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From: rjf@eagle.ukc.ac.uk (Robin Faichney)
Newsgroups: sci.philosophy.tech
Subject: Re: What is philosophy?
Message-ID: <3251@eagle.ukc.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 31-Dec-69 18:59:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: eagle.3251
Posted: Wed Dec 31 18:59:59 1969
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Aug-87 03:36:34 EDT
References: <3219@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> <825@klipper.cs.vu.nl> <3227@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> <831@klipper.cs.vu.nl> <71@thirdi.UUCP> <2279@mmintl.UUCP> <76@thirdi.UUCP>
Reply-To: rjf@ukc.ac.uk (Robin Faichney)
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In article <76@thirdi.UUCP> sarge@thirdi.UUCP (Sarge Gerbode) writes:
>[..]
>If someone wants to be brave and proffer a definition of philosophy, I'm all
>for it!

Here goes (nice to know you're behind me, Sarge!):

Philosophy is the activity of attempting to discover and/or propagate
conceptual truths

where a conceptual truth is one which is true by definition (a tautology) or
whose logical premises are conceptual truths.

Thus formal logic, when dealing only with concepts, is the `purest' form of
philosophy. Other forms of philosophy are less formal, but (hopefully) still
logical methods of juggling concepts. Before the rise of experimental
methodology, all serious thinking was philosophical. (Which is not to say
that it was good philosophy.) When a branch of philosophy began to have
(or be capable of having) its theories tested by experimentation, it became
a science.

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary:

	philosophy n. Seeking after wisdom or knowledge, esp. that
	which deals with ultimate reality, or with the most general
	causes and principles of things and ideas and human percep-
	tion and knowledge of them, physical phenomena (natural
	philosophy); advanced learning in general (doctor of phil-
	osophy); philosophical system; system of principles for
	conduct of life; serentity, calmness. [ME f. OF filosofie
	L f. Gk PHILO (sophia wisdom f. sophos wise)]

This to me is an outdated and/or laymans definition of the word.
It obviously does not provide a means of contrasting philosophy with
science. My definition is (hopefully) that of a modern philosopher.
(Perhaps I should say - a British/American academic philosopher.)

Robin      rjf@ukc.ac.uk    ..mcvax!ukc!rjf