Topics Philosophy

Question How do you know that philosophers have the answer?

Accepted:
October 15, 2005

Comments

How do you even know they have the question? But if what you are asking is how philosophers know that an answer they propose is in fact the right answer, then the question is big and complicated. Here is a short partial answer. Philosophers are good at finding contradictions between different things we are inclined to believe, and one way they test their answers is seeing whether they can be integrated into a consistent system. Consistency is no guarantee of truth, but inconsistency is a guarantee of falsehood.

I agree, and let me just add my responses to a related question.

I don't think many philosophers would claim to have the answer to very many questions. A philosopher doesn't have to reflect very long on the history of the subject to convince h'erself that a healthy does of modesty would probaby be a good idea. Any philosopher who does claim to have the answer ought therefore to be met with great skepticism. That's not to say philosophers don't have views. They do. But the reasons offered for the view matter more than the view itself does.

That's not to say philosophers wouldn't like to have answers. But the questions with which philosophers deal are very, very hard, and, well, after a while you get used to the idea that you're just not going to get to know the answer. That doesn't mean one has to remain wholly ignorant. A lot of the time, what philosophy can offer is a better understanding of a question, a better sense of what the possible answers look like, and some warnings about known dead ends. With all of that in one's mental toolbox, further progress on the question may then be possible, which is to say one may develop a better understanding of the question or a better sense of what the viable options are. That's progress.

Question How do you know that philosophers have the answer? Accepted:October 15, 2005

Question How do you know that philosophers have the answer?

Accepted:
October 15, 2005