What Is Philosophy and How Important Is It - Literature review Example

What is Philosophy and how important is it? In your answer explain who is a Philosopher and what he does and whether it is important or not. Lecturers name Your name Student number Unit of study Code and Unit of study name Assignment Number/Name [WORDS 2031] 1. What is Philosophy and how important is it? In your answer explain who is a Philosopher and what he does and whether it is important or not. The definition of philosophy is variable, and can be provided from numerous perspectives. Keller1 defines philosophy as set of beliefs and perspective regarding the universe and life that an individual holds uncritically. This meaning is categorized as the informal sense of having philosophy. In this type, it could be reasoned that when an individual may refer to philosophy as “my philosophy” in reference to an informal personal attitude to the subject being discussed2. Philosophy also consists of a process that reflects on and criticizes people’s deeply held beliefs and conceptions. This meaning can be categorized as the formal sense of actionable philosophy. The concepts of “having” and “actionable” are however not autonomous from each other3. Taking these into perspective, this essay argues that philosophy is essentially a means of inquiry and a theoretical tool that expands the capacity to reflect and to logically deliberate on issues in order to create meanings and values in various fields, such as music. To support this thesis, this essay examines what philosophy is and how important it is. It further explains who a philosopher is and what he does. Describing philosophy Philosophy is also a logical attempt to view the world as a whole. Snauwaert4 points out that it seeks to integrate the conclusions of the varied human experiences and sciences into some form of consistent world view. In this regards, philosophers tend to view life with the overall view of an individual life in its totality rather than the specialised view of a scientist of a business person. Hence, a philosopher is a specialist concerned with philosophy, and whose ideas and actions are subject to by rational thinking, reasoning, and level-headedness. In trying to relate speculative philosophy from critical philosophy, Keller5 sees the objective of philosophy is to assume the results of a range of sciences and to integrate them to the outcomes of ethical and religious experiences of mankind before reflecting on the whole. The rationale for this is that a general conclusion regarding the nature of the universe and the prospects and position of humans is arrived at. A philosopher’s task is to provide a perspective of the whole, worldview and life, and to incorporate the knowledge from the sciences with that of other disciplines to attain a consistent whole. Therefore, philosophy is an attempt to integrate and convey the results of human inquiry (scientific, historical, and religious) into several meaningful interpretations that offer knowledge and insight into the human life6. Philosophy can also be described as a logical analysis of language and the explanation of the meanings of concepts and words7. Definitely, this also consists of another function of philosophy. Indeed, philosophers tend to use analytical methods to seek and clarify meanings of the language and terms. Several scholarly works have also viewed this as the critical task of philosophy, even as others have claimed that this is the sole legitimate function of philosophy. Such strand of literature views philosophy to be a specialised field that serves the sciences and helping to clarify language instead of reflecting on the wide fields of life experiences. This may however restrict what should be regarded as knowledge to statements on the observable facts. Still, some scholars have defined knowledge rather narrowly. While this cohort of scholars tend to reject and to eliminate the non-scientific claims, many of these scholars believe that humans can have knowledge of ethical principles, while such a knowledge is derived from life experiences. Hence, it is reasoned that the objective of philosophy is to eliminate confusion and to explain the meanings and utility of the terms in the day to day life. Philosophy can also be described as a set of recurrent problems that interest individuals and for which the philosophers have often looked for answers. In this regards, philosophers channel their inquiry into the deepest challenges that affect human existence8. Still, Keller9 argues that many of these questions have not been answered completely, hence many problems have remained unresolved. Some of these philosophical questions have attempted to provide the meaning of truth, reasons for existence, and the distinction between wrong and right10. Philosophy is also a set of theoretical activities aimed at discovery of universal and individual truths. Critically, philosophy seeks to inquire about the world, people’s knowledge of the world and actions that should be taken in that respect. Taking this into perspective, Henry11 assumptions that philosophy integrates ethics, epistemology and metaphysics can be said to hold. Metaphysics are made of components of philosophies of science, language and the mind12. Hence, construes the mind, language and the objects of scientific theories as parts of the universe and natural phenomena. Epistemology is concerned with knowledge and the cognitive contact with the world. Lastly, ethics consists of the normative branches of philosophy and its rationality in various fields study, such as in music13. Importance Taking the various descriptions of philosophy into perspective, it is reasoned that a philosopher is a specialist who deals with philosophy. It also refers to an individual whose ideas and actions are prompted by rational thinking, reason, and level-headedness. But how important is philosophy to a philosopher. It is argued that philosophy helps philosophers to create meanings and values. Indeed, according to some scholars have identified the three areas ethics, epistemology and metaphysics all point at the idea that metaphysics is concerned with creating meaning and values. In return, meaning and value are critical to human existence in the society14. As Bauer15 points out, the contemporary society commands mutual understanding and respect, in spite of whether beliefs in certain actions and thoughts are acceptably shared. Hence, philosophy comprises a means of inquiry and a theoretical tool that expands the capacity to reflect and to logical deliberate on how to create meanings and values. Taking the central thesis into perspective, it is reasoned that philosophy presents a framework for critical understanding of music and the generative ideas that can be derived from music, means of analysis and reflection, and the disciplines for cultivating the capability to reflect and to rationally deliberate16. Some scholars suggest that the importance of philosophy can be analysed within four broad categories: epistemology, metaphysics, logical and value theory17. Figure 1: Importance of philosophy categories Logic Logic refers to a systematic study of the set of rules of proper use of such supporting reasons. Philosophers make use of such rules to separate valid and invalid arguments. Scholars such as Henry18 