The Amazing Goal of Philosophy

Now it comes as a complete surprise but the question: what is philosophy really for (I mean really?) is not only not as obvious as it would seem, but is also very hard to understand once the answer is knows. It is quite amusing to think about why that is, but it seems to be the nature of human thinking.


So, what is the goal of philosophy? The goal of philosophy is to uncover the Truth. And as simple as this answer seems, it is just as baffling for some reason. For what is the Truth? The Truth, as Kant has defined it, is thinking that corresponds to reality. And that of course means we need to first determine what reality is, i.e. answer the ontological question, but also answer knowledge-theoretical questions related to whether it is even possible for us to think according to reality. In any event it appears that the endeavor is not quite trivial. Can we really learn how to swim before stepping into the water?


The incredibly difficult thing here is transcending our everyday view of philosophy. And it would be interesting to question "professional" philosophers to find out how many of them actually hold of this every day view. In common parlance we often hear things like: "My work philosphy is..." or just simply "My philosophy here is..." So any (unsophisticated) thought process is called "philosophy". This transfers to scholastic circles and philosophy simply becomes some way of conducting thought experiments, which of course is completely alien to the nature of true philosophy.


The very different nature of philosophical thinking had been bothering philosophers from Plato to Heidegger. Plato wanted to think according to the Idea. The old metaphysics made the whole world conform to the thought. Kant wanted to know how pure synthesis is possible. Hegel wanted the infinite thinking. Heidegger was concerned that (after all this!) today we are still not thinking at all.


In "What Is Called Thinking", he notes that he is not going to answer this question any more than a mother calling her son and yelling to him that she would show him how to obey the grown-ups. She does not mean that she is going to give him a definition or show some examples, rather, it is a promise that after she is done with him, the concept is going to become the boy's nature. We can say the same about philosophical thinking. We cannot teach it or give a definition. Rather, somewhere in the middle of philosophical studies, we can hope to achieve the almost intuitive way of approaching the state, where we stop treating philosophy as a way to excercise our mind and start trying to think according to reality.