Philosophy

When does a question becomes a philosophical question?

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Brilliant question. I suggest that simply to have a world-view or general outlook on what there is and its meaning or value is to have a philosophy. In this sense, virtually all persons have some kind of philosophy (even if it is highly skeptical). In this very general sense of the word 'philosophy' I suggest that any question about world-views is (again, in general) a philosophical question. Questions about governance can be interpreted as questions about one's philosophy of politics (or political philosophy). More specifically, though, 'philosophy' names the practice of inquiry into world-views (what exists and why?) values, and so on, with an aim to identify which positions are more reasonable or evident (hence the preoccupation of philosophy with matters of justification). Some questions can, I believe, be more philosophical than others. So, a question about (for example) what a person believes about God would be philosophical in a general sense if the question was aimed at doing no more than to determine whether a friend is a theist or atheist or... But a fuller, more central philosophical question would engage and solicit critical inquiry: Does the widespread report of religious experience give us some evidence that there is a sacred reality of some kind? Is it reasonable to believe in an all good God in light of world evils? and so on. These all seem more explicitly philosophical and they invite philosophical dialogue.

If you are still reading, I would like to advance one more thesis. The term 'philosophy'

means 'the love of wisdom.' Although what follows may sound too sentimental to take seriously, I think that a good philosophical question is one that is motivated by and is designed to solicit the love of wisdom. Someone might ask questions that appear to be philosophical (either in the general or more specific sense), but the questions might be asked out of desire to control and manipulate others, and not out of a shared love of wisdom. I believe that a good philosophical question is one that (ideally) welcomes a friendly dialogue, a dialogue in which persons may take sides and there may be adversarial challenges, but the ultimate aim is collaboration rather than competition.

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