Will Buckingham - The Philosophy Book

INTRODUCTION

Philosophy is not just the preserve of brilliant but eccentric thinkersthat it is popularly supposed to be. It is what everyone does when theyre not busydealing with their everyday business and get a chance simply to wonder what life and theuniverse are all about. We human beings are naturally inquisitive creatures, and canthelp wondering about the world around us and our place in it. Were also equipped with apowerful intellectual capability, which allows us to reason as well as just wonder.Although we may not realize it, whenever we reason, were thinkingphilosophically.

Philosophy is not so much about coming up with the answers to fundamental questions asit is about the process of trying to find these answers, using reasoning rather thanaccepting without question conventional views or traditional authority. The very firstphilosophers, in ancient Greece and China, were thinkers who were not satisfied with theestablished explanations provided by religion and custom, and sought answers which hadrational justifications. And, just as we might share our views with friends andcolleagues, they discussed their ideas with one another, and even set up schools toteach not just the conclusions they had come to, but the way they had come to them. Theyencouraged their students to disagree and criticize ideas as a means of refining themand coming up with new and different ones. A popular misconception is that of thesolitary philosopher arriving at his conclusions in isolation, but this is actuallyseldom the case. New ideas emerge through discussion and the examination, analysis, andcriticism of other peoples ideas.

"Wonder is very much the affection of a philosopher; for there is no otherbeginning of philosophy than this."

Plato

The archetypical philosopher in this respect was Socrates. He didnt leave anywritings, or even any big ideas as the conclusions of his thinking. Indeed, heprided himself on being the wisest of men because he knew he didnt know anything.His legacy lay in the tradition he established of debate and discussion, ofquestioning the assumptions of other people to gain deeper understanding and elicitfundamental truths. The writings of Socrates pupil, Plato, are almost invariably inthe form of dialogues, with Socrates as a major character. Many later philosophersalso adopted the device of dialogues to present their ideas, giving arguments andcounterarguments rather than a simple statement of their reasoning andconclusions.

The philosopher who presents his ideas to the world is liable to be met withcomments beginning Yes, but or What if rather than wholehearted acceptance.In fact, philosophers have fiercely disagreed with one another about almost everyaspect of philosophy. Plato and his pupil Aristotle, for example, held diametricallyopposed views on fundamental philosophical questions, and their different approacheshave divided opinions among philosophers ever since. This has, in turn, provokedmore discussion and prompted yet more fresh ideas.

But how can it be that these philosophical questions are still being discussed anddebated? Why havent thinkers come up with definitive answers? What are thesefundamental questions that philosophers through the ages have wrestledwith?

When the first true philosophers appeared in ancient Greece some 2,500 years ago,it was the world around them that inspired their sense of wonder. They saw the Earthand all the different forms of life inhabiting it; the sun, moon, planets, andstars; and natural phenomena such as the weather, earthquakes, and eclipses. Theysought explanations for all these thingsnot the traditional myths and legends aboutthe gods, but something that would satisfy their curiosity and their intellect. Thefirst question that occupied these early philosophers was What is the universe madeof?, which was soon expanded to become the wider question of What is the nature ofwhatever it is that exists?

This is the branch of philosophy we now call metaphysics. Although much of theoriginal question has since been explained by modern science, related questions ofmetaphysics such as Why is there something rather than nothing? are not so simplyanswered.