WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

On the nature and the necessity of Philosophy

Philosophy may be defined in terms of its several features: it is an area, an attitude, a method, an application and a system.

1. Area: foundation and goal.
Philosophy deals with the most basic questions we can think about, in each of its three branches.
Epistemology: How do I know?

1. Is knowledge of basic things (concerning the existence and nature of God and man and of good and evil) possible?
   Is knowledge of basic things necessary, or is belief based on testimony (human or divine) sufficient?
2. How is knowledge of basic things possible? Is it by sense experience (in science) or by intuition (in art, morality or religion) or by reason (in philosophy)?

Metaphysics: What ultimately exists?

1. ontology: is everything matter or does spirit also exist or is all spirit only?
2. cosmology: is everything eternal in some form or other or is only some (God) eternal or is nothing eternal?

Ethics: What ought I to do?

1. Is there an end in itself, something to be sought for its own sake, a highest good, a goal of life?
2. Is this good the same for all? Can it be known? Is morality possible if basic things are not objectively clear (knowable by all who seek to know)?

Because philosophy deals with the basic questions based on general revelation (what is knowable to all), philosophy is basic to all other disciplines. Philosophy is basic to the sciences, to the arts and to religions which are based on special revelation.

Q1. Are these questions of philosophy the most basic of all questions?
Q2. Does any discipline besides philosophy attempt to answer these questions?
Q3. Must answers to the basic questions be known or can they be assumed?
Q4. Is philosophy necessary as the foundation of all other disciplines?

2. Attitude: love of wisdom.

1. The term ‘philosophy’ literally means love of wisdom.
   One has wisdom if one knows the good and the means to the good.
2. Beliefs about what is real and what is the good affect desires and choices and so are crucially important.
   Failure to know and to seek the good is the source of all the miseries of life.
   Fear of not having the good is the beginning of wisdom.
   Love of the good brings one to the fullness of wisdom.

Q1. Is wisdom necessary for all or for only some? Is it possible for all?
Q2. Is the need for wisdom disregarded by some, and if so, by whom?
Q3. Can one seek wisdom if one is mistaken about being wise?
Q4. Can philosophy be pursued without the love of wisdom?

3. Method: the critical use of reason.

1. By reason is meant the laws of thought: the law of identity – a is a, the law of non-contradiction – not both a and non-a in the same respect at the same time, and the law of excluded middle – either a or non-a.
2. Reason is the test for meaning. Reason is used critically when basic beliefs are tested for meaning.
   The meaning of a statement is more basic than the truth of a statement: one has to
   know its meaning before knowing its truth.
   A statement lacks meaning if it violates a law of thought.
   A statement which lacks meaning cannot be true.

Q1. Is it necessary to test basic beliefs for meaning?
Q2. Is reason the test for meaning?
Q3. Can there be truth without meaning?
Q4. Is it possible not to test basic beliefs for meaning, and if so, how?

4. Application: self-examination.

1. The first application of philosophy is to identify one’s own basic belief and to test it for meaning.
   Self-examination is necessary for integrity and integrity is necessary and sufficient for knowledge.
2. “The unexamined life is not worth living” is attributed to Socrates, who is highly regarded among philosophers.
   To live an unconscious and uncritical life is less than the life of reason and is therefore less than human existence. Unthinking life for humans is wasted life.

Q1. Can we fail to identify basic beliefs?
Q2. Can we falsely identify our own basic belief?
Q3. Can reason be used critically without self-examination, and if so, how?
Q4. If there is a lack knowledge of basic things is there a lack of integrity?

5. System: world and life view.

1. Philosophy uses reason to construct a coherent world and life view on the foundation of basic beliefs. A worldview supplies meaning to all of life.
   A worldview is applied to life by shaping attitudes and values which come to expression in the institutions of cultures and civilizations.
2. Worldviews are held more or less consciously and more or less consistently in every culture and civilization.
   There are internal and external challenges of reason to the consistency of every worldview.
   Many cultures and civilizations have ceased to exist when their worldview ceased to be credible.

Q1. Is philosophy fundamentally relevant to all of life?
Q2. Is thinking by nature presuppositional? If there is agreement on what is more basic will there be agreement on what is less basic?
Q3. Are all worldviews equally coherent?
Q4. Can a culture or civilization survive if its worldview fails to achieve coherence when challenged?