WHY STUDY PHILOSOPHY

By
Alloy S Ihuah PhD
Dept. of Rel. and Philosophy
Benue State University,
Makurdi

“Why Study Philosophy?” or “Why are you Studying Philosophy?” are questions that
students of philosophy are almost always confronted and/ or affronted with. Quite often, the
inquirers themselves are not in a good position to explain to themselves and others why they
studied what they studied though, there is an element of self satisfaction in what can best be
described as the expression of subject jealousies (i.e. my course of study is better than yours).
One may attempt an answer to the posers though, the question is best answered if it is restated
as; what can Philosophy contribute to society? A similar question was posed in the Times
Magazine on January 7th, 1966 and entitled “What (if anything) to expect from today’s
Philosophers’. A similar title appears in one of the chapters of Kwasi Wiredu’s recent book
“Philosophy and an African Culture”. The chapter in question is “What can Philosophy do
for Africa? These titles are somewhat provocative because they mean to suggest that there is
some doubt as to what the Philosophers have to offer to the world today; there may even be
the suspicion that it has nothing to offer. Such questions are not asked of engineers, doctors
or bakers because it appears to be quite obvious that they have something to offer and what
they have to offer.
It argues here that, students who embark the study of Philosophy are asked why they study it.
Obviously students have their own personal reasons for such study of Philosophy. But if we
can say that Philosophy is difficult to read and hard to understand; if its subject matter is
obscure, its results unspectacular; if fewer and fewer people are interested in philosophy; if it
is true that a philosopher only knocks down what another built up over a life time, and that
they have only interpreted the world without changing it. If indeed, philosophy has no
pragmatic value either to get on in life or no lure in its own right, if Philosophy does not put
food on the table, create wealth and heaven for the individual here on earth and thus establish
for him/her a world worth living in and dying for, then why study it?
It may be well important to argue a case for the study of Philosophy by stating first and
foremost the obvious that, Philosophy is The Parent Discipline to which all other forms of
knowledge systems acknowledge. Great mi `nds like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle acted as
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pathfinders of human intellectual architecture. The likes of Adam Smith, Jean-Jaques
Rousseau, Bertrand Russell, Francis Bacon, all master Philosophers, have variously made
stupendous contributions in economic, political, and social spheres and have similarly bathed
the world population with knowledge and wisdom. It is today dated that the philosopher is the
one who is ultimately responsible for the general outlook and the ideals of certain societies
and cultures. Karl Marx and Friederich Engels are on