What is Philosophy ?
The origin of the word philosophy is “philosophia” of Greek, love or collection of wisdom or knowledge. The definitions of philosophy by André Comte-Sponville is “a (discursif, reasonable and conceptional) theoretical practice”. And the definition of philosopher by Roger-Pol Droit is a specialist of ideas (or concepts) and a friend of knowledge-wisdom.
Philosophy is a way of thinking by concepts and principles for a fundamental comprehensive account of the world. Subjects of the account are (what are) being, human, self, others, life, knowledge, perception, time, virtue, happiness, reality, society, world, universe, to live good and so on.
Philosophy forms or let you have a view to the world and the life. Because it is a fundamental account of the world. So philosophy become a criterion of how to think and how to live good.
Philosophy is a “language game” aims for the universality and mutual general understanding. Philosophy itself and its principles is not absolute and true. Philosophy can be remade to be better one.
Different to Religion
Religion is also a comprehensive account of the world. But religion teaches believers the origin of world, the meaning of life and moral by a story. And a most important thing of religion is believers believe a story of a prophet or a founder, and believe there’s a truth in its story. Religion gives us truth, and salvation, peace mind and the meaning of life by truth, so it’s an indispensable thing for human.
Religion pursuits a truth, but philosophy pursuits a universality. And essences, methods or worths of philosophy and religion are not same. They are in different aspects or spheres. So they are comparative each other. And we can hold both philosophy and religion.
Philosophy is a Process
Philosophy always begin from nothing, root or ignorance, on the other hand it should follow philosophical tradition, problems and themes. New philosophies have appeared as a critical following or a critical turn. Almost philosophers refine their philosophy for their entire career by their own further researches, and arguments and criticisms by others. Philosophy isn’t a truth or a fact. It’s a changeable principle is refined and replaced by better one(s). Because aim of philosophy is to grasp a universality and mutual understanding. So philosophy is an endless process of thinking.
And the history of philosophy is a succession of conflicts between monism and dualism or pluralism, absolutism and relativism, realism and idealism, subjectivism and objectivism, rationalism and anti-philosophy.
Different to Science
Once, Philosophy includes today’s natural science, engineering and social science. The past philosophy is a total science to know principle of the nature and the world. Modern philosophy and modern science are divided, and the feature of modern science is pursuit physical and material facts unlimitedly. Science grasps and describes facts as they are.
But science doesn’t give us principal value of the life. Different to science, philosophy inquires “why and how the facts exit”. Philosophy treats value and meaning of facts include scientific facts. A role and a significance of philosophy is principal value and ethical judgement by thinking about facts. Science can’t reply to questions like “How it should be ?” and “How I live ?”.
On the other hand, the progress of science influences our view to the world and philosophy. Also philosophy of science inquires into the basis and the meaning of science.
Conclusion
- Philosophy is a way of thinking by concepts and principles for a fundamental comprehensive account of the world.
- Its principle always begin from nothing or ignorance. Philosopher must think by himself, but his thinking should be in the philosophical tradition, themes or problems.
- Philosophy is not absolute and true, is a variable process of thinking. Its aim is a universality and mutual understanding of the world.
- Philosophy tells how to think and how to live good. So philosophy is a criteria of our thinking, act and life, and give us a key to a the meaning and value of our life.
But philosophy has no fixed definition. Continue to think about what is philosophy or definition of philosophy is also an important element of philosophy.
And some thinkers or philosophers (such as Pyrrho, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Deleuze and Derrida) said like “there’s no universal view to the world”, “The philosophical tradition is a fiction.” and “There isn’t a good life and the meaning of life of the world”. These skepticism, pessimism and unti-philosophy are also a philosophy as well.
References
André Comte-Sponville, La philosophie (Presses Universitaires de France, 2012)
Roger-Pol Droit, La philosophie expliquée à ma fille (Édition du Seuil, 2004)
Seiji Takeda, What is Philosophy: To Know Yourself and Society (Iwanami Books, 2002)
Seiji Takeda, A Super Introduction to Philosophy from Age 14 (Chikuma Books, 2009)