meritocrat

I know part of the 'ethos' of philosophy is to question our sensibilites (for example, many may feel it's wrong to steal, but a philosopher would ask WHY it's believed to be wrong). But is that the only limit to the subject?

Keith Russell

Greetings:

Philosophy is comprised of five 'branches', or areas of inquiry:

Metaphysics; the study of what is.

Ethics; the study of how one should act.

Politics; the study of how groups should act.

--and--

Aesthetics; the study of (for lack of a better word) 'art'.

All of these branches of philosophy are (as I understand them, anyway) intended to study various aspects of human existence.

The point of philosophy is to study humanity, and all of its various aspects...

Keith.

Neilium

Keith,

That's only four. I'll guess the fifth is epistemology; the study of how we learn, the nature of knowledge.

The point of philosophy? I kinda like Wittgenstein's answer. Philosophy is a therapy, a forum for dialogue. A success in philospohy "is the one that makes me capable of stopping doing philosophy when I want to." (Philospohical Investigations #133.)

-neil(ium)

Keith Russell

Neil:

Oops!

You're right. That's the danger of posting while trying to eat one's lunch.

Thanks for the correction.

Keith.

Starboy

Philosophy is an attempt to understand reality without making any attempt to learn anything about reality. Pretty stupid really.

Starboy

jpbrooks

Ah. the point of Philosophy! I might add that Philosophy, like art, is something that is part of our nature as humans to engage in, either well or poorly. The more we learn about ourselves and the activities that we naturally engage in, the greater our ability to make improvements (however we choose to define the term "improvement") in our lives will be. (This assumes, of course, that living is worthwhile in the first place. I would say that it is.)

(This reminds me of an answer given to a question in one of my Scientology texts.)

Wiploc

The point of philosophy is to correct our trivial confusions so we can be confused at a higher level.

crc

philechat

Philosophy is the study of assumptions. First we quietly poke away people's prejudice, such that we can add our own. In some ways these exercises are quite beneficial to mental health.

What's the point of music?

Keith Russell

Music is a way for non-muscular guys to get girls.

Keith.

Street Philosopher

some great answers here
Here is my contribution: "We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time." - T.S. Eliot

philosophy the pursuit of our natural curiosities as a being with the ability to think consciously about himself and the world. mr. eliot's quote explains the goal of philosophy much better than i can.