I philosophies constantly. And it's how I settled comfortably on Atheism. And continue to question it and all other beliefs but still find it most acceptable.
Philosophy is the single most pointless exercise ever devised by man. It has no point. It uncovers no universal truths. It merely speculates and gives the opinion of the speaker. An opinion which is substantiated by nothing other than rhetoric and argument.It is couched in language whose sole objective is to make the speaker appear clever. No facts no science no point.
@DE Facto. Cultural and ethical advancements? They are nothing but opinions. Not one hard fact in them. In fact it was the reliance on the view of the world given by the Greek philosophers that prevented science from uncovering the truth about a heliocentric solar system until the renaissance. The Greeks believed they could "reason" how the universe came about. Of course you cannot you can only do it by the application of science.
Philosophy was a millstone around the neck of Mankind. Fortunately now people do not give much credence to philosophy. It is just a few dry crumblies at the back corridor of the university. And rightly so.
@De factor, I am not trolling. I cannot think of one useful contribution that philosophy has made to society. It is reactive so it only seeks to explain what mental constructs have already taken place. It makes no useful predictions about the future. The only vaguely useful branch of philosophy is political philosophy but even that is limited as the so called "great" political philosophies can never actually be implemented in practice so again philosophy fails. Science deals in facts. Philosophy deals in opinions written in a way that tries to demonstrate how clever the writer is. No more.
p.s. pragmatism. Wonderful example, thanks. Science comes up with a way to investigate the world. Philosophy comes along and thinks up a word to describe it. Wow, Great contribution to Mankind, philosophy.
@De Facto. The Golden rule. Again reactive. Philosophers did not come up with the golden rule. Over MilenaIAan discovered that his best chance of survival came from co-operation. Hence our brains being hard wired to cooperate. Some ancient philosopher put it into words but the deed was alreadsy well established when the philosopher did that. So again philosophy did not contribute the golden rule and I bet noone changed their behaviour because of it. Neuroscience is starting to unravel the complex process whereby this hardwiring is stored. You wont "think" an answer to that. Science will give it to you.
No, I'm afraid if you want unsubstatiated opinions ask a philosopher. If you want truths ask a scientist.
It leads to more questions than answers. It takes agility and perseverance to see it through if such a thing is possible. I used to love it (still do I guess), the older I get the more I realize its threat to my sanity.
@Aggy- Are you kidding? Pointless? Not even close in fact many cultural, moral and ethical advancements are directly in debt to philosophy. Philosophy 101, never under simplify.
Remember, science itself is a philosophy as is mathematics.
@Aggy- You're simply ignorant to philosophy or you're being purposely disingenuous for some odd reason. Philosophy has tentacles reaching into every aspect of society. Sure, it not a "fact" rather an idea, a method of thought. A foundation to greater discoveries. It's important, trust me.
If not, I have one word for you: pragmatism.
@Aggy- Trust me, I do not think philosophy is often productive especially if conducted by those who frankly aren't very good at it (not that I am... I'm not).
It takes strong imagination, intellect and most importantly humility. It seems you've only read those that are annoyingly arrogant about their philosophy.
If done correctly per SE, it's like hitting ctr alt Del for the mind or a concept. It's fascinating to me and it has great potential.
@Aggy- Perhaps we're failing to see eye to eye on the actual way philosophy is defined.
Here's an example:
Philosophy: Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline.
Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.
I'll admit that empirical methods are vital to the scientific process but so is logical reasoning. It's a huge time saver. It helps us determine what the findings may mean and where it's logical to conduct more tests and observations. It seems pretty darn important to me, maybe I'm wrong.
On the morality front, the Golden Rule is my favorite example of a clear beneficial result of philosophy. No?
I love it. Only a few things give me greater pleasure than listening to a man or women of great intellect explaining to me their personal view of the world.
Philosophy is the study of existential problems and their solutions. It is a means of identifying values and the reason behind behaviors and realities of the world. Philosophical discussion is often one of how things "should be" rather than as they are. The provide the basis for morality, society, and that which is important.
Philosophy has its place in the world. However, I would never assert philosophy as objective truth, only as suggestive possibility. It is an important matter, however, in that without it, only nihilism persists.
Any given philosophical position can be seen as a cross-section of motivations in reality. The true reality discussed in a philosophical sense likely factors in portions of a number of philosophies and others that have never been considered. It may help to think of it with regard to variables correlating to discuss a particular phenomenon or set of phenomena. As an example, there is no individual cause to something like violence, but you can find a number of factors that contribute to it, like poverty, rate of single motherhood, etc. Similarly, the "why" addressed by philosophical positions are like the individual variables that influence that which is being examined.
Um - wow. Philosophy covers a lot of schools of thought by definition, philosophy in general is almost an oxymoron.
I did a few philosophy classes at uni, they were fun. One was actually called the "meaning of life" it was full of fun dies and atheists and was like a live-action Y Answers R&S section.
I think that question is both to broad and to vague to answer. The best I come up with is 'mostly interesting'.
But to be more specific I really need to know what you are thinking about. The act of 'philosophizing'? Or rather 'coming up with random associations', which is what most people think of as philosophizing? The field of logic, or for instance applied ethics? The history of philosophy? Philosophical writings on religion? The influence of religion on philosophers?
Atheists, what do you think about "philosophy" in general?
