Use Of Philosophy

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
21

pfffffffffffttt…man enigma you sho is funny…first “existence proceeds essance” and now this! Wonderful.

now, for my answer to this question:
i believe philosophy is a way for one monkey can stand on the shoulders of others and try to scream the loudest, so all the other monkies around will flock to him. it’s egotistical jibberish.
try and find a philosophy that doesn’t have the words “i”, “my”, “you”, or “we” in it. then if you do find the one or possibly two ones out there, fling poo at it. they’re not right, you are, and you have more fecal matter in your hand to prove it. anyone who argues my point will prove it, and so will people who agree with it. the only way to escape this explanation is not to have read it at all. Ignorance is bliss.

oh and enigma, go back to cloud nine ya goofy diety.

22

“I” think that there’s a reason why there is so much stress on inclusivity in philosophy. “I” think that the reason that “I” and “We” are said so much is because that’s all “we” have.

“I” am “we”, “we” am “I”. “You” are me, “I” are “you”. “I” am a manifestation of “myself” manifesting “yourself” manifesting “myself”.

…

What was that about monkies? I think your answer actually made more sense. hmmm.

23

Not if there is no such thing as an “ego.”

24

Philosophy is the means with which you know what you believe, what and how to think, how you know what you know, what and how to see and interprete things about you, and to discern what is true and what is false, good and bad.

We all practice philosophy all the time - for we all think each waking conscious moment. The only difference is whether you are aware of it or not. And whether you know you are being consistent or not in all that you believe, think, say and do; and exercising and disciplining yourself to maintain intellectual integrity.

(Now there are thinking and there are thinking: the more useful type is something I define as “purposeful imagining”.)

For example why do you assume that I am a real person behind this post? or what you read and hear on the BBC is not all lies? or that there is a indeed a Black Hole out in space? or that history is not just an illusion on a grandiose scale.

Philosophy is a rigorous, objective and brutally honest approach to weed out flaws and pitfalls in how we order and conduct our inner lives - the real person within us, be it something just mental, or it is the spirit or the soul (and I still cannot make a clear distinction which is which within me) or whatever you believe that inner being to be.

There is a presupposition here to want to do philosophy and to practice good philosophy, namely that it leads us to the truth and the truth is a good thing; or at least this is my reason for entering into the realms of philosophy.

25

Hi Objectivist…

Although I’m so pressed for time that I can’t give the thorough answer I otherwise would, I think I cover a lot of the area that you are asking about in the “Sartre’s existentialism was flawed” thread I started here

Hopefully I’ll have more time later…

Gabriel
wearesaved.org

26

Someone else said it a lot better than I can:

“You see that Caesar has procured us a profound peace;
there are neither wars nor battles, nor great robberies
nor piracies; but we may travel at all hours, and sail
from east to west. But can Caesar procure us peace from
a fever too; from a shipwreck; from a fire; from an
earthquake; from a thunderstorm; from even love? He
cannot. From grief or envy? No, not from any of these.
But the doctrine of philosophers promises to give us peace
from these too. And what does it say? ‘If you will
attend to me, O mortals, wherever you are, and whatever
you are doing, you shall neither grieve, nor be angry, nor
be compelled, nor restrained; but you shall live serene,
and free from all disturbances.’ When a man enjoys this
peace proclaimed, not by Caesar (for how should he have it
to proclaim?), but by God, through reason, is he not
contented when he is alone? When he reflects and
considers, ‘Now no ill can happen to me; there is no
thief, no earthquake. All is full of peace, all full of
tranquility; every road, every city, every assembly,
neighbor, companion, is powerless to hurt me.’”

