The use of philosophy

“I always find it strange when someone asks me what philosophy does, and what it’s for. I mean, all the problems of philosophy are self-explanatory and impose themselves as a problem.” — My friend Vitor Matias, in a Facebook post in March

When next someone asks you for the use of philosophy, I think it might be useful to give him this list of questions that William James gives in lieu of a definition of ‘metaphysics’:

What are ‘thoughts,’ and what are ‘things’? and how are they connected? —— What do we mean when we say ‘truth’? —— Is there a common stuff out of which all facts are made? —— How comes there to be a world at all? and, Might it as well not have been? —— Which is the most real kind of reality? —— What binds all things into one universe? —— Is unity or diversity more fundamental? —— Have all things one origin? or many? —— Is everything predestined, or are some things (our wills for example) free? —— Is the world infinite or finite in amount? —— Are its parts continuous, or are there vacua? —— What is God? – or the gods? —— How are mind and body joined? Do they act on each other? —— How does anything act on anything else? —— How can one thing change or grow out of another thing? —— Are space and time beings? – or what? —— In knowledge, how does the object get into the mind? — or the mind get at the object? —— We know by means of universal notions. Are these also real? Or are only particular things real? —— What is meant by a ‘thing’? —— ‘Principles of reason,’ – are they inborn or derived? —— Are ‘beauty’ and ‘good’ matters of opinion only? Or have they objective validity? And, if so, what does the phrase mean?

— Some Problems of Philosophy, §2 (p. 30 / PDF p. 46)

Faced with this collection of questions, I would find it very strange if someone could think that they are all uninteresting or unimportant, though I have seen someone dismiss them quickly with strangely simple answers. I encourage the use of the above as a copypasta.

Certainly you might think of your own questions that could merit a place in the ensemble – I would find it interesting if you can post some in the comments – but the above is valuable partly for being from a reputable author, for better or worse.

James continues:

Such are specimens of the kind of question termed metaphysical. Kant said that the three essential metaphysical questions were:—

What can I know?

What should I do?

What may I hope?

A glance at all such questions suffices to rule out such a definition of metaphysics as that of Christian Wolff, who called it ‘the science of what is possible,’ as distinguished from that of what is actual, for most of the questions relate to what is actual fact.[...]