# What is Philosophy?

A Four-Question Formulation

Greg Coppola

September 27, 2023

# Introduction

Traditionally, **Western Philosophy** is defined or introduced as an **enumerated list** of seemingly arbitrary subtopics. For example, *********Wikipedia********* defines philosophy as:

> **Philosophy** (*love of wisdom* in [ancient Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek)) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like [existence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existence), [reason](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason), [knowledge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge), [value](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(ethics_and_social_sciences)), [mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind), and [language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language). (Wikipedia, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy))
> 

When viewed as this list of seemingly arbitrary topics it becomes difficult to answer the mystery of the popularity of philosophy:

- **the mystery of the popularity of philosophy**
    - *popularity*
        - philosophy is evidently very popular with, and meaningful to, thinking people, and even the masses
    - *mystery*
        - why would this seemingly arbitrary, obscure list of academic topics be so relevant for so many people?

We believe the answer can be found by distilling the entire enterprise of philosophy down to its essence as: to ******orient****** oneself in the ******world******. In particular, we view philosophy as the giving of answers to ****four**** simple questions.

# The Subtopics of Philosophy

Since philosophy is defined using an enumerated list of subtopics, everyone can give their own list. We highlight the following areas as among the most important in what has traditionally been called “philosophy”:

- **metaphysics** what is the nature of reality?
- **epistemology** how do we know what we know?
- **ethics** - a study of moral principles
- **aesthetics** - the study of the beautiful
- **logic** - study of valid arguments
- **political philosophy** - the study of political systems
- **philosophy of mind** - the question of consciousness
- **philosophy of language** - the study of how language
- **philosophy of science** - the definition and justification of the scientific method

# Enumerative Definition and its Drawbacks

Variously called an **********************enumerative definition********************** or a ***************list definition***************, this conception of philosophy defines the field as an ********arbitrary-seeming list******** of topics. One is not clear on how we would add more subtopics, or when it would be possible to add. It would seem to be a matter of opinion which topics get added, and it would not be clear whose opinion that would be.

For example, suppose we were to define a ********restaurant******** by a list of three examples: 1) the cheap fast-food restaurant *McDonald’s*, 2) the mid-market steak house *******The Keg*******, 3) the New York three-star Michelin restaurant *****Per Se*****. From this list of items, can we say whether a new addition to the list would definitely be a restaurant? Would a “food truck” be a restaurant? What about a home where dinner is served? What about a “bed and breakfast”? Fuzzy “I’ll know it when I see it”-style definitions create a lack of clarity.

# **Four-Question Formulation**

## The Four Questions

I believe it is easier to appreciate the central role that *philosophy* plays in the lives of so many people if we view philosophy as the project to answer the following *four questions*:

1. *what* is **happening**?
    - this is the focus of *******science*******
2. *how* do we **know**?
    - this is the focus of *************the philosophy of science*************
3. *what* do we **value**?
    - this is the focus of **********aesthetics**********
    - note
        - this is the ******only****** step where we access our “emotions”
        - the rest of the questions are purely logical, and free of emotion
4. *what* will we **do**?
    - this is the focus of ***************decision theory*************** and ******ethics******

When viewed as this list of topics, we see clearly that every person, whether a professor, a business person, or a blue collar worker, must answer these questions for themselves. Thus, philosophy is seen as the formalization into a science of something that common sense people do all the time: orient themselves in their environment.

## List of Subtopics Revisited

Let’s review the classic subtopics of philosophy, to see which of the four questions each subfield is meant to address:

- **metaphysics** what is the nature of reality? (what is happening?, how do we know?)
- **epistemology** how do we know what we know? (how do we know?)
- **ethics** - a study of moral principles (what do we value?)
- **aesthetics** - the study of the beautiful (what do we value?)
- **logic** - study of valid arguments (how do we know?)
- **political philosophy** - the study of political systems (what should we do?)
- **philosophy of mind** - the question of consciousness (what is happening?, how do we know?)
- **philosophy of language** - the study of how language works (what is happening?, how do we know?)
- **philosophy of science** - the definition and justification of the scientific method (how do we know?)

# Explaining the **Importance of Philosophy**

When philosophy is viewed not as a random list of topics, but as this set of four foundational questions, it is easy to see why every educated person prides themselves on knowing at least *some* philosophy, even if they aren’t the next Socrates. This is because the four questions allow us to orient ourselves in the world by determining: what is possible, what we value, and what to do.