have supported the logic that since logic exists in all manner of disciplines, including music, philosophy enhances the capacity to discover the logic in these disciplines and to understand the rational implications of certain assumptions. A philosopher seeks to understand the nature of proper thinking and to identify valid reasoning. In this regards, philosophy helps individuals to understand logic, argumentation and reason. Since arguments are typical in everyday conversations, philosophers may use philosophy to support their opinions, refuse nonsense and to disagree with others. The essence of this is that philosophy can help philosophers to tell between valid and invalid arguments. Philosophy is an ideal medium that philosophies use for passing and interpreting human expectations. It also presents the historical foundation, the contextual relevance, and the contemporary reality to the outcomes and expectations in thought and triggering meaningful methods. Additionally, philosophy offer guidance to an understanding of the moral judgment, reasonable perspective, and logical discourse anchored in experience and knowledge19. Metaphysics Metaphysics in concerned with the universal principles or beliefs about the nature of things. It offers the philosopher a broad view of human existence. Philosopher helps a philosopher to understand the nature of problems relating to the mind, meanings construed to religion, God’s existence, belief in death and the nature of the cultures and the world. Henry20 contends that philosopher of today have failed to agree on whether metaphysics and worldview is possible. However, since philosophy places emphasis on sense of perception and exploration of scientific knowledge, such as what is the meaning of light? (Figure 2). Figure 2: Exploring metaphysical meaning Philosophers are able to understand the likelihood of metaphysical knowledge and the meanings presented by metaphysical question. Indeed, it had led modern-day philosophers to believe that the metaphysical problems, such as religion and value are closely linked to an individual’s conception of the basic nature of the universe21. Epistemology Epistemology is concerned with exploring the validity, nature and source of knowledge. In this regards, philosophers are able to understand what human mind has the capacity to know and the sources where humans derive their knowledge. Therefore, philosophy enables a philosopher to locate where genuine knowledge can be derived, or where genuine knowledge has been derived. It also enables them to understand the nature of knowledge, and whether a real world exists outside the human mind22. Lastly, it enables philosophers to understand the validity of knowledge by testing the truth. Indeed, philosophers who have succeeded in answering these questions can be categorised under two schools of thoughts: empiricism and rationalism. The rationalists contend that human can only use reason to gain an insight into the fundamental principles of the universe. On the other hand, the empiricists promote the idea that knowledge originates from experiences and that it is restricted to what humans experience. Value Theory Value theory is concerned with values and hence consists of ethics, political and aesthetics philosophy. In terms of ethics, it enables a philosopher to explore the question of morality and to determine what is right of wrong regarding human relations23. Using the perspective of ethics, philosophers are able to identify varied human conducts, as well as their desires and motives. They are also able to examine the conduct of people, cultures and personal morality. In normative ethics, philosophers are able to determine the acceptable judgement on what should be considered as value of choice. When it comes to aesthetics, the philosophers explore the notion of beauty and art. Philosophy enables them to question beauty and art, which are viewed to be a component of the sphere of changes since many philosophical problems that relate to aesthetics relate to critical judgements. Additionally, there may be varied opinions as to what should be termed as beautiful or what should define beauty24. For instance, people’s notions of beauty are typically different because of the different degrees of preparation in identifying beauty rather than the nature of beauty. Hence, if beauty cannot be perceived in objects that others see as beautiful, philosophers are forced to seek wisdom in withholding judgement until they make a competent analysis of the aesthetic experiences25. On the other hand, political and social philosophy seeks to investigate and value judgements concerning the states, the society and how people relate to social and political situations26. Hence, philosophy provides philosophers with the capacity to explore the questions on why people should live in a society, the social ideals of rights, liberty, responsibility, desirability, and justice27. Conclusion Philosophy is essentially a means of inquiry and a theoretical tool that expands the capacity to reflect and to logically deliberate on issues in order to create meanings and values in various fields, such as music. Therefore, philosophy is an attempt to integrate and convey the results of human inquiry (scientific, historical, music, and religious) into several meaningful interpretations that offer knowledge and insight into the human life Philosophy is also a logical attempt to view the world as a whole. It is as a set of recurrent problems that interest individuals and for which the philosophers have often looked for answers. Additionally, it is a set of theoretical activities aimed at discovery of universal and individual truths. Therefore, philosophy is an ideal medium that philosophers use for passing and interpreting human expectations. It also presents the historical foundation, the contextual relevance, and the contemporary reality to the outcomes and expectations in thought and triggering meaningful methods. Additionally, philosophy offer guidance to an understanding of the moral judgment, reasonable perspective, and logical discourse anchored in experience and knowledge. Ultimately, a philosopher’s task is to provide a perspective of the whole, worldview and life, and to incorporate the knowledge from the sciences with that of other disciplines to attain a consistent whole. Reference List Bauer, A 2010, "Philosophy Recomposed: Stanley Cavell and the Critique of New Music," Journal of Music Theory vol 54 no 1, pp.75-90 Dillon, S 2012, Music, meaning and transformation, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge Henry, C 2013, "The Philosophy of Meaning and Value," ARPN Journal of Science and Technology vol 3 no 6, pp.593-597 Keller, P 2006, "What is Philosophy?" Symposium de la Société suisse de philosophie, Neuchâtel, May 19, 2006 Larmore, C 2012, "What Is Political Philosophy?" Journal of Moral Philosophy Jurnal of Moral Philosophy, vol 1 no 1, pp.1-31 Philosophy-Religion 2012, What is Philosophy, viewed 20 Jan 2015, Pring, R 2012, "Importance of Philosophy in the Conduct of Educational Research," Journal of International and Comparative Education, 2012, Vol 1, Iss 1, pp.23-30 Snauwaert, D 2012, "The Importance of Philosophy for Education in a Democratic Society," Journal of Peace Education and Social Justice vol 6 no 2, pp.73-84 Read More