What is
Philosophy? by Simon Blackburn
According to Simon Blackburn, philosophy can be different
things depending on how its used, and it can be used many
different ways. When used as a method, philosophy studies the same
world as science, but uses rational arguments as proof rather than
scientific observations. Although, when thought of as a subject
matter rather than a method,
philosophybecomes a specific area of study, trying to answer
questions that have not yet been answered and concern humanity
using the three foundational philosophical questions: what exists,
what do we know, and what should we do. These are the basic
questions philosophers use to prove their arguments. The third way
to use philosophy, according to Blackburn, is
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He first
disproves of the thought that philosophy studies only controversies
to which the answer is impossible to know, and says that it will
only matter, and have an effect on those who study philosophy for
the purpose of gaining knowledge to connect the sciences for an
understanding of the universe. Russell then compares a life without
philosophy and a life with philosophy, the difference being that a
life without philosophy is confined to only thinking of our world,
while one who lives a philosophical life is free to think of the
outer world, as well as beyond. He concludes by saying philosophy
is not studies for the sake of answers, but for the sake of the
questions themselves, in order to expand our knowledge of
possibilities and intellectual imagination, in addition to
understanding the capabilities and greatness of the
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In his work, he
addressed what philosophy is in a way that made it applicable to
many subjects and ways of thinking. I found it interesting all the
ways philosophy could be applied, as a subject matter, method, or
attitude, depending on how and what you would like to apply it to.
I liked how Blackburn broke down the way of thinking
philosophically into three basic questions that can be asked about
any subject; What exists, what do we know, and what should be done.
By using these questions one can think of the basic truths of the
subject, which is described in the following quote. To be
philosophical is to continue to question the assumptions behind
every claim until we come to our most basic beliefs about reality,
and then to critically examine those beliefs. By asking the three
basic questions about a subject, one will eventually break it down
into the simplest parts, question that, and build back up into more
and more complex questions, which is what is meant by
philosophical
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