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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.[1][2] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. Areas of inquiry
Philosophy is divided into many sub-fields. These include epistemology, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics
How in the world did this forum here become plagued with "should we have or not have children" and its variations threads? How "philosophical" is this? And they keep coming and coming and coming.
The topic of philosophy and its influence on children would be a fascinating field of discussion, I should think. They seem born with the kind of questions tailormade for philosophical inquiry - "why do some stars twinkle and others don't?" "why are some people mean?" "why should I share my toys?" "who am I?" "of course, I can talk to my cat. why can't you?"
Of course, parents and teachers may have a devil of a time trying to answer (or argue with) a child who masters the fundamentals of inquiry, discussion. and reason. Maybe that is why it is not part of school curriculum.
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.[1][2] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. Areas of inquiry
Philosophy is divided into many sub-fields. These include epistemology, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics
How in the world did this forum here become plagued with "should we have or not have children" and its variations threads? How "philosophical" is this? And they keep coming and coming and coming.
Yeah, this forum is generally lacking. Yourself not exempted. However, philosophy is essentially subsumed by the sciences these days. Metaphysics and ethics are dead. Aesthetics remains a subjective discipline, which is to say dead. [Deductive/inductive both] Logic is borderline-commonsensical in this society. Epistemology is subject to precise neuroscientific definition--an open question to some extent, but we can presumably imagine the forces that determine our own beliefs. Presumably. Probably not in this thread, were I to guess the comments that will follow this one.
In practical terms, Philosophy (as implied by this forum title) is the gathering of a lot of related pieces of information and distilling them down to a single principle that would be valid to describe all of them. Somewhat like defining words, to include all members of the class.
An example would be defining solid, liquid and gas. Solid retains its size and shape, liquid retains its size but assumes the shape of the container, gas reforms in shape and shape to fill the whole container.
Philosophy is the process of converting a complex world into simple compartments.
And that ^^^^ somehow has to do with "why men ware long fingernails" and yet 2 more threads on "children".
Philosophy is a fundamental science, one and only, that can give answers to things, no other science can. Why would you mix in such trivia? Don't we have better suited sub forums here, like Psychology, or Fashion and Beauty? Or a poster simply picks a booger, stares at it, and says - wow, what a philosophical thing to post in Philosophy forum?
Truly, I can give you answer to any of those questions.
Philosophical questions can be grouped into two categories: questions about the world (why is there something instead of nothing, is there an intelligence supervising the universe, is a universal concept of justice possible) and questions about ourselves.
Of the latter, in my view, the chief question is: is the human condition something to be celebrated and enjoyed, grudgingly tolerated, or eliminated? From this follow the questions about having children. These are not about children themselves, or about personal lifestyle decisions. They are about whether humans, as a species, ought to voluntarily stop its continuation, because of insights that we've gleaned about ourselves.
To some people, this whole question is patently silly, because humans (just as other animals) will keep reproducing by evolved instinct. Others would say that we make conscious and rational decisions to reproduce, because in our estimation, the consequences of reproduction are on the whole positive. Still others take precisely the opposite view.
How are these not philosophical questions? How are they not important?
Philosophical questions can be grouped into two categories: questions about the world (why is there something instead of nothing, is there an intelligence supervising the universe, is a universal concept of justice possible) and questions about ourselves.
Of the latter, in my view, the chief question is: is the human condition something to be celebrated and enjoyed, grudgingly tolerated, or eliminated? From this follow the questions about having children. These are not about children themselves, or about personal lifestyle decisions. They are about whether humans, as a species, ought to voluntarily stop its continuation, because of insights that we've gleaned about ourselves.
To some people, this whole question is patently silly, because humans (just as other animals) will keep reproducing by evolved instinct. Others would say that we make conscious and rational decisions to reproduce, because in our estimation, the consequences of reproduction are on the whole positive. Still others take precisely the opposite view.
How are these not philosophical questions? How are they not important?
They are not offered as intelligent questions, but as irrational judgments by troubled people who make it plain that they wish for the end of our species based wholly on their worldview. It reminds me of terrorist thinking- I'm right, my way, my god, my interpretation should be adhered to. That sounds more like fascism or mental illness, not philosophy.
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