The Questions Philosophers Ask
These days, I cannot help but describe myself preposterously as someone who likes asking questions, then obsessing over those questions until answers present themselves. For better or worse, that’s what it means to be a philosopher.
Stated differently, to be a philosopher is to be a natural questioner and steadfast at figuring things out. Socrates called it “love of Wisdom.” Plantinga called it “thinking really hard about things.” I call it OCD.
Probably the best way to understand what philosophy is (and why it matters) is to understand the sorts of questions philosophers ask. Consider the following metaphysical questions, which is to say, questions about being as such:
What does it mean for something to exist? What is the difference between existence and non-existence? Are there different modes of existence? Are there hierarchies of existence? What is common to all things that exist? What is different among all things that exist? Does everything exist in the mind or do some things have extra-mental existence? Do only physical things exist? Does everything that exists change? Is all existence finite? Does everything that exists, exist necessarily, or contingently? Does the realm of possible existents outstrip the realm of actual existents? Etc, etc.
And then there are ethical questions, including:
What is the difference between right and wrong? Are right and wrong the same as good and bad? What is the nature of evil? Is it possible to pursue evil for evil’s sake? Are things good because we choose them or do we choose them because they’re good? Where do moral obligations come from? Are there any objective (read: universally binding, culturally independent) moral laws? Are there circumstances where goods conflict? Can there ever be such a thing as a just war? Was bombing Nagasaki wrong? Is it OK to have sex with chickens?
Some of these questions are basic; some of these questions are weird. Each of these questions (however) is a proper philosophical question and (therefore) deserves a proper philosophical response. And notice this: they are questions that philosophy — in most cases, only philosophy — can answer.
Another unique aspect of philosophy is that it is the only intellectual discipline that can fully interrogate its own foundations – foundations of thought, knowledge, etc – leaving no assumptions (including the reality of the external world) unexamined.
What I have learned teaching philosophy — especially among highschool/college students, whether in person or through the podcast — is that if you simply talk ABOUT philosophy they remain uninterested. However, the moment you begin asking philosophical questions — especially, once you set up the infamous trolley problem — everybody wants to be a philosopher. Many see they already are one.