Saturday, November 10, 2012

Easy Introduction to Philosophy

By Thomas Swanson


The concept of a 'philosophy' carries a variety of diverse meanings, and in the following intro to philosophy post I'll briefly lay these out there to be able to give you a solid grasp of what exactly philosophy is, the way anyone may become conscious of it, and how to start to cultivate your personal skill of thinking philosophically.

Have you been aware that everybody is a philosopher-even you? The only question for you is if you're a really good one or a bad one! The majority don't realize they have a philosophy. Philosophy is among one of those handful of areas where we will be hugely affected by it without having truly recognizing it. It is very similar to culture in that it is similar to the environment all of us breathe-we are taking it in constantly while not thinking about it.

The philosophy of the culture mixes with our unique ideas, in the end producing our own individual philosophies. This is where philosophy remains for many individuals, however individuals who desire to make certain their personal philosophy is right and beneficial for their life want to examine their own philosophy. Socrates, one of the more popular as well as original philosophers notoriously claimed "The unexamined life is not worth living." He advocates that we examine and also think about our own views about the deepest issues of existence so that we can be much more positive that we're living your life properly.

Unexpectedly the inspiration and "spirit" of philosophy is best observed in a kind of human being we might not really be expecting: children! Why a child? Aristotle, another well known philosopher, asserted "philosophy begins in wonder." A young child is a natural wonderer. A child ask question after question: why? why? why? They don't inquire this specific question because they want to learn how to do something, but because they only desire to know, to understand. Why's the sky blue? Exactly why can planes fly? Why do dogs bark? They're seeking for the reasons or causes of these matters. And this is precisely what philosophy is!

Philosophy derives from a pair of Greek phrases: philos, which means love, as well as sophia, meaning wisdom. Philosophy is a love for wisdom. However what exactly is wisdom? The Greek understanding of wisdom simply suggests "the understanding of causes or reasons." So to be a philosopher is just to love understanding the causes or reasons behind things. This is the 1st and most significant purpose of the phrase 'philosophy.'

'Philosophy' carries a subsequent significance, which is the more prevalent use of the term, which is simply the solutions that individuals have found as they ask "why?" concerning all sorts of things and seek for the causes and reasons for all of them. These could possibly be massive, fundamental items like: What is the root cause of happiness? Of the universe? Of life? Of love? However it also could be more unique like: What are the causes or reasons behind excellent music? Excellent artwork? Great food? Etc. You could produce a philosophy of anything by inquiring many forms of the question "why" about what you are curious about, and searching for their essential features and causes.

One of the better and most entertaining methods to develop your skill to think philosophically and understand the philosophies that have an impact on your current culture as well as your personal viewpoints would be to examine alongside the best philosophers through history as they show us ways to ask why and as they arrive to their own answers to essential questions.




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