What is philosophy? Concise philosophical topic post 1 (continued)

I once heard a saying: philosophy, philosophy, is the knowledge of folding the mouth. Philosophy requires people to talk less and think more. This statement makes sense at first glance, but Socrates is famous for dialectical dialogue in Greece, and Habermas also attaches great importance to dialogue and communication in contemporary times. Philosophy attaches importance to thinking, but does not lock people up. If we know the origin of the word philosophy, we will know that it is not a word attached to association.

Made in Japan

There is no such word as philosophy in China culture. It was not until the Jesuits introduced modern western ideas and implements into China at the end of Ming Dynasty that philosophy was transliterated by Xu Guangqi as Philosophia, while Li Zhizao was translated as Aizhixue. The word "philosophy" was originally translated by Japanese scholar Xizhou. At first, he translated it into Greek learning and Greek philosophy (Greek is admiration and hope; Philosophy was later translated into philosophy and the name of philosophy appeared for the first time. 1874, the Department of Philosophy was established at Imperial University of Tokyo. In the end, philosophy also won many victories in the early years of the Republic of China.

Philosophy is the love of wisdom.

Whether the name of philosophy comes from China or Japanese, we have to go back to the original cultural tradition to determine its meaning. In western culture, the philosophy of any language comes from the Greek word χ ι λ ο σ ο? 0? 7α.φιλο(Philo) is love, σ ο φ? 0? 7α (Sophia) means wisdom, and philosophy is to love wisdom. From this perspective, Li Zhizao's and Jesuits' translations of Aichi and Western Zhou's translations of Greek philosophy are in line with the meaning of the original Greek text. Western philosophy is an ancient knowledge, which originated in the 6th century BC. Its original meaning is to love wisdom.

Looking at philosophy from the way of definition

When we communicate with others, we often need to define the words we use to convey our ideas accurately. We can divide the meaning of words into two levels: extension and connotation. Extension refers to what the words in the world stand for. One of the extensions of the word like people is you who are studying now. Connotation is the meaning of the word itself. For example, the connotation of an equilateral triangle is a triangle with three equal sides. Words with different connotations may have the same extension, such as equilateral triangle and equilateral triangle, and vice versa.

The connotation of philosophy Many philosophers have different views on what philosophy is. Knowing oneself is the motto of life exploration in Greek period, which inspired Socrates' philosophical thinking; Husserl of Phenomenological School thinks that philosophy is the strictest knowledge, which provides a solid foundation for all knowledge. Wittgenstein, one of the pioneers of analytical philosophy, believes that all philosophical problems come from the misuse of language, and there will be no philosophical problems after the terminology is clarified. Let's make a general observation of philosophical speculation first, and don't get involved in these arguments first. We will find that philosophy is to explore and think about the fundamental problems of people themselves and the world they live in. Many universal concepts and values of human civilization, such as truth, goodness, beauty, freedom, justice and benevolence, are the objects of philosophical reflection.

Two Extended Knowledge Objects and Practical Attitude of Philosophy

And what is the extension of philosophy? The simplest answer is all kinds of theoretical and systematic worldviews put forward by philosophers, but if philosophy is only for memorizing knowledge, it runs counter to the spirit of loving wisdom. Socrates once said: An unexamined life is not worth living. Hegel said that the first condition of philosophy is to dare to truth. How many philosophers think, in the final analysis, is their own reflection and answer to their own life and the truth they pursue, but that does not belong to us. It is more important to reflect on yourself and answer. Philosophy is a spirit of inquiry, and it should not be just a pale and lifeless object of knowledge, or even a knowledge addiction to manipulate concepts.

The relationship between philosophy and science

The Development Course of Western Academics

We all know that western civilization originated in the Greek era, when the so-called philosophical research covered almost all knowledge, which is why the highest degree in many fields today is generally called Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy. With the division and deepening of the research field, natural science and philosophy gradually parted ways after the scientific revolution in modern western countries. The relationship between philosophy and science at that time can be seen from the classic title "Newtonian Mechanics, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy". By the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, psychology and sociology were separated from philosophy and became independent disciplines. With the separation of many disciplines from philosophy, this raises a question: what is left of philosophy?

Scientific research based on experience

Although there are many disciplines separated from philosophy, most of them have a common feature, that is, the research object is limited to the world of sensory experience, or the research is carried out by experience. However, whether philosophy should be based on experience has been debated from different standpoints since the Greek era, and the focus of modern philosophy is composed of the debate between empiricism and rationalism. However, science has avoided this difficult problem, or the answer reserved by science is an empirical position, and scientists are engaged in the exploration of knowledge on the basis of empirical research. Although science is divided into natural science, social science and their various disciplines because of different research objects, experience is the cornerstone of their similarity.

Although the extremely scientific development of science has made great achievements, the holistic and basic philosophical thinking does not stop there. First of all, the old question of why knowledge exists has not been really solved, and philosophy is questioning and challenging existing beliefs, knowledge and values. In addition to thinking about philosophical issues on the basis of knowledge provided by science, we can also question the authenticity of experience, think about the possibility beyond experience, and even philosophically reflect on scientific research itself. The value questions that science can't answer need profound philosophical reflection, such as human cloning and surrogacy. Science can be done today, but whether it should be done, if science relying only on experiments and observations can't provide us with guidance; And social justice, the conflict between freedom and order, and how man and nature are * * *, all these questions can be easily answered without relying on any scientific theorem.

Interaction between science and philosophy

In the Greek era, philosophy originally contained all knowledge, so philosophy was actually a love of knowledge. Many philosophers have always been proficient in other academic fields, not philosophy, and philosophy and science have always been communicating. On the one hand, the achievements of scientific research lead to the discussion of philosophical questions or provide resources to answer philosophical questions. For example, Newtonian mechanics' understanding of the universe is a determinist worldview that emphasizes British relations. As long as there are data such as initial position, initial velocity and acceleration of the object, the position of the object at other times can be calculated. However, with the development of quantum mechanics in the twentieth century, probability replaced causality, which also profoundly shook the world view of Newtonian mechanics, and there was also a philosophical debate among scientists. For quantum mechanics that emphasizes probability,

Einstein once said: God does not roll dice. The reflection of soul in traditional philosophy includes neurophysiology, psychology, language research, computer simulation and so on.