Why is Philosophy Important?
The question that is being asked is essentially: Why is Philosophy important? In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is saying that philosophy is a necessary component in obtaining wisdom and knowledge. He argues that if it weren’t for philosophy, he would not question or disagree with one’s thinking, he would just go with the flow and assume that whatever he sees, hears, or reads is correct. He says, “âÂ?¦ as long as I lead an unexamined life, I’m very unlikely to catch my errors and I’m very likely to go on fooling myself.”
A big part of doing philosophy is being able to examine and analyze one’s thinking and critique their arguments giving logical examples to support your position on the issue. In Plato’s Apology, Socrates argues that without philosophy, he might be fooled into believing that anything a person says may be true without him being the least bit skeptical about
it. He states, “The process of questioning and critically thinking may help me become more wise.” He is basically saying that without philosophy, his life would be very dull and boring, made up only of what is black and white, right or wrong, instead of what is in between in the gray area. He says, “Questions about my thinking are not foolproof, but if I or someone else can raise issues about my thinking, if I can dig down for the reasons or arguments underlying my thinking, if I can look
clearly at objections, if I can follow the good arguments where ever they lead, then my thinking may be improved and I may reduce the degree to which I fool myself.”
I agree with Socrates on the fact that philosophy is important. I think that people should always question thinks and not be so quick to believe everything people tell them. It also makes it easier to fool ones self if he/she does not take the time to stop and think logically about everything from different points of view. For example, if someone was watching an action movie where people were flying through the air without an airplane, parachute, or anything like that, they would actually think
that it was real and that something like that could actually happen if they did not think logically about it.
Philosophy is a way of not only criticizing someone’s thinking, but it’s also a way of learning how to think for yourself instead of relying on others to explain things to you. By thinking critically, you are able to interpret things in your own way so that they make sense to you. Socrates says, “It is possible for me to think I know when I do not.” It is true when Freud says, “We often believe not on the basis of argument but on the basis of desire.” We often believe what we want to believe, whether it is true or false, right or wrong. This is often because were fear what we do not understand. For example, people are so quick to believe that a person who says that they saw a UFO is insane, but when someone says that they saw a boogie man in their closet, it doesn’t sound so crazy.
I think that philosophy is important because it does help you gain wisdom and knowledge of other subjects and help you to understand what is being said. Philosophy is a way to build an understanding of everything and to get you to think critically about things that you had never really thought about before. For example, philosophy makes you think about the meaning of life. Before taking this class, I had never really thought about the meaning of life or why I think that I go on living or why I’m here in the first place. I was raised a Christian and as a Christian I was raised to believe that God created Adam and Eve and so on, etc, so I never really thought to question whether or not this was true. I mean, sure I’ve wondered why there were so many different beliefs or why, if this was true, there were people who did not believe it at all, but I never took the time to really analyze the different bibles or stories and see which one overlap or which ones differ. I think that philosophy gives people a reason to question one’s beliefs or way of thinking without necessarily being opposed to it or offending others by not thinking the same as they do. For example, Tolstoy believe that the meaning of life is faith, simplicity, and work, while Satre and Camus believe that Faith is impossible and that the lives we live and the choices we make will make up the meaning of life. The nihilist position is that there is no meaning of life, while Zen believes that living is the meaning of life. So, you
see, everyone has their own opinions, or ways of thinking and philosophy gives us the chance to explore our minds and express our thoughts freely.
Even though I agree that philosophy is a good thing, there are those who disagree. Some may say that you should not question authority or your parents are always right, but that is not true. There are times when older people don’t have a clue as to what is going on and it is up to the younger people to explain it to them. I have been in situations where people would say that if you don’t believe in Jesus, then you’re going to Hell. Well, like I said earlier, everyone has their own beliefs and to some people, heaven and hell might not even exist, so they would not even care if people told them that they would go to hell for not believing in Jesus.
Philosophy can help a person to become wiser and more knowledgeable; however there are times when people may become under the impression that they are wiser than everyone else. Well, like Socrates said, “It is possible for me to think I know when I do not.” Some people think highly of themselves to the point of conceitedness and I think that with
philosophy, one can argue logically and give constructive criticism to others without making them feel bad. Often times people think that it is best to just go with the flow and not think for themselves because they don’t want to become and outsider, but being unique or different is a good thing and everyone should have their own opinions about certain issues. Life would be so dull and boring if everyone was the same and I am personally thankful for philosophy.
