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What Is Philosophy?

The greatest narrowing of philosophy would be to regard it merely as a history of the views of great philosophers. Philosophy is fundamentally the self-aware intellectual activity through which human beings ask for the reasons behind their beliefs, experiences, values, practices, and institutions. Philosophy brings into question what ordinary life treats as self-evident. “This is true”—why? “This is right”—by what standard? “This is our tradition”—how does mere traditionality establish its rightness? “The majority supports this”—is a majority evidence of truth, or only a number? Because it asks such questions, philosophy is not a luxury outside life but life’s self-examination. Human beings accept many things without questioning them. The sun rises, the river flows, birth occurs, death comes, society makes rules, the family teaches values, religion gives meaning to the world, and science explains events. Yet a moment comes when the familiar becomes strange. Confronting death, a person asks: what are the limits of individual existence? Confronting injustice: why does what is differ from what ought to be? Experiencing illusion: is what appears actually true? The energy of philosophy is born from this wonder, dissatisfaction, and self-doubt. Wonder alone is not enough. A child, too, is amazed; a poet may transform wonder into metaphor, and a scientist into a testable question. A philosopher connects wonder with concepts, reasoning, evidence, and counterargument. Thus philosophy moves first through wonder, then questioning, analysis, the testing of evidence, and finally self-critique. In the history of philosophy, there have been many schools of thought: Advaita, Dvaita, Samkhya, Nyaya, Buddhist Madhyamaka, Jain Anekantas, Materialism, Idealism, Empiricism, Intellectualism, Existentialism, and Pragmatism. But the number of opinions is not the definition of philosophy. An opinion does not become philosophical simply because its proponents present it in a serious tone. Philosophy begins when opinion clarifies its premises, admits contradictory questions, sees the consequences of conclusions, and is open to possible errors. This is why there is a significant difference between what we believe and why we believe. The first statement is self-explanatory; the second opens the door to philosophical discussion. Parallel philosophies keep this door open to all traditions equally. The sources of scripture, science, folk beliefs, and modern theories are not immune to criticism solely on the basis of their reputation. The classification of the branches of philosophy has varied with time and tradition; however, some core areas may be identified to facilitate study. Metaphysics asks what kind of reality is reality at its core. Matter, mind, soul, God, time, reason, free will, possibility and the nature of existence. Modern metaphysics is not limited to first causes; questions of mind-body relationships, social objects, personality, and time-life also fall into its domain. Epistemology asks what science is. When does belief become knowledge? True belief can also be true by chance.What then does knowledge require besides truth? The Source of the Knowledge Direct memory, inference, language, and how to check the credibility of authentic persons or institutions. Where is the limit of knowledge? Logic asks on what basis a conclusion can be drawn. When is an argument valid? Confusing Reasons and Words - Inconsistent Conclusions and Imperfect Reasons and How to Recognize Contradictions Both the discourse of Indian jurisprudence and Western formal logic are distinct historical forms of this overarching purpose. Analytics raises the question of what value is. Moral philosophy asks what is the criterion of right and wrong actions. Aesthetics asks what is the nature of the experience of beauty, art and taste. Political philosophy asks questions of justice, rights, the state, liberty, equality, and legitimate authority. Philosophy of religion examines religious experience and religious pluralism through the claims to liberation from God. Science philosophy asks about the nature of scientific explanation, causation, theory, and evidence. The term linguistics raises questions of meaning, context, and sentence truth.