Topics Philosophy

Question It seems that philosophers have reduced philosophy to nothing more than theories of knowledge, and are asserting epistemologies that prevent anyone from philosophizing. I understand the power of doubt, and that we cannot describe morality in “indubitable” or absolute terms. But, speculation and wonder are what make philosophy interesting to me. Why won’t you construct philosophy from the basis of wonder? Is it so terrible to view your profession as art instead of science?

Accepted:
October 24, 2005

Comments

According to Plato’s dialogues, the philosopher Socrates was a masterat inducing wonder in the minds of others. Before they met Socrates,most people believed that they had a good grasp of matters of someimportance. After he asked them a few questions, it became clear tothem that matters weren’t as simple as they had supposed and that theyreally didn’t know what they were talking about. Having had theirignorance exposed, they began to wonder what in the world they shouldbelieve. Some might take Socrates to be a skeptic. However, Socratesseemed not to agree. He maintained that the wonder that he induced wasthe first step toward acquiring wisdom.

I know that there area lot of people who love wonder for its own sake, who revel in themysteries of the world, and who would like the world a whole lot lessif it were less mysterious or puzzling. I myself don’t think that thisattitude is particularly philosophical. Aristotle, who pretty muchdefined the discipline of philosophy as it is known in the West,recognized the importance of wonder for philosophy, but unlike you, hebelieved that such wonder was valuable only because it impelled us toacquire understanding of the sort that many associate with science:

“For it is owing to their wonder (to thaumazein)that people both now begin and at first began to philosophize; theywondered originally at the obvious difficulties, then advanced littleby little and stated difficulties about the greater matters, e.g. aboutthe phenomena of the moon and those of the sun and the stars, and aboutthe genesis of the universe. And a person who is puzzled and wondersthinks himself ignorant . . . ; therefore, since they philosophized inorder to escape from ignorance, evidently they were pursuing science inorder to know and not for any other end.” (Aristotle, Metaphysics, 982b10-22).

Itcan easily seem that philosophers are just a bunch of skeptics(and some are), but I think that most of us just think that it isextremely difficult to acquire knowledge of what Aristotle calls “thegreater matters” and that, for this reason, we shouldn’t be too quickto claim to know.