What is Philosophy?
- Thread starter terrythomas
- Start date
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
articul8
Dishonest sociopath
to disagree, you need to have a common set of questions to disagree upon.
If not, you just have unrelated claims
there must be some capacity to define the questions on which we disagree, or we couldn't disagree!!!
max_freakout
Nothing matters
Why does there need to be a correct definition? There can be many.
in response to the question 'what is philosophy?' what is required is some kind of definition of what philosophy is, and there isn't one
there could be many definitions, but they dont do their job of 'defining' unless they agree with each other, which they dont
max_freakout
Nothing matters
the only question is, what is philosophy? that is the question which people cannot agree on an answer to
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
The failure to correctly differentiate between "your" and "you're" in no way diminishes the point here.
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
Dictionary says:
- Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline.
- Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.
- A system of thought based on or involving such inquiry: the philosophy of Hume.
- The critical analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs.
- The disciplines presented in university curriculums of science and the liberal arts, except medicine, law, and theology.
- The discipline comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and epistemology.
- A set of ideas or beliefs relating to a particular field or activity; an underlying theory: an original philosophy of advertising.
- A system of values by which one lives: has an unusual philosophy of life.
[Middle English philosophie, from Old French, from Latin philosophia, from Greek philosophiā, from philosophos, lover of wisdom, philosopher; see [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1] philosopher[/SIZE][/FONT].]
Everyone happy with that? Good.
Next thread!
bluestreak
HomosexualityIsStalin’sAtomBombtoDestroyAmerica
I imagine that max probably isn't.
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
It's Ok, apparantly he doesn't really exist, so neither do his opinions on this thread.
max_freakout
Nothing matters
i love dictionaries
bluestreak
HomosexualityIsStalin’sAtomBombtoDestroyAmerica
Do you not get frustrated that all the definitions are wrong?
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
Yes but; what is love and what do you mean by "I"?
Does a dictionary really exist. Man?
max_freakout
Nothing matters
max_freakout
Nothing matters
if the dictionary is the final word on the question 'what is philosophy' then this whole thread is totally pointless, everyone is arguing over nothing, the OP should have just looked at a dictionary
max_freakout
Nothing matters
i doubt it
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
if the dictionary is the final word on the question 'what is philosophy' then this whole thread is totally pointless, everyone is arguing over nothing, the OP should have just looked at a dictionary
Eureka!
bluestreak
HomosexualityIsStalin’sAtomBombtoDestroyAmerica
Well, I'm looking at it from the point of view of information extrapolated from your posts, which suggest that your idea of what words mean and the dictionary definition are often quite different. Perhaps you need to look at it from a distance where you can actually read the words and don't need to make something up that sounds plausible.
articul8
Dishonest sociopath
but there are limits to what "philosophy" might possibly be taken to mean - you accept that, right? It can't just mean whatever anyone wants it to mean - that is the Humpty Dumpty fallacy
i-am-your-idea
pretty vacant
Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo (New Formula)
The Aussie Philosophy stands as "There's more to life than hair but it's a good place to start"
I found this sort of philosophy on my shampoo!
max_freakout
Nothing matters
but there are limits to what "philosophy" might possibly be taken to mean - you accept that, right? It can't just mean whatever anyone wants it to mean - that is the Humpty Dumpty fallacy
yes i agree with that but those limits might be impossible to find
articul8
Dishonest sociopath
not at all -
if someone posted on this thread to the effect that "philosophy" means that ratio of weight to height in giraffes, would we conclude
a) that the definitions of philosophy are indeed very diverse, or
b) that said poster hadn't got a clue what was meant by "philosophy"
if you answer 1, you can't really have a meaningful discussion with anyone about anything. Ergo the limit of sense has been breached.
But then maybe that's your EMO side, "no-one understands my pain", "real communication with others is impossible"...yada, yada, yada
max_freakout
Nothing matters
max_freakout
Nothing matters
are you saying that we can say what philosophy is not (ie it is not about giraffes)
but that we can't say what it is?
max_freakout
Nothing matters
articul8
Dishonest sociopath
there is scope for disagreement, but that scope is necessarily limited by a shared discourse which allows that disagreement to be meaningful (rather than consisting of two utterly incommensurate statements)
The Q "what is philosophy"? is not an inquiry into a truth-claim that needs to be validated or invalidated. It essentially a way of asking "what kinds of question do we group together within the language-game we call 'philosophy'" Clearly some would have a more expansive conception than others, but all such disagreement is based on a fundamentall agreement on the rules which allow that particular "language-game" to function.
fucksake
bluestreak
HomosexualityIsStalin’sAtomBombtoDestroyAmerica
read the words from a distance?
a short distance, as opposed to the very long one that you currently appear to be reading the words from.
these words are small maxwell, these words are far away.
terrythomas
An absolute shower
How about this?
A quest for answers to everything and then some
A quest for answers to everything and then some
