Introduction To Philosophy PHI: 101 (RAK)

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

In a general sense, a person's philosophy is die sum of his fundamental beliefs and

convictions. In this sense everyone has a philosophy, even though he does not realize

it. All people have some ideas concerning physical objects, man, the meaning of life,

nature, death, God, right and wrong, and beauty and ugliness. Of course, these ideas

are acquired in a variety of ways. Especially during the early years of our lives, we are

continuously engaged, with varying degrees of consciousness views and attitudes from

our family, from companions, and from various other individuals and groups. These

attitudes may come to us through custom and tradition as expressed by behavior in

home, school, and church. They may be influenced by the movies, radio, television, and

books. They may be the result of some thinking on our part; or they may be largely the

result of convention and emotional bias. This broad, popular, or man-in-the-street view

of philosophy is not adequate for our purposes. It does not describe the work and task

of the philosopher. We need to define philosophy more specifically, since the broad

view does not distinguish philosophy from many vague, confused, and superficial

beliefs.

The word philosophy is derived from the Greek words philos ("loving") and sophia

("wisdom") and means "the love of knowledge and wisdom." But philosophy can be

approached or defined from a number of different points of view. Here we present five

that are supplementary rather than contradictory, although some philosophers may wish

to exclude one or more of them. Each approach must be kept in mind for a clear

understanding of the many meanings of philosophy and what particular philosophers

may say about the nature and function of philosophy.

1.Philosophy is a personal attitude toward life and the universe. When a person goes

through some crisis or unusual experience, often we inquire, "How does he take it?" or

"How does it affect him?" Sometimes the answer is, "He takes in philosophically." This

means that he sees the problem in its broad perspective or as a part of a larger scheme

of things; hence he faces the situation calmly and reflectively, with poise and

composure.

The mature philosophical attitude is the searching and critical attitude; it is also -the

open-minded, tolerant attitude expressed in the willingness to look at all sides of an

issue. It includes a readiness to accept life and the world as they are, and to try co sec

life in all its relationships. This does not mean enslavement to the present or to what

exists now, however, because philosophy is willing to look beyond the actualities to the

possibilities.

Introduction To Philosophy PHI: 101 (RAK)

To philosophize is not merely to read and to know philosophy; it is also to think and to

feel philosophically. Philosophy begins in wonder, doubt, and curiosity. It grows out of

our developing awareness of the problems of human existence. Consequently;

philosophy is in part the speculative attitude that does not shrink from facing the difficult

and unsolved problems of life.

2. Philosophy is a method of reflective thinking and reasoned inquiry. This .method is

not the exclusive property of philosophy, as will readily be seen; it is die method of all

careful and accurate thinking. Philosophy, however, is more inclusive or synoptic than

arc the various sciences. Philosophical method is reflective and critical. It involves the

attempt to think through one's problems and to face all the facts involved. The

accumulation of more knowledge docs not by itself lead to understanding, since it does

not necessarily teach the mind to make a critical evaluation of facts or enable a person

to live his life according to consistent principles.

There are varieties of philosophical methods, as will be seen when die problems of

knowledge are studied in greater detail. Philosophers differ in the extent to which they

emphasize and accept or reject authority, reason, sense experience, and intuition.

These topics will be considered in Part-One, Methods of Inquiry.

3. Philosophy is an attempt to gain a view of the whole. Philosophy seeks to combine

the conclusions of die various sciences and long human experience into some kind of

consistent world view. The philosopher wishes to see life, not with the specialized slant

of the scientist or the businessman or the artist, but with the over-all view of someone

cognizant of life as a totality. In " speaking of "speculative philosophy," which he

distinguishes from "critical philosophy," C. D. Broad says, "Its objects to take over the

results of the various sciences, to add to them the results of the religious and ethical

experiences of mankind, and then to reflect upon the whole. The hope is that, by this

means, we may be able to reach some general conclusions as to the nature of die

universe, and as to our position and prospects in it."

Since die direction of learning during the past century has been toward analysis,

specialization, and the fragmentation of knowledge, it is well to keep in mind that many

of the great philosophers have refused to confine their attention to someone or even a

few aspects of experience. Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hegel, Bergson, Dewey, and

Whitehead, to mention only a few, have sought to gain a comprehensive vision of

things.

