Introduction

Question 0

What are the objects specific to philosophy?

Answer 0

• The self (soul)
• The world (universe)
• God (the good, absolute, Mother Nature)

Question 1

What does it mean to be a philosopher?

Answer 1

• A lover of wisdom
• Contemplate things detached from any worldly importance
• Be a part of a certain field of study (a field of study implies a specific set of objects and a history of study. There is a progression and a story that makes sense)
• a field of study implies a past that can be recounted, understood, and passed on –> building on past discoveries, or overturning established knowledge

Question 2

What kind of questions does philosophy ask?

Answer 2

Childish questions:

• what is God?
• is there a god?
• if God exists why do bad things happen in this world?
• why is there something rather than nothing?
• how do we know the world exists?

Question 3

What makes a great philosopher?

Answer 3

• Addressing the major philosophical problems, the objects of philosophy
• Addressing problems in an original way, adding something new to the story of philosophy, but in a way that recognized the efforts of past philosophers
• Having a body of work
• Relevance through history
• Meaningful ambiguity

Question 4

How is philosophy scientific?

Answer 4

• It uses the rigor of thought, thinking and presenting thought in a reasoned discourse the Greeks called logos.
• Uses recognized forms of reasoning that seek to convince through their structural strength or validity (have a clear poetic, metaphoric, mythical aspect tho)

Question 5

Are there answers to the questions of philosophy?

Answer 5

• no, but that just means that the objects of philosophy haven’t been exhausted yet