0
   

Philsophy as the art of thinking

 
 
Reply Mon 14 May, 2012 08:32 am
Here is an essay and I would be greatly thankful if you read it and give me your opinion.
This is quite a new idea of mine and I didn't had more time to think about it. Also, this is the first time i post something of this kind here so please be gentle.

In the general classification of academic fields, that are studied and lectured, all of those fields are divided in two. The first one is science and the other one is art. Fields like literature, psychology, chemistry, music etc. are all divided in either art or science. Now, the problem is where does philosophy belong. What of those two is philosophy? That's probably the biggest question in philosophy ovreall, and is thought about throught history. Some people thought about philosophy as a type of science, some as a tool of thinking.
Now, all this vast majority of definitions and explanations about philosophy, you actually get a choice. And this is where it all starts. The ability of choosing. Now, I thought about philosophy and its origins a lot. I thought about where to put philosophy. And in all this thinking, I stumbled upon an idea that seemed to be completely radical and, in a way, stupid. I decided to classify philosophy as a type of art. And the main reason of that decision is, the previously said, ability to choose. That's the biggest difference between art and science. For example, as you can choose what music piece you like more, or what book you like more, you can also decide what philosophy school or which philosopher you decide to follow. You actually get a choice. That's the beauty of art. That's the beauty of philosophy. Now, on the contrary, the reason that philosophy can't possibly be classified as science is the lack of empirical evidence. Because, science is formed and filled with evidence, with theories that are proven. Philosophy completely lacks any kind of empirical evidece and is based on thoughts that aren't proven. Although the property of science is explaining the world we live in, which philosophy actually does too, the explaining in philosophy is done completely by thought and not experiment. Science sticks to one answer for one question. There's no unnecessery theories or speculations. Even if there is, which is proven by theoretical physics, all of the theories that aren't proven are deleted and forgotten forever. Let's try and give an example here. For instance, imagine that you have one question and four possible answers (like in the show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire). Now, in the aspect of science you would need to choose only one answer that is 100% right, and other three would be completely wrong. On the other hand, in the aspect of art, you can choose all four answers, because all four of them are potentially right. It depends on you which one is correct. You have the ability to choose. Or some other example. If you ask someone how many planets are there in our Solar system the answer must be 8. There is no choice here.There aren't people who think different about that question. The answer is proven to be 8. And philosophy doesn't do that. In the questions that philosophy asks, you choose which one you believe. Whether you want to be a nihilist, an existentialist, or a marxist it's only you who is right. That's why, to me, philosophy is an art.
The human understanding is the canvas and the philosopher's intellect is his brush with which he paints beautiful pieces of art. The bigger the canvas is, the more beautiful and complex the work is too.
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Discussion • Score: 0 • Views: 1,493 • Replies: 1
No top replies

 
djjd62
 
  1  
Reply Mon 14 May, 2012 08:36 am
@TheChosenPessimist,
TheChosenPessimist wrote:
For instance, imagine that you have one question and four possible answers (like in the show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire).


i'd like to phone a friend
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

 
  1. Forums
  2. » Philsophy as the art of thinking
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 04/26/2024 at 09:36:20