27

You clearly have a very distorted image of philosophy. When you write philosophy you don’t write to complain about how terrible your life is. Most of us, write philosophy because it centers us and makes us feel better about certain situations. Writing Philosophy centers you; it gives you wisdom, and can help others as well. You don’t always write in times of struggle and pain. You can write just to articulate an opinion or share your wisdom. One sentence written down that may seem insignificant to you could have an enormous impact on another persons life. You also said that you figured out all of your dilemmas and problems without any assistance. However, Most of the time people cannot do that. Why do you think there are Physiatrists and trained professionals who help others out of desperate situations? People can’t always sort out their own problems by themselves. Sometimes you need guidance from others, and creating and reading philosophy gives us the guidance.

28

Sorry to have to shatter your illusion but philosophy is not like this at all.

Far from it!

There are those who go to the horse sales to buy horses; those who go to sell them; those who go to discuss buying and selling, etc., etc.; and those who go simply to watch the proceedings.

Philosophers are these ones who watch the proceedings. They are witnesses, martyrs, doing “god’s” business alone. Their transactions are never with finite worldly things.

29

Maybe, philosophy is about nothing more than giving time to look at the questions and considering some answers.

We all have our own questions, but finding the answers is the interesting part! There are many paths, gates etc, maybe you can make your own.

30

In general philosophy deals with issues that are profound, difficult, and important for humanity. It fosters tolerance by transcending ethnic and religious boundaries. The core of philosophy concerns the truth and clarity of understanding through critical and systematic thinking, analyzing arguments, and close reading. Philosophy explores fundamental questions from the past and present, confronting new problems within our present society:

What exists?

What is it to be a human being?

What can we know?

How do I know what is the right thing to do?

A philosopher is open minded, therefore a philosopher accept the views of others and understand him/herself. Logic is one of the most important tools in philosophy and should always be aplied to the philosopher’s systematic reasoning. Dialogues are most important when a philosopher wants to learn with no time boundaries as well as defining and understanding the knowledge he/she have acquired.

Basically philosophy is about understanding issues and questions concerning humanity that are none biased through careful studies with an open mind.

Important points to follow when studying philosophy:

When you are identifying an issue presented:

What do I think about the problem or question?

What are the reasons that support my position on this issue?

What possible objections or counter arguments could be leveled against my position?

How can I overcome these objections?

What examples can support my argument and carry it forward?

What possible and consistent resolution can I offer to this problem?

When you are identifying the philosophical issue of a text:

What does the author think of this problem?

What do I think about the standpoint of the author?

What would a different author think of the same problem?

How do the different standpoints help me move forward in my thinking about the problem presented?

Everybody have the potential, it is just a matter of actualizing and letting yourself grow into an experienced philosopher.

31

Exactly! Philosophy asks the basic general questions in an open manner, and attempts to answer them with reason.

32

Rafajafar

“I” am “we”, “we” am “I”. “You” are me, “I” are “you”. “I” am a manifestation of “myself” manifesting “yourself” manifesting “myself”.

I am the egg-man… goo-goo-g’choo…

I am the Walrus! - John Lennon…

33

If you’re trying to make me angry, you’re failing.

34

There have been many practical applications of philosophy. Our natural sciences are merely spin-offs of ancient Greek natural philosophy. Also, philosophy of language has spun-off into linguistic theory. In addition, logic is integral to computer science and artificial intelligence research, as well as mathematical advancement. For instance, Godel’s completeness and incompleteness theorems of language and arithmetic only came about in the mid-20th century. We can’t forget cognitive science either and its ties to epistemology. A good metaphysical system should also account for our current physics fitting into its system. Ethical theories are integral in law and politics. Thus philosophy is important for the advancement of many different fields and to our knowledge in general.

35

Think about this… look at the question from a different angle. What if every quesion was already answered. IE: where we come from , why we are here, where we go, does God exist…etc etc…every question ever raised in philosophy and furthermore every question ever asked. What do you think life would be like then? No one can even begin to conceive life with all of the questions answered. If that was the case we would all be omniscient and omnipotent. We would transcend existence. Just imagining a life with all of the answers blows my mind. And until that day comes we are driven to answer these…and the wake of this perseverance births philosophy.[/u]