What Do Philosophers Do? | Timothy Williamson

Summary

This script delves into the nature of philosophical inquiry, highlighting the propensity of children to ask 'why' questions, which can lead to profound philosophical discussions. It emphasizes the pursuit of understanding through abstract questioning, such as 'What is knowledge?' or 'What is justice?', and the importance of seeking answers to these questions. Philosophy is portrayed as a discipline that not only asks difficult questions but also strives to find methods to address and test potential answers.

Takeaways

• 🤔 Philosophers are known for asking questions, especially 'why' questions, similar to children in their inquisitive phase.
• 👶 Children often ask 'why' questions that can lead to philosophical discussions if parents attempt to provide thorough answers.
• 🔍 When parents try to answer children's 'why' questions, they are often led to provide more abstract explanations, which can be philosophical in nature.
• 🧐 Philosophers also ask 'what is' questions, such as 'what is knowledge?' or 'what is justice?', which are abstract and general.
• 🚫 Not all 'what is' questions are philosophical; some are better suited for other disciplines, like 'what is electricity?' for a physicist.
• 💡 Philosophy involves not just asking questions but also seeking methods to answer them, especially when the questions seem difficult to tackle initially.
• 🤷‍♂️ Many philosophical questions, like 'what is knowledge?', can initially leave people without any idea of how to approach an answer.
• 🔑 A significant part of philosophy is about gaining a grip on such questions, understanding potential answers, and devising ways to test those answers.
• 📚 The script suggests that philosophical inquiry has been ongoing for over 2,000 years, indicating its long-standing importance in human thought.
• 🌐 The process of answering philosophical questions often involves moving from specific instances to more general and abstract concepts.

Q & A

What role do questions play in philosophy?

Questions are fundamental to philosophy, often starting with 'why' or 'what is' inquiries that delve into the nature of things, concepts, and abstract ideas.

How does the script relate the questioning phase of children to philosophy?

The script suggests that children's persistent 'why' questions can lead to philosophical discussions, especially when parents attempt to provide deeper, more abstract explanations.

Why do some people continue asking 'why' questions into adulthood?

Some individuals, referred to as philosophers, continue asking 'why' questions as a way to explore deeper meanings and understanding beyond the surface level of everyday life.

What is the significance of 'what is' questions in philosophy?

Questions starting with 'what is' are significant in philosophy as they aim to define and understand the essence of abstract concepts such as knowledge, justice, and time.

How do parents' attempts to answer children's questions lead to philosophical directions?

When parents provide explanations and are then asked 'why' about those explanations, they are driven towards more abstract thinking, which is characteristic of philosophical inquiry.

What is the difference between a philosophical question and a scientific one?

Philosophical questions tend to be abstract and general, such as 'what is justice?', whereas scientific questions, like 'what is electricity?', seek specific, empirical explanations.

Why is it important for philosophers to attempt answering their questions?

Attempting to answer philosophical questions is crucial as it helps philosophers explore potential answers, develop methods of testing those answers, and gain a deeper understanding of complex issues.

What challenges do philosophers face when trying to answer their questions?

Philosophers often face the challenge of finding a good answer, understanding what constitutes a valid answer, and developing methods to test and validate their answers.

How does the script describe the process of finding answers in philosophy?

The script describes it as a process of gaining a grip on the questions, exploring potential answers, and then thinking of ways to test and validate those answers.

What is the role of abstraction in philosophical discussions?

Abstraction plays a key role in philosophical discussions, allowing for the exploration of general and universal concepts that go beyond specific instances or empirical data.

Why might a question about electricity be more suited for a physicist than a philosopher?

A question about electricity is more suited for a physicist because it requires specific, empirical knowledge and understanding of physical phenomena, which is the domain of physics rather than philosophy.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Nature of Philosophical Inquiry

This paragraph delves into the essence of philosophical questioning, comparing it to the innate curiosity of children who frequently ask 'why'. It highlights how answering these questions can lead to a philosophical direction, as parents are compelled to provide deeper and more abstract explanations. The paragraph also touches on the traditional 'what is' questions that philosophers have been asking for centuries, such as 'what is knowledge?' or 'what is justice?', emphasizing the abstract and general nature of these inquiries. The importance of attempting to answer these questions is underscored, with the paragraph suggesting that philosophy is as much about finding ways to approach and test potential answers as it is about asking the questions themselves.

Keywords

💡Philosophers

Philosophers are individuals who engage in the practice of philosophy, which is the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. In the video's context, philosophers are characterized by their relentless questioning and pursuit of understanding the nature of various concepts. An example from the script is the way philosophers, like children, ask 'why' questions, which can lead to profound and abstract discussions.

💡Why Questions

The 'why' questions are a fundamental part of philosophical inquiry, representing the search for reasons and explanations behind phenomena or concepts. In the script, it is mentioned that children often ask 'why' questions, and when parents attempt to answer them, it can lead to a philosophical direction as the child continues to ask 'why' about the provided explanations.

💡Abstraction

Abstraction in the context of philosophy refers to the process of dealing with ideas rather than events or objects. Philosophers often engage in abstraction to understand the general principles behind specific instances. The script illustrates this with the example of parents providing more abstract explanations when answering a child's persistent 'why' questions.

