What Philosophy Means To Me.

[pljames]

The only thing I get from philosophy is my own understanding of what I believe and live by experiences. Understanding anothers understanding is knowledge from them to me. I accept the knowledge of the other persons understanding that relates closets to mine. Then I morphe it into my personal knowledge and understanding. I question I see I understand there is no other way for me.

 

I love knowledge over ignorance. What is true for you might not be true for me. I am what I am, (me). I have to look at everything from a point of view that relates to me somehow then understand it from my understanding are I will always be confused. Thoughts please. Paul

[Eclogite]

What is your definition of philosophy?

[pljames]

What is your definition of philosophy?

 

What I can understand (my way). Or is it Houseton or Houston? We all have our own way of understanding. I take your understanding and relate the parts I relate to and morph it into my way of understanding (which I think brinks on plagiarism). There must be millions of ways to understand perceive knowledge. Then the only way to understand is what you can relate to? Paul

[Eclogite]

That has precious little to do with what is represented by the vast field of philosophy, no matter which accepted definition you use. You seem to be talking about your personal view of the meaning of life. That's not what philosophy is.

[CraigD]

What is your definition of philosophy?

Though directed at Paul, I’ll take this as an open question, and give my own idiosyncratic answer.

 

The entomological meaning of the word “philosophy” is simple “love of wisdom”. Since my first formally structured introduction to it, in a high school “intro to philosophy” class, I took the overarching meaning of the term to be the same. Though applied to academic degrees and a wide collection of disciplines, to me, philosophy is not fundamentally a formal field of study, but a declaration of an emotion. “I am a philosopher” does not mean “I have a degree in Philosophy”, “I teach philosophy in a school”, or “I write books that are stacked in the Philosophy section”. It means “I love wisdom”. I’m attracted to it. It’s both familiar and mysterious to me. I want to have it, can’t get enough of it, even if it hurts me, I keep coming back to it, like a character in a bad country western song. I am philosophy’s *****.

 

Stepping back into a less personal, more objective view point, I see the question “why have and do philosophers – the recognized, degree-holding, class-teaching, book-writing kind – continue to call their discipline ‘philosophy’? Why not sophology, the study of wisdom? Or one of the terms for the major sub-disciplines, such as ontology, epistemology, metaphysics, morality or aesthetics?”

 

My conclusion – dipping into the personal again – is that keeping the philos in philosophy reflect a meme, somewhat equivalent to a millennia-old running insider’s joke: that for all of their formality and linguistic precision, philosophers are primarily love-smitten feelers, not dispassionate thinkers. Like the scene in the Wizard of Oz, behind the imposing edifice of its long, interlocking strings of logic, The Great and Powerful PHILOSOPHY is being moved by a little homunculus behind an inconspicuous but not well-hidden curtain. Name the homunculus what you like – humbug, whimsy, the imp of perversity, passion, the Id, pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behing-the-curtain – it’s not logical or even really smart, but passionate, in love with the edifice it animates, and for all its lacks, pretty wise. It’s presence is neither secret of common knowledge, but is something of which all true philosophers are aware.

[Rade]

Based on motivation of reply by CraigD and his discussion of concepts love and wisdom as relates to philosophy, I offer this definition of philosophy...

 

Philosophy is: An emotional response to attain knowledge of something of value, namely a comprehensive worldview of the relationship of humans to existence.

 

Philosophy is thus A LOVE FEST (e.g. emotional response) of humans with existence. The Beatles got it correct...all YOU need is LOVE.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Rade

[vivekn]

I always think of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence, although I have never referred to my deliberations as philosophy.
 

Edited November 19, 2022 by vivekn

[isaac]

How our Mind could manage in its chaos of ideas that it produces, Mind divided its activity into two complementary activities: Science and Philosophy. Science has been given a task which to Mind reveals truths, and Philosophy got a job that frees Mind from fallacies. On the basis of these mental activities Mind builds itself from the true ideas and wisdom. The whole history of Philosophy and Science tells us this story.

[meno2]

Philosophy means almost a field of knowledge, that I find nowedays as almost impossible to do without.

always thinking in 

On 5/24/2021 at 3:37 AM, vivekn said:

I always think of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence, although I have never referred to my deliberations as philosophy.
 

Vivekn, I find your comment nearly parallels mine, for even before knowing what philosophy was , it became as  if it always was a necessary tool to use for thinking and communicating.