Why Philosophy?

[Justin]

After reading all the comments, one thing that I'd like to add is that this Philosophy Forum is much more than a place to argue about philosophical issues. Whether we're talking about metaphysics or religion it doesn't matter because several other things are taking place. Here is a quick list:

• Intellectual Exchange - This forum is designed to promote intellectual exchange of ideas facts. This is healthy for the mind and the growth of the inner-self.
• Learning - When active on a forum such as this one, we are in the process of learning and getting new ideas and refining some of our old ones. We're learning and feeding that desire to learn.
• Making Friends - Socially, the forum is about making friends and sharing ideas amongst friends. A member will develop lifelong contacts and relationships through regular forum usage.
• Being a Member of a Community - No matter the size, it's always nice to be a member of a community and share the benefits of membership.
• Business Contacts - No matter what business you are in, being a regular member in a forum will allow members to establish business relationships that create win win scenarios. Business is all about relationships.
• Getting Questions Answered - Forums provide a place to get questions answered. If you have a specific question about what college to attend or if the time is right to get married?... Doesn't matter, you ask and someone and often times many people will respond.
• Online Reputation - A regular user in the forums, you are building an online reputation with not only the users but the people who read the forums without membership. Your reputation will follow you wherever you go.
• Contributing to Others - What you say in the forum is contributing your thoughts and ideas into the open Internet and can directly contribute to others.
• Information Resource - The Philosophy Forum is becoming and information resource and many of the threads are very informational from History to science.
• Influencing Evolution - As a member here at PhilosophyForum.com you can actually influence the evolution of the forum and it grows as you grow. It can nice to be a part of something that grows with your influence.
• Improves Typing Skills - There is no better way to improve your typing skills aside from writing an entire book. Active forum members literally improve their typing skills and muscle memory. The ability to type is of great benefit today and tomorrow in technology and could help with getting the right job. Also improves formatting skills for effective writing.

There are many benefits to being an active member in a forum, the big question is, which type of forum and how many. There are forums for everything you can imagine and if you are online, you'll eventually become a member of many of them. You'll find great use from many of them... but you'll only call one or maybe two, 'Home'.

A 'Home' forum is where you are at daily to read posts, respond, check the latest happenings and usually a forum where the conversation is the most comfortable. The discussions in the Philosophy Forum tend to be civil and educational on almost any topic you can imagine so it's a place we want people to be able to call home.

So there we have it. Anyone have any benefits of forum usage to add to this?

[Didymos Thomas]

So there we have it. Anyone have any benefits of forum usage to add to this?

Another chance to practice typing?

[as0l0]

another benefit is gaining that whole "these aren't the droids your looking for" skill.

[midas77]

I gave two kinds of philosophy in my reply to Justin. Speculative Philosophy and practical philosophy. Speculative philosophy is useless, by the very definition because it is an end in itself. Moral Philosophy is useful, what i'm saying is, not all people need to study metaphysics as we study it in formal philosophy, but one can never escape dealing with moral philosophy. It is what makes us human.

[Aristoddler]

My mother also has the same view on philosophy. She sees it as a fruitless endeavour that has no real place in the world.
I had a lengthy discussion with her last week, and explained to her that philosophy is a search for knowledge and that the forum here is a method of obtaining that.
She relaxed a bit after that, but I still don`t expect to see her posting in thiss lifetime.

[midas77]

I have the same experience Aristoddler. There was a story about Thales about this. "Thales fell on a well while he was studying the stars. A thracian girl show her and laugh saying that Thales was so busy studying the sky that he forgot to see the ground." Thales dared the girl that what he was doing is not that useless. By studying the stars Thales know that there will be surplus of Olives next harvest, so he dicided to lease all available Olive presses. Turns out that he was right, and he reap a nice profit.

I like philosophy even though its of no use as a trade, because it is worthy in itself. It is an end in itself. And in the end, it is really that which matters, but I need other form sof studies also, but as a lover of wisdom, I try to leave that to other professionals. They have their place too.

[Didymos Thomas]

I've never been able to see philosophy as an end in itself. Instead, I've imagined that philosophy should be that which informs all of our means and all of our ends. Isn't that the whole idea of wisdom?

[midas77]

Didy, in a way you're right. The end itself is wisdom, and philosophy is by the meaning of the term itself is the love or the quest for wisdom. However philosophy as a science, remains to be speculative and not practical in most part. Philosophy is an end in itself is considered to be paramount in Aristotlean Philosophy.

[Khethil]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

I've never been able to see philosophy as an end in itself. Instead, I've imagined that philosophy should be that which informs all of our means and all of our ends. Isn't that the whole idea of wisdom?

I must emphasize the importance of this statement. I believe it to be very important; even the Bread and Butter of the "why" in philosophy.

I believe that many of us don't see philosophical inquiry as practically worthwhile because there is often a failure to understand its effects on the mind, perspective, methods of thought and how those improvements help us in our everyday life.

It is grossly oversimplistic to say there's no practical benefit. Even the most obscure, lofty metaphysical discussions - when earnestly debated - have real and practical benefits to our interactions, perspective and thought processes, and ultimately, end up affecting each and every action we take.

[Didymos Thomas]

Didy, in a way you're right. The end itself is wisdom, and philosophy is by the meaning of the term itself is the love or the quest for wisdom. However philosophy as a science, remains to be speculative and not practical in most part. Philosophy is an end in itself is considered to be paramount in Aristotlean Philosophy.

But wisdom is not a science, and loving wisdom, or anything else, certainly is no science.

I agree that much of philosophy is speculative and of no practical value - metaphysics seems to depend on this sort of literature. Of course, I also consider the far flung metaphysics to be unwise - brilliant men striving to organize reality. In the process, they destroy reality; they pin themselves in to a certain language.