💡Explanation

An explanation is a statement, account, or interpretation that makes something understandable by describing the reasons or causes for it. In the video's narrative, the act of providing explanations is central to the philosophical process, as it is through explanations that deeper understanding and philosophical inquiry are initiated.

💡Philosophical Direction

The term 'philosophical direction' refers to the path of questioning and reasoning that leads to more profound and abstract considerations. The script uses this term to describe how answering children's 'why' questions can lead to a deeper level of inquiry that is characteristic of philosophical thought.

💡What Is Questions

'What is' questions are a common form of philosophical inquiry, seeking to understand the essence or nature of a concept. The script mentions several examples, such as 'what is knowledge?' or 'what is justice?', which are typical of philosophical discourse aiming to explore the fundamental nature of these concepts.

💡Knowledge

Knowledge, in a philosophical context, refers to the understanding of truth or facts through rational thought and experience. The script uses 'what is knowledge?' as an example of a philosophical question that requires a thoughtful and abstract answer, indicating the complexity of defining such a fundamental concept.

💡Suffering

Suffering, as a philosophical concept, can encompass the experience of pain, distress, or hardship. It is mentioned in the script as one of the 'what is' questions that philosophers have traditionally explored, reflecting on the nature and implications of suffering in human life.

💡Time

Time is a concept that has been extensively examined by philosophers, often in relation to its nature, perception, and implications for existence. The script briefly mentions 'what is time?' as a question that delves into the philosophical examination of temporality.

💡Justice

Justice, in the philosophical realm, pertains to the principles of fairness, reasonableness, and morality that guide decision-making and societal norms. The script includes 'what is justice?' as an example of a philosophical question that seeks to understand the underlying principles of just actions and systems.

💡Potential Answers

Potential answers refer to the possible responses or solutions to a question or problem. In the context of the video, philosophers are engaged in the search for potential answers to complex philosophical questions, reflecting on how these answers might be formulated and validated.

Highlights

Philosophers engage in diverse activities, including asking questions, similar to children's inquisitive nature.

Children often go through a phase of asking 'why' questions, which can be philosophical in nature if pursued seriously.

Philosophy involves asking 'why' questions that lead to abstract and general explanations.

Parents attempting to answer children's 'why' questions can be driven towards philosophical directions.

The process of explaining explanations can lead to philosophical inquiry.

Philosophers traditionally ask 'what is' questions, such as 'what is knowledge' or 'what is justice'.

Not all 'what is' questions are philosophical; some are better suited for scientific disciplines.

The importance of attempting to answer philosophical questions is emphasized.

Philosophy involves finding ways to approach and answer complex and abstract questions.

Questions like 'what is knowledge' can be challenging to answer without context or background.

Philosophy is about gaining a grip on difficult questions and exploring potential answers.

Philosophers seek methods to test and validate the answers to their questions.

The transcript discusses the nature of philosophical inquiry and its distinction from scientific inquiry.

Philosophy is characterized by its pursuit of understanding through abstract questioning.

The transcript highlights the iterative process of questioning and explaining in philosophy.

Philosophers are distinguished by their persistence in asking 'why' beyond the typical childhood phase.

The transcript suggests that philosophical questions often lack clear answers and require exploration.

Philosophy involves a continuous search for understanding and meaning through questioning.

Transcripts

philosophers do a lot of different

things one of them is asking questions

the way the children often go through a

phase of asking why questions about

everything when driving their parents to

distraction if they make a serious

effort to answer them and that most

children grow out of that phase sooner

or later but somebody once said that the

the ones who don't other philosophers

that's so asking why questions is it

that's part of philosophy although again

of course not every why question is is a

philosophical one but one thing that's

really notable even with the kind of

conversations that you get between

children and parents that we really

young children and in this phase of

asking why is that if the parents have

make any serious attempt to answer the

questions they're kind of driven in what

you might call a philosophical direction

because the child asks why about some

very ordinary thing and then the parent

gives some kind of explanation but then

the the child straightaway asks why

about the explanation itself and so the

that parent if they're going to go along

with this has to find an explanation for

the explanation and very often that that

drives you in the direction of of

something that is really quite

philosophical because the parents are

trying to find more abstract and in

general things to say in response to

this request for an explanation of an

explanation so that's that's a way in

which quite ordinary lines of

questioning when they're just pressed a

bit further take you into something that

philosophical and another kind of

question that philosophers have

traditionally asked and still do ask

what is questions like you know what is

knowledge what is suffering what is time

these these kind of questions what is

justice and and these are also have this

very abstract and general kind of

character and again I mean not all

questions of of this kind would now be

regarded as philosophical questions mean

for example you know if you if you ask

what is electricity that that's a

question that you should ask out of a

physicist not of a philosopher but a lot

of the ones that I mentioned a questions

which have been asked by by philosophers

for for well over 2,000 yes of course I

mean there's not much point in asking

questions if if you're not going to make

some attempt to answer them so another

thing that philosophers do and Institute

is to try to find ways of answering

these questions because I mean many of

the questions are ones where when you

first hear them you really have no idea

what a good answer would be what it

would look like how you'd find one how

you would test an answer and a question

like what is knowledge is one which I

think would leave most of us just

flummoxed the first time you heard it

with no kind of background and and so a

lot of what philosophy is concerned with

is finding ways of of getting some sort

of grip on these questions finding out

you know what kind of potential answers

we might give and then thinking of ways

in which we can test those answers