how has philosophy helped anything?

IbnAbdulHakim

IbnAbdulHakim

IB Addict
Messages
16,476
Reaction score
2,628
Gender
Male
Religion
Islam
Peace and Assalamu Alaikum

i honestly want to know, how has philosophy helped anything? to me it seems like all they do is try to put people into confusion and doubts..


looking forward to answers
 
Greetings,
IbnAbdulHakim said:
Peace and Assalamu Alaikum

i honestly want to know, how has philosophy helped anything? to me it seems like all they do is try to put people into confusion and doubts..


looking forward to answers
Click to expand...

Well, big question. I only have time for a short answer, unfortunately, but here goes:

Academic philosophy can be said to provide a testing ground for ideas. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Theology, Linguistics, Mathematics and just about any other discipline you could name, were all, at different times, branches of philosophy. Indeed, science used to be known as 'natural philosophy'. Once people take a particular approach in a field of potential knowledge, and they begin to find reliable and repeatable answers for philosophical problems, a new science is born. These new sciences are some of what we can thank philosophy for.

Perhaps the most immediate use of philosophy for a student is as a form of mental training. People who have studied philosophy should be better than most in spotting flawed reasoning, and in solving complex problems that require extensive conceptual thought. They are also less likely than others to be tricked into believing things that are unreasonable.

There are other benefits, too, but those (it seems to me) are the main ones.

Peace
 
Well, I don't think it helps anything, it's not like technology or anything that'd make life easier for people. But it has it applications. Islamic scholars study philosophy, it just makes you think differently, and try to look at things from different angles. I think that's about all the use it has, but that's just my opinion
 
^^What gibson said, plus there is an underlying philosophy in every discipline. IDentifying it helps to seek out any flaws or biases in reasoning as well as potential aims.
 
philosophy

• noun (pl. philosophies) 1 the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. 2 the theories of a particular philosopher. 3 a theory or attitude that guides one’s behaviour. 4 the study of the theoretical basis of a branch of knowledge or experience.

— ORIGIN Greek philosophia ‘love of wisdom’.

Oxford dictionary
 
Isambard said:
^^What gibson said, plus there is an underlying philosophy in every discipline. IDentifying it helps to seek out any flaws or biases in reasoning as well as potential aims.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but the rest of it is just crap, the philosophers make it up as they go along...
 
IbnAbdulHakim said:
i honestly want to know, how has philosophy helped anything? to me it seems like all they do is try to put people into confusion and doubts..
Click to expand...

Simply because if philosophy manages to easily sow 'confusion and doubt' regarding a particular topic then the prevalent beliefs regarding that topic are very likely to be wrong. And hence need to be be philosophized about in the hope less wrong views may be established!
 
Greetings,
Whatsthepoint said:
Yeah, but the rest of it is just crap, the philosophers make it up as they go along...
Click to expand...

That is partly how new ideas are developed. They are then subjected to rigorous scrutiny and tested. The good ones stay and the bad ones fall by the wayside.

If that's 'crap', then why bother to think at all?

Peace
 
czgibson said:
Greetings,


That is partly how new ideas are developed. They are then subjected to rigorous scrutiny and tested. The good ones stay and the bad ones fall by the wayside.

If that's 'crap', then why bother to think at all?

Peace
Click to expand...
I guess every thinking person can be considered a philosopher...
Are you sure the bad ones fall by the wayside?
 
Whatsthepoint said:
I guess every thinking person can be considered a philosopher...
Are you sure the bad ones fall by the wayside?
Click to expand...
To be fair, what is considered 'bad' depends on individual perception, the surroundings, and the prevalent attitudes of the times. When Mary Wollstonecraft espoused her beliefs about women's education in the eighteenth century, she was considered a radical, but nowadays we'd accept her views as common sense...

But, yeah, I agree that there do tend to be more than a few navel-gazers - however, there are loads of good, insightful philosophers whose ideas are practicable.
 

Similar Threads

Back
Top