Value of Philosophy

A detailed Summary of Value of Philosophy

In his Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell tackles the problem of the value of philosophy and why it should be studied. He claims that philosophy does have value for students of philosophy and for everyday life. Coming from a pragmatic view, Russell points out the practical consequences of studying philosophy. In agreeing with Russell, I will argue against the position that there is no reason to study philosophy.

One of the foremost arguments against philosophy is that it provides no definite answers. Opponents state it can give hypothetical answers, but none that can be proven. This is from a scientific point of view. The first reply to this argument is that it has answered questions. As pointed out by Russell (155), William James in Some Problems of Philosophy (10), and in lecture (Eves, 10/03), all the branches of sciences share their roots in philosophy. As man pondered throughout time and arrived at proven explanations, a new science would develop. For example it used to be the accepted belief that the world was flat. Next someone observes and questions if that assumption is really true. Eventually we have the Copernicus theorizing that the sun is the center and not the ea

There are many other indirect values besides the previous ones in regard to a trained philosophic mind. We learn to think and express ourselves clearly. We learn how to have a well-developed argument, emphasizing our key points and sticking to the topic on hand. We learn to question when someone's argument has weak areas. We are able to be more diplomatic as we can look at all sides of a case. We can tackle questions that might not have a clear-cut answer. All these values have the very practical advantage of being career skills. More and more employers look for a well-developed curriculum of liberal arts, including philosophy, because they know their future employee will have critical thinking skills and be well-adapted.

Finally, using my philosophical skills to think, I try to imagine a world without philosophy and what it would be like. There would be no planes, because it took someone daring to imagine we could join the birds in the sky. There would be no United States, because previously the status quo was the world is flat. We would probably all be Roman Catholics, since Martin Luther would have not thought he found a different way of looking at things. The world today as we know it would not exist. Philosophy is hugely important to us. There is value, both direct and indirect, in philosophy and that is why it should be a mandatory class for students to take. It will ensure human progress and that we continue to grow.

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Approximate Word count = 1488
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous