Philosophy as thing in itself

[Fido]

What is philosophy considered apart from all other human endeavors?

Should there be such a thing as formal philosophy?

I'll lay my cards on the table: Formal philosophy is the death of philosophy, and has been the near death of many, and the social and biological death of many, and has not much advanced the cause of love, or knowledge. Now; I am a back door philosopher, which is not to say the philosopher of back doors. It is to say, that I have looked at all disciplines, all of which might stand as branches of philosophy, until finally I began to read philosophy. There is a lot of literature on the subject that has expanded the girth of my imagination, and that I would recommend. But, I would not ever choose to become formal in approach when so little fruit has actually fallen from that tree. I look at some one like Spinoza, who actually had to support his philosophy, and science, with labor and skill, as being what all philosophers should be. If they write, their writing should sell. Philosophy is like that definition of truth as our greatest commodity, and it should be economized. The issue as I see it is this: To define philosophy we must use all of the products of philosophy, and say: here is what it has done. This is how this thought, or that, became part of government, or how it affected the social order.

I would say that philosophy began the moment people left off thinking long enough to think about how they were thinking. Our conceptions are our thoughts. We can never fully separate what we think from how we think. And above all else, the why we think: survival, life, the meaning of meanings, all the existential questions which are at the heart and soul of all human industry, and art. Is it possible to give equal measure at the same moment in time to what and why and how we do what humans do? If you have not got the time for some finely calibrated scaling of intangible, you have not got the heart and soul of a philosopher, formal, or otherwise. Philosophy is something we all take out of our lives. When we could be interacting, weeding the garden, picking the fruit; instead we are pounding knowledge to extract some meaning, and we will never get these moments back no matter how long we live. What is the pay off? I mean, it is easy to argue that philosophy should result in a more virtuous, happy, and long lived society; But has it? And what of ourselves? Shall we become sterile, reclusive, cranks. No less than growing a garden, or building a house, there should be some thrill, pleasure and passion in it. Philosophy is the creme of life. The greatest luxury is time, and the second is knowledge disconnected from necessity. In love and in knowledge we have the greatest of necessities and the greatest of luxuries, and if they can be considered articles of commerce and economy, then they should be worth something to others. But it is nice to be able to have it without having to pay for it. Or Shall I say, to not have to do it, in a formal sense, for money. Thanks.