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~ Philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits. ~
William James
What is Philisophy?
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To leave the above as an absolute and, or even, simplistic definition of the subject though, would be foolish. Philosophy is as potentially vast a subject as it is a rigorous discipline. Likewise, it would be foolish for me to attempt to cover the many complexities of philosophy on these little pages in this little web site. |
Philosophy is traditionally divided into labels, as shown here
| Logic |
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
Ethics |
Aesthetics |
- argument
- validity
- proof
- definition
- consistency
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- knowledge
- truth
- theory
- method
- evidence
- analysis
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- existence
- essence
- space
- time
- self
- God
- cause
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- good
- right
- duty
- responsibility
- utility
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- beauty
- art
- taste
- standard
- judgement
- criticism
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Perhaps we could look at it something like this: The Open University has some sample philisophy questions on this page. One of them is:
"A story by the great South American writer Borges features a certain Chinese Encyclopaedia. According to this volume*, animals can be classified into the following groups:
(a) belonging to the emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) sucking pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies.
Why does the above way of classifying animals seem so bizarre to us? Is there any reason for supposing that the classifications we use are better, or more rational? " |  |
(*I think that this is from Jorge Borges' essay, "The Analytical Language Of John Wilkins"? )
That's kinda just how philosophy is! And there are no answers - but that's the point! It is often said that philosophy stands between the sciences and religion. It appeals to reason, but is not completely concerned with facts and, like theology, it deals with things that we don't have definite knowledge of. (Or, as quoted from Bertrand Russell, "Philosophy is the no-man's land between science and theology, exposed to attack from both sides"). It is also, essentially, argumentative.
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The First Law of Philosophy: For every philosopher, there exists an equal and opposite philosopher.
The Second Law of Philosophy: They're both wrong. |
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It is interesting to consider that, for instance, in the field philosophy of the arts, it is possible to value Kurt Cobain's contribution to be as important as Mozart's. They both have their merits which appeal to different tastes. In fact, it could even be argued that Kurt Cobain has contributed more, in a philosophical sense, as he conveys more feeling into his work - but then, how do we know how much feeling Mozart put into his? It might've been absolutely massive amounts! What might sound "jingly" to some, could be melancholic to others. Or rapturous. Or scintillating. (See "Shakespeare v Britney Spears" on TPM's excellent site.)
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