Now this is purely a practical answer. No diversions, distractions or whatever. I want to know what your purpose for doing philosophy is. Or what you are getting out of it.
My philosophy is that I will continue to read philosophy not to gain better answers, but to be able to ask better questions. That’s my philosophy about philosophy.
What’s yours?
I think one’s philosophy cannot be separated from one’s philosophy about philosophy. For instance, I am an adherent of Nietzsche’s philosophy of will to power. Therefore, I must conclude that the end to which my philosophy is a means is power. Likewise, if you were consistent, your philosophy about philosophy would be rogative: “Why do I want to ask better questions?”
Gets me out of doing schoolwork. Duh.
zeusy - if philosophy has no practical value, it has no value at all. Evidently, it got Socrates out of working altogether. here’s hoping that some day you find your very own Xanthippe. Good show.
Excellent insight, Faustus.
“Mmmm…him with white beard speak much wisdom” says the brute worker while Socrates stands in the courtyard practicing his new vocabulary.
“We no make him work…we like him…we like to listen him speak, etc., etc.”
It started out as
me being a huge nerd and studying for the sake of studying
getting in touch with a neglected part of my heritage
I read the freakin’ Analects in second grade and it was like doing a beer-bong of Truth. In college, I reconnected with that intoxicating philosophy and haven’t looked back.
I came to ILP because I stumbledupon it (I recommend it to anyone) and I’ve learned so freakin’ much.
Scientists don’t do metaphysics. But I do.
I guess ‘self-improvement’ is the best description for why I study philosophy.
My philosophy about philosophy is:
the understanding of existence and how it works
should add practical value to my life
or
it is just a waste of time.
I like philosophy because it concerns matters that are actually interesting. Important. Fun to think about, discuss. Other subjects are generally mundane and boring, with a few exceptions.
I do not read philosophy, though, because I consider others’ ideas either wrong, or obvious, or on an uninteresting subject, or arbitrary.
I do not do (as in discuss) philosophy much anymore, because I feel that once you lead yourself to the truth, nobody really wants to hear it. It’s too much. They’re not seriously interested in the truth; they just want to have fun revolving around it. I never realized I was different from my fellow thinkers until I noticed that.
It also seems to me lately, though I could be wrong because I don’t study philosophy, that philosophy (or acceptable philosophy) will not accept answers – only endless speculation and questions. I believe that for any given question, somebody, somewhere, knows the answer. The idea that ‘nobody knows’ about this or that, is a myth. It’s just assumed because you don’t know which person to listen to. I like actually arriving to an answer now and then… I think enough work, thought, introspecition, or realization merits the assumption of a conclusion. For me, choosing whom to listen to doesn’t involve reading people who stumble around in the dark trying to figure out the answers through complex brainwork, but by listening to people who Simply Know. This would include new agers, psychics, channelers and other people who just say things that ring true for me. No more speculation.
Another thing I think about philosophy lately is that all of the thinking and chatting and philosophizing about something is just wankery if you’re not working for a cause. It suddenly seems like an ivory tower activity when I compare it, considering its subject matters including ethics and altruism and humanity, to acts such as donating money to the hungry.
Anyway… I still do philosophy, because I like saying what I think, but now I know better than to talk on certain issues and I’m silent on more subjects.
Ph about Ph:
Keep calm and clear when you’re analytical properties insert themselves into an instance. In and out, woof woof. Take your time and study a variety of works, instead of trying to fuel only one concept or area.
For me, there is a right answer for everything (although we may not be able to know the right answer to everything yet) and philosophy equips you with the biggest toolset for getting to the correct answers.
Looking at and evaluating values, streamlining assumptions, minimizing contradictions, and people are just a great deal more amusing … maybe it’s just me.
My philosophy about philosophy is that philosophy means finding truth. We have a mechanism inside us that enables us to do that. This mechanism has been called “the law of nature which is the law of reason” (quote from Locke).
Another way to put it is that we have a built in fallacy detector. If philosophy means finding truth then truth is discovered by weeding out the fallacies to any argument.
So, we can read books about philosophy, but eventually we just have to do be our own philosopher. We have to discover that built in fallacy detector and just get good at using it.
philosophy is all about love, like everything else we do in life. 
My philosophy on philosophy?
I’m addicted to the network of definition so I indulge. That’s what life is all about: addiction. Philosophy is just another bottle, up on the shelf.
i like to puzzle stuff out.
For me its a deceptive identity thing that tends to trick even me into thinking I have bright ideas, that I’m superior.
The truth is . . . I’m not that experienced and have only one real talent, and I’ve found that its to my advantage to appear intelligent, when my accomplishments are so few. Its a compensation thing that buys me time.
E X P O S U R E
Flash Flash
MORE NAKED TRUTH
Flash
be careful. it is not really to your advantage to appear intelligent all that much, besides the fact that it might give you a personal high. i mean, look what happened to William James Sidis. Play your cards right in society. serious warning.
I’m amazed by the level of honesty here.
let me tell you, you can hide achievements, but your own friends will still sniffle them out, hate you for it, and laugh in your face when you fail something else, despite the fact that you never spoke about any of it, and your face was disfigured. For this very reason I chose suicide, knowing that smart and stupid hated me, and yet I failed my suicide. I basically did not want to live anymore because I thought to myself “my word I am surrounded by a bunch of animals who are happy for NOTHING that I do”.
So, Ilovetothink, if you can get away with loving to think, you are probably smarter than I am, becauseI couldn’t. I was like a large roach that had to be smashed wherever I went. i hardly study anymore.
Ye,Socrates said questions were more important than answers.