While there are difficulties and dangers in setting forth any world view, there are also

dangers in confining one's attention to fragments of human experience. "The dangers of

the sort of narrow specialization which either refuses to look beyond its own little

Introduction To Philosophy PHI: 101 (RAK)

province or treats as nonsensical attempts to go beyond it far outweigh the risks of

attempting a world view."

4. Philosophy is the logical analysis of language and the clarification of the meaning of

words and concepts. Certainly this is one-function or philosophy. In fact, nearly all

philosophers have used methods of analysis and have sought to clarify the meaning of

terms and the use of language. There are some philosophers, indeed, who see this as

the main task of philosophy, and a few who claim this is the only legitimate function of

philosophy. Such persons consider philosophy a specialized field serving the sciences

and aiding .in the clarification of language rather than a broad field reflecting upon all of

life's experiences. This outlook is recent and has gained considerable support during

the last half century. It would limit what we call knowledge to statements about

observable facts' and their interrelations—that is, to the business of die various

sciences. All linguistic analysts, however, do not define knowledge so narrowly. While

they do reject and try to "clean up" many nonscientific assertions, many of them think

that we can have knowledge of ethical principles and the like, though this knowledge is

also experientially derived. Those who take the narrower view neglect, when they do not

deny, all generalized world views and life views, as well as traditional moral philosophy

and theology. From this more narrow point of view the aim of philosophy is to expose

confusion and nonsense and to clarify the meaning and use of terms in science and

everyday a flairs.

The discussions centering around "philosophical analysis" as the function and method

of philosophy are involved and technical. The groups supporting this general position

have not been unified, as we shall sec in Chapter 16. We do need to emphasize here

that there are no philosophical schools which do not rely on analysis in some form. We

are using the terms philosophical analysis and linguistic analysis to describe those

philosophers who see this as the sole or at least the major task of philosophy.

5. Philosophy is a group of problems as well as theories about the solution of these

problems. There are certain perennial problems which interest mankind and for which

philosophers have always sought answers. Philosophy presses its inquiry into the

deeper problems of human existence beyond what eye hath seen or car heard. Some

questions raised in the past have been answered in a "manner satisfactory to most

men. For example, the existence of innate or inborn ideas has been denied since the

time of John Locke in the seventeenth century. Many questions, however, have been

answered only tentatively, and many problems remain unsolved.

What arc philosophical questions? The question "Did John Doe make a false, statement

on his income tax return?" is merely a question of fact. But the questions "What is

Introduction To Philosophy PHI: 101 (RAK)

truth?" and '"What is the distinction between right and wrong?" have philosophical

importance.

Most of us stop at times—sometimes because of startling events, often out of sheer

curiosity—and think seriously about fundamental life issues: What is life land why am

There? What is the place of life in this great universe? Is the universe friendly or

unfriendly? Do things operate by chance or through sheer mechanism, or is there some

plan or purpose or intelligence at the heart of things? Is my life controlled by outside

forces or do I have a determining or even a partial degree of control? Why do men

struggle and strive for rights, for justice, for better things in the future? What do

concepts like "right" and "justice" mean, and what arc the marks of a good society?

Often men and women have been asked to sacrifice their lives, if need be, for certain

values and ideals. What arc the genuine values of life and how can they be attained? Is

there really a fundamental distinction between right and wrong, or is it just a matter of

one's own opinions? What is beauty? Should religion still count in a person's life? Is it

intellectually respectable to believe in God? Is there any possibility of a "life after

death"? Is there any way we can get an answer to these and many related questions?

Where docs knowledge come from, and can "we have any assurances that anything is

true?'' . These questions arc all philosophical. The- attempt to seek answers or solutions

to them has given rise to theories and systems of thought, such as idealism, realism,

pragmatism, logical empiricism, humanism, and materialism. Philosophy also means the

various theories, or systems of thought developed by the great philosophers—men like

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley,

Kant, Royce, James, and others. Without these-men and their thoughts, philosophy

would not have the rich content it has today. Even though we may be unconscious of

die fact, we are constantly influenced by ideas that have come down to us in the

traditions of society.

So far we have been talking about philosophy in general. However, philosophy also

deals with the systematic body of principles and assumptions underlying a particular

field of experience. For example, there are philosophies of science, education, art,

music, history, law, mathematics, and religion. Any subject pursued far enough reveals

within itself philosophical problems.