subjects begin (this would mean that philosophy of science has the answear of what is truth … which we know it does not)

Both options - philosophy ends where other subjects begin - but it then starts again where those subjects end - so its only practical limits are the limits of thought.

I think the safe answer is that philosophy cannot recognize its own limits…

i actualy dont think that there is something unexplainable … there are only things unexplainable for a certain time and then we finaly, after long research, come up with answears to everything… i mean today we can explain miracles that mind power produces, even circumstances that fall into place in the most unbelivble way are explained… sometimes i just miss the romance that lack of knowledge gives… :cry:

I’ll have a go at answering… The limitation of philosophy is that it’s not empirical. It’s purely intellectual. If it’s empirical then it’s no longer philosophy but science. Besides that, philosophy is limited only by the philosopher’s intellect.

You mean like how god can create a stone he cannot lift?

The true philosopher would claim to not have any answers. I am not he, unfortunately (I think I know everything - it’s an insufferable friendship quality). Humor aside, I think every single other field of study deals more in answers than philosophy does. The real question becomes, can anyone provide an answer for which a philosopher would run out of questions?

Philosophy still includes all of those things, it’s just that the general public isn’t so precisely aware of what goes on in the dungeons of university philosophy departments. There are very many specialists in philosophy of math, of psychology, of physics, and so on.

If I understand your question correctly, this is (my) answer. There are no limits. If there is a line of inquiry, a thread of knowledge, a point of contention, something real or something imaginary, something that can be thought of or put into words, or if there is not, it is all part of ‘philosophy’.

A notice of annex:
Dear all other fields of study under the sun. We own you.
Love, Philosophy