What is Philosophy?

Philosophy became the very foundation of human reasoning by seeking through the root of all
things such as human existence, the essence of love, the true meaning of wisdom and things that, more
often than not, cannot be explained by mere opinion and shallow judgment. It has been the core by which
truth is explained. However, contrary to this, Philosophy itself has never yet been clearly defined. As life
per se may not be placed in just a single context, Philosophy, with its indefinite extent and boundless
limits, as well, may be difficult to be described with just a particular statement. For instance, a question
may arise from a philosopher to another philosopher who have questioned the meaning of life. That is,
Philosophy does not end in just a particular search, rather, it creates more queries to be sought. In that
respect, this paper believes that Philosophy is a search for truth, an endless search for truth, and as well
as a love of wisdom.
The contrast that Philosophy is not the truth, but the search for truth or as may also be viewed as
a tool in unwrapping the truth, is, perhaps, a need to be emphasized. We may see this in a picture of the
ancient times. Alcmaeon of Croton said that `Of things invisible, as of mortal things, only the gods have
certain knowledge; but to us, as men, only inference from evidence is possible' (Laertius, 1972). It is
noteworthy that to understand the motives of God is beyond the intellectual capacity of humans.
Nonetheless, it is also proposed that they may count on their own interpretation of the world to see the
presence of God around. With the incorporation of rational and logical thinking, people in the ancient
world have tried to unveil the understanding behind the creations of immortal powers and of humanity
through the principles of Philosophy (Becker, N.A.). Here, Philosophy has been one, if not the only, means
to deepen their understanding of the existence of mankind.
It would also be interesting to look at one of Platos groundbreaking work The Allegory of the Cave
in further understanding Philosophy. It offers the readers, to whom it may be addressed, a distinction
between education and ignorance. There are two important points that could be grasp in the story. First,
the sun as the symbol for truth. Just as the sun is outside of the cave, the truth also lies outside of ones
comfort zone. The desire to go out of the cave is then a necessary step in order to discover the truth.
Down from the moment one is filled with the desire to find out the truth up until he/she ascertains the
truth is one of a philosophical act. The light frees a person from ignorance and the delusions of what
he/she perceives to be true. Second, we also see the role of the philosophers in the prisoner who had
escaped. Like the escaped prisoner, philosopher must help the ignorant lead the way out of the cave,
despite of their resistance. That is, one of the jobs of the philosophers is to inform the uninformed as
we see, a part of the journey towards truth.

As it was stated, philosophers are in the mission of seeking the truth, and spreading the truth. In
the determination to fulfill this mission, philosophers are in efforts of creating meaningful and authentic
talk; one that, according to Fr. Michael Moga, S.J., express human sociality, part of human learning or
growing, express a relationship to God, does create beauty and create fuller human life. While that may
be true, some people have wronged Philosophy for wisdom.
Wisdom, according to the article Philosophy and Wisdom: The Beginnings and Purpose of
Philosophy, is a sense of knowledge of everything, because if one knows principles that apply to the whole
reality, then one knows all of the reality. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato defined wisdom as
enlightenment as it is depicted as getting out of the cave and coming to see things as they really are.
This explains that wisdom is truly the knowledge of reality and not a mere prototype only.
Philosophy, on the other hand, is a well-coordinated and systematized attempt at evaluating life
and the universe as a whole, with reference to the first principles that underlie all things as their cause
and are implicit in all experience. It is an impartial approach to all problems and aspects of life and
existence, and its studies are not devoted merely to the empirical world, as in the case of physical and
biological sciences; not restricted to the provinces of faith and authority or to the questions of the other
world, as in the case of theological disquisitions; not confined to investigation of the mind and its behavior,
as in psychology; not given over merely to casuistry and ethnology, as in the normative science of morality
and ethics; not taken up with the consideration of civic duties and problems of administration and
constitution, as in the case of politics, not concerned with the solution of problems and techniques of
adjusting and ordering and discovering the origin and organization and development of human society,
like economics and sociology; but are adapted for an exhaustive treatment of basic presuppositions of
each and every one of these, as also of what is other than beyond all these, that on which all these are
ultimately founded and which is ground of all knowledge and experience in general (Krishnananda, 2014).
Basically, it supports the claim that Philosophy is simply the love of wisdom (Cicero, 2009).
It might simply be impossible for Philosophy to be placed in a single context. It may vary in many
forms, resulting from the different perspectives of different philosophers, and as to where they are
intended to be used; however, wherever it is placed, one should not miss to see that Philosophy is a
pursuit of truth, one way of seeing the light, as shown by Plato on The Allegory of the Cave, and the love
of wisdom.
Submitted by:
Lapid, Jean Camille | Lee, Adrian Christian | Mar, Krizia Alexza | Ramirez, Faye | Tan, Jimminee Jr.
BSCE-3A | Ateneo de Davao University
Prelim Exam PHILO 103