The Persistent Problems Of Philosophy

Author : Roy Wood Sellars
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781494923662
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (236 download)

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Download or read book The Essentials of Philosophy written by Roy Wood Sellars and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An excerpt from the beginning of the CHAP. I - WHAT PHILOSOPHY IS: A Preliminary Definition. - Speaking in general terms, we may say that philosophy is a persistent attempt to understand the world in which we live and of which we are a part. This preliminary definition stresses the broadness of aim characteristic of philosophy. It is an effort of the intellect of man to answer fundamental problems and gain a comprehensive view of the universe. The conception of the exact nature of philosophy has varied from period to period as man's view of the world and of his place in it has changed. Hence the history of philosophy has usually been the best index of those gradual alterations in the dominant interpretation of man and reality in which science and religion find their focus. Plato believed that a supersensible realm of ideas existed apart from the world of perceptual appearance, and his philosophy was at once a cause and an effect of this outlook. It explained what reality was and how the human mind obtained valid glimpses of it. During the Middle Ages, man was prone to consider earthly things the creation of a supernatural deity, and his philosophy was simply the earnest search for a systematic and consistent answer to such riddles as forced themselves upon his attention. . In the eighteenth century, men were convinced that there was an external physical world and that their knowledge of it was contingent upon the sensations produced in their minds by the stimulation of their sense-organs. Certain general problems immediately resulted, and philosophy was the persistent reflection upon these general problems. Thus philosophy has always been rejection upon basic problems such as the nature of reality, the distinction between the apparent and the real, the conditions of human knowledge. It has always been the conviction of the philosopher that these questions are unavoidable and that they can be solved only by intensive reflection. A definite part of our task in the present introduction will be to explain the specific nature and inevitableness of these problems with which the philosophers of all ages have busied themselves. Only in proportion as a concrete understanding of philosophical problems grows upon the student will he really understand what the veritable function of philosophy is. The Attitude of the Philosopher. - The attitude and ideals of the philosopher are essentially the same as those of the scientist. Both have the same mental curiosity and keen desire for valid knowledge, the same willingness to bend theories into line with experience, the same faith in methodical analysis and persistent investigation and reflection. Were we defining philosophy by reference to the trained mental attitude and intellectual habits demanded, we should identify it with science. In this sense it is a science. Probably the philosopher ought to emphasize this aspect of his subject in this day in which so many people know something of the spirit of science. The philosopher at his best is inspired with the same disinterested zeal to solve intellectual problems as is the specialist in some branch of theoretical science. In this age of early instruction in the special sciences, the student who finally comes to philosophy with mixed feelings of hope and doubt has already some acquaintance with the lives of such men as Newton, Galileo and Darwin. He knows and admires in them their whole-hearted endeavors to solve problems in the domain of nature. It is this spirit, as much as what they have accomplished in the solution of specific problems, which attracts the generous minded. We can, therefore, best convey to the beginner a true idea of the philosopher by saying that he has the outlook of the scientist. Both concern themselves with knowledge and both seek it openly and in disregard of consequences. The philosopher is not a mystic nor the champion of some esoteric cult; he is a scientist.