https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiPHEHldgLA


Q. What do you think philosophy is?


A. Ok I will try to answer this question in a specific way not what generally philosophy is, but what can philosophy maybe (in a more Wittgensteinian way) do today.


I think it can do something extremely important. I don't think it can solve problems. When people ask us, ecology, environment, racism, what to do, well I don't know. But we can do something much more important I think. As we learn, and this is the first thing you learn from philosophy, there are not only wrong answers to the right questions, there are also wrong questions. In other words, when we are facing problems today, often as a rule even, I would say, the very way we perceive the problem is part of the problem. So the first thing to do is as it were to correct the question. For example, my standard example, ecology. Very real problem. But my god, how much of ideology is invested into it. For example, all that new age mythology of mother earth, rape, lost balance and so on. All racism, my classical example. Why do we today automatically translate problems of sexism and racism into problems of tolerance. This is not an evidence. So you see, things like this, here we are needed more than ever. Why? I claim that with things going on today, take just one field of bio-genetics and also numerous ethical problems and so on, we no longer can rely on old standard value system where you just look into the old books maybe you do a little bit of Jewish Cabala reading ?? reading and you have the answer. Let's take big even popular debates. Gay marriage, abortion, contraception, my god in a way or should we punish people or not, isn't that in a way or how to deal with biogenetical challenges, my god to answer these questions and we all even ordinary people have to answer them. In a way you have almost to confront a philosophical problem, because if you consider human being is genuinely free, you would have replied in a different way to these questions or you implicitly your answer implies a reference to what is human freedom what is human dignity and so on and so on. Which is why I think, which is rather a sad thing but nonetheless that with growing problems of this radical uncertainty problems where we have not only to provide answers but as it were you know it's what can define in a very nice way this true problems where you don't simply apply a rule but you have as it were re-conceptualize or even reinvent a specific rule. There, philosophy is needed more than ever. I think today. So it's great future for us, but this is not a good sign because as already Hegel knew, in his early writing I think the difference between Schelling and Fichte system of philosophy, philosophy's time is always unfortunately the time of trouble. When a certain way of life loses its substance when you cannot simply orient ?? It all starts with Socrates. Socrates began when precisely you could no longer simply rely on old values. In their organic immediate ??? and then of course then you need Socrates but what is virtue but what is this but what is that. So again, for us maybe good news but we are not always good news for humanity but we will be needed more than ever, today I claim.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp8aTYUrPi0


I don't think that philosophers ever provided answers. But I think this was the greatness of philosophy. No, not in this common sense that philosophers just ask great questions and so on. I mean what is philosophy? Philosophy is not what some people think some crazy exercise in absolute truth and then you can adopt you know this skeptical attitude we through scientists are dealing with actual measurable solvable problems philosophers just ask stupid metaphysical questions and so on playing with absolute truths which we all know is inaccessible. No I think philosophy is a very modest disciplines. Philosophy asks a different question. The true philosophy. How does a philosopher approach the problem of freedom. It's not are we free or not, is there god or not. It asks a simple question which would be called a hermeneutic question. What does it mean to be free? So, this is what philosophy basically does it just asks when we use certain notions when we do certain acts and so on and so on what is the implicit horizon of understanding it doesn't ask this stupid ideal questions is there truth. No, the question is what do you mean when you say this is true. So you can see it's very modest thing philosophy. Philosophers are not the madman who search for some eternal truth and so on and so on.