We explain what philosophical thought is, its importance and characteristics. Also, the origin of philosophy.
What is philosophical thought?
Philosophical thought is a critical and reflective form of thought that arises from the exercise of philosophy. Although philosophical thought can be thought of as a method or way of thinking, it can also be considered the result, the product, of the exercise of philosophy itself.
Due to its unavoidable relationship with philosophy (there can be no philosophical thought without an exercise of philosophy that produces it), philosophical thought It's as old as philosophy itself. We can locate its western beginning in Ancient Greece, where philosophy emerged.
philosophical thought is concerned with what is at the base of all fields of knowledge such as being, matter, form, the possibility of knowing, the nature of time, the idea of consciousness, ethical-moral problems, logic and others.
While it is true that philosophical thinking is often guided by logic and rationality, It is not always the product of rational thought. The history of philosophy is broad and diverse: it features characters like Nietzsche, for example, who distrust the ability of reason to think, and produce ideas that are not irrational but in tension with reason. In particular, and thanks to Nietzsche, the 20th century has been the scene of many and varied currents that have tried to explore more intuitive ways of thinking or, in any case, to challenge the primacy of reason (a primacy that, according to Jacques Derrida, it should be called “logocentrism”).
See also: Philosophical knowledge
Origin of philosophy
Western philosophy was born in the Greek world around the 6th century BC. c and was consolidated through the classical period until the VI AD. C. Thinkers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle shaped philosophical thought by systematizing and inaugurating the first fundamental questions.
The Socratic tradition – as the thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle is known – It played a fundamental role even in the formation of religious thought in the Middle Ages. The works of Plato, first, and Aristotle, later, were incorporated into the philosophical corpus of Christianity, Judaism and Islam by different thinkers and religious people.
This served to introduce the theological question (the question about God) to the philosophical world, which was in turn influenced by the religious thought of the time thanks to philosophers such as Augustine of Hippo or Thomas Aquinas.
The Middle Ages gave way to the Modernity, a time in which philosophical thought acquired a certain autonomy with respect to religious thought by installing new concerns and returning to some already forgotten, such as the possibility of knowing the truth and the need to choose a new criterion to do so. From this period, the works of Hume, Descartes and Kant, among others, stand out.
After the emergence of Nietzsche in philosophical thought, and after the revolution that Kant's work meant (followed by Hegelian thought), the 20th century went through a radical change that allowed philosophy to detach itself from any logocentric heritage and advance in different directions.
The philosophical scenario was divided into two large groups: continental philosophy followed the steps taken by Nietzsche ; and analytical philosophy turned to logical and scientific thinking that used rational and standardized tools.
Characteristics of philosophical thought
Philosophical thought is as diverse as philosophy and, like it, is difficult to characterize or even systematize in schools and currents. However, throughout its history it has manifested different general features:
- Due to its history, philosophical thought aspires to answer different questions that require a critical and reflective approach.
- To find its answers, philosophical thought uses different methods, often critical and rational, that establish ways of working and philosophical positions on each of its problems.
- Even in its diversity, philosophical thought is organized into schools and traditions, depending on the assumptions from which it starts and the mental procedures it uses.
- Even when it does not handle the accuracy of science, philosophical thought works from experience, observation of facts, hypotheses and mental experiments.
- Because it is subject to change and the evolution of history, philosophical thought is never the same and is never fixed. This implies that it changes according to the time, culture and even political society in which it emerges.
Importance of philosophical thought
What sense does it have to exist? Why are we here? Where are we going? What does it mean for something to be? And that something exists? What is it to live a good life?
Questions like these belong to the field of study of philosophy and must be addressed using philosophical thinking. From them and similar concerns arises philosophy as a practice a, first, and philosophical thought as a consequence, later.
Although the current era leans towards discourses of greater scientific rigor, the existence of divergent thoughts such as those arising from philosophical thought is still necessary today. The opportunity to think against the current and generate discourses parallel to the established ones is what allows the advancement and continuous exploration of human existence.
Continue with: Philosophical disciplines
References
- Marías, J., Zubiri, X., & and Gasset, JO (1941). History of philosophy (No. B94. M37 1974.). Madrid: Western Magazine.
- Reale, G., & Antiseri, D. (2007). History of philosophy. San Pablo Editorial.
- Hegel, GWF, & Terrón, E. (1971). Introduction to the history of philosophy. Aguilar.
- Deleuze, G., Guattari, F., & Kauf, T. (2001). What is philosophy?. Barcelona: Anagram.
- Lyotard, J.F., & Veiga, J.M. (1989). Why philosophize?: four conferences. Paidós.
- Greek, D. M. (1967). Classical Greek-Spanish. Vox
- Heidegger, M. (2013). What is philosophy?. Herder Editorial.
