In thinking about this, just as the historian can
be called a detective, a philosopher can be thought
of as a detective…For example, we have what is
known in Philosophy, as The Socrates problem’’
which is to say, which Socrates is the ‘‘real’’ Socrates…
Plato himself suggested the problem in the way the
Platonic dialogues were written… Socrates in Plato
dialogues, changes both in his nature and in what he believes in…
and so, which Socrates do we think is the ‘‘real’’ Socrates?
The early dialogues or the later ones? For Socrates is
dramatically different in the two…
And there are many diverse areas where the philosopher
can be a detective also…with such diverse questions as,
''What is the meaning of life?" ''What is it human beings are
supposed to do?" ‘‘What can we know and how do we know that’’
''What does it mean to be a moral/ethical human being?"
''This question of being, what exactly does being have to do with
being human?"
And as Philosophers, we seek out clues as to the answers
to our questions… and we can, as some have, travel very
far afield in our seeking out our answers, and ever more
afield in the questions we ask and the questions we should
be asking…
Other philosophical questions include Kant’s question
of ‘‘god, freedom and immortality’’ for two of those questions,
god and immortality, seem to be out of bounds because they
have no validity in our world… there doesn’t seem to be
any validity to god nor to an immortal soul…and yet, others
claim both exists… with no proof or evidence…
and the third question is freedom…and that question
comes down to the idea that animals, because of their
instinct, have no choice, no freedom… beings with no
freedom are not human… they are animal, beings with
choices, are free to act and that freedom is what makes
a human, a human…
So, what questions of philosophy are really just detective
questions?
Kropotkin
