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What is Philosophy?

These are some answers to the question "What is Philosophy?" as supplied by staff and students at the University of Dundee:

• "A way of thinking; since thinking defines the nature of being human, philosophy is of fundamental importance"
• "A way of understanding what shapes our beliefs and actions"
• "Clear and distinct reflection upon our cognitive practices"
• "Openness to thinking about the familiar in unfamiliar ways"
• "Learning to continually scrutinise beliefs"
• "The creation of concepts"
• "The destruction of worlds and the construction of better, new ones"
• "A critical practice responding to our present"

As you can see, there is no right answer to the question; there are as many answers as there are philosophers and philosophy students. It's a good example of the kind of question we think about in philosophy: big questions that are asked, and answered, in multiple different ways.

Philosophy involves being open to new and different responses to familiar and unfamiliar questions. If you ever find yourself thinking about big questions beyond everyday experience - questions that may never have a single, final answer - then you would probably enjoy studying philosophy. In fact, if you ask and think about these kinds of questions, you are doing philosophy already.

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