We tell you what philosophy is for, its meaning and some examples of philosophers. Furthermore, its use in everyday life and today.
What is philosophy for?
Philosophy serves, in general, to think, that is, it helps to develop critical thinking.reflective, which allows people to deal with their problems from different points of view. Furthermore, as a science that works on the most essential issues (being and nothingness, for example), often accompanies other disciplines in their activities.
However, not all philosophers agree that philosophy serves the same purpose. Even some thinkers, such as Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), believe that philosophy is useless. This statement does not detract from philosophy, but rather highlights its value in itself: Philosophy does not serve a purpose that comes from outside, its value comes from itself. That is, philosophy serves to philosophize.
Still, most philosophers do believe that philosophy is useful. Many maintain that Philosophy is the art of asking questions, and asking about the essence of the world helps to understand it.
Each of the problems that philosophy faces is as broad as philosophy itself. Whether it is the question about the meaning of being, the functioning of a computer or ecology, philosophy helps to think about each of these concerns from its own and innovative place.
Key points
- Philosophy serves to think critically and reflectively.
- Although it does not have a single function, it helps us live better and understand the way we connect with others.
- The different philosophical questions invite you to know the world and relate to it in a unique and different way.
- Today philosophy functions as an ethical companion to scientific discoveries.
See also: Philosophy
The philosophy
Philosophy is a discipline, often considered the mother of all sciences, that works with different theoretical-practical problems through concepts and different interpretive tools.
Its name comes from Greek philosophywhich means “love of wisdom.” Some of the problems it deals with are knowledge, being, existence, morality, language, truth, the existence of God, politics and logic, among others. For each of these problems there is a branch of philosophy, for example, metaphysics deals with the problem of being and aesthetics with the problem of beauty.
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers who practice it and problems it faces. Because it has an interdisciplinary nature (working with different disciplines), Philosophy is usually taken as the science that works on the most general questions, the meaning of things and their essence.
Uses of philosophy according to philosophers
Throughout its history, philosophy had different uses and jobs. It usually happens that when you read a philosopher, you find his idea of philosophy and its use.
For the ancient Greeks, for example, philosophy was a way of life. For Christians in the medieval world, on the other hand, it was a tool for interpreting sacred texts. The thinkers of modernity, for their part, used it to know the truth and expand knowledge.
Some of the uses that philosophers gave it throughout history were:
- For Socrates (469-399 BC)philosophy was a moral need for people who wanted to know themselves. As a love of wisdom, it helped to seek the truth of all things and the definitions of what things are.
- For Plato (427-347 BC)philosophy was the science that allowed access to ideas, as he thought them within his doctrine.
- For Aristotle (384-322 BC)philosophy was a science that allowed us to study the first causes and principles of all things. He understood that philosophy could be the science of being, and that is why it was the most important science of all.
- For Saint Augustine (354-430)philosophy was the will of God. Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), for his part, recovered something of the Aristotelian idea. For him, philosophy was the knowledge of things in their highest form, and thus, a tool of theology.
- For modern thinkers, such as René Descartes (1596-1650) or Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)philosophy responded to the Aristotelian idea, but instead of orienting itself towards being, they took it to the realm of knowledge. Furthermore, they thought that philosophy could serve as a moral compass for people, since it could provide tools for dignified conduct.
- For Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)philosophy had to be closer to art and, in any case, it was a form of poetry. For Nietzsche, only philosophy could free people from the moral decadence in which they found themselves, reinventing values and the way of thinking.
Towards the 20th century, and throughout the last decades, philosophy took on so many meanings and was applied to so many fields that it has different uses depending on who uses it. Thus, it is used in scientific discoveries, biology, education, politics, sports or art.
What is philosophy for in daily life?
Philosophy is part of the daily life of all individuals, although many times they are not aware that it is there.
Most people, when they make decisions, do so based on a belief system. This system is crossed by philosophy, since without it it would not be possible to think about values and general ethics.
Furthermore, encounters with others, the way of understanding them, or those occasions in which people wonder about the meaning of their lives, are crossed by philosophical questions, which can be ideas or ways of thinking, which often go unnoticed.
An example of the use of philosophy in daily life are situations in which you have to decide between personal benefit and doing good for others. Many people reason that, even if they discard their personal interest, by helping others they are gaining a benefit. This is not only correct, but it is crossed by an idea of community and reciprocal action that is clearly philosophical.
Furthermore, the fact of being able to reason, use mathematical accounts or distinguish between the fiction of a film and daily life, imply, respectively, the philosophical exercise of logic, the philosophy of science applied to mathematics or the metaphysical question about what is real
What is philosophy for today?
Philosophy helps the individual understand the world and interact with it. Today, technological and scientific discoveries are revolutionizing the established understanding of reality. It is increasingly common to find people talking about virtual, analog or different-dimensional worlds.
Philosophy helps people distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary, and allows them to question what each of these words means. In this way, someone could say that a virtual conversation between two friends, even if it is not face to face, is just as real as a chat on the bus or in the park.
On the other hand, scientific advances regarding robotics, cloning and other discoveries related to genetics require the support of philosophy. Only dedicated regulation, exercised through ethical care, can help people change without generating, with the change, tools that can hurt them.
The idea of useful
Many philosophers maintain that philosophy is “useless” for nothing. This happens because they question the idea of usefulness.
In the 19th century, John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), an English philosopher, wrote a book called utilitarianism where he defined utility as the principle of greatest happiness. Mill believed that something was useful if it provided the greatest amount of happiness possible. Following this idea, it is difficult to say that philosophy provides happiness, but rather that, in any case, it helps to understand it.
Theodor Adorno, on the other hand, did not believe that philosophy had to be placed in a practical role, under the idea of usefulness. For the German thinker, philosophy only served to dedicate himself to criticizing what was established. Thus, it did not have to constitute a system, a totality or absolute knowledge.
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.
