Topics Philosophy

Question Do all philosophical problems reduce to the metaphysical question of "why"?

Accepted:
August 29, 2013

Comments

Not as far as I can see. Indeed, I highly doubt that we've discovered all of the philosophical problems there are, and I'd be very surprised if the problems we have discovered all reduced in that way. What makes you suspect that they might?

Consider, for example, the Paradox of the Heap: If we remove grains, one at a time, from a billion-grain heap of sand, when precisely does the heap cease to exist? The question has implications for much more serious matters than heaps of sand, and the answer is extremely controversial. I can't see how this paradox "reduce[s] to the metaphysical question of 'why?'." For starters, why what?

Question Do all philosophical problems reduce to the metaphysical question of "why"? Accepted:August 29, 2013

Question Do all philosophical problems reduce to the metaphysical question of "why"?

Accepted:
August 29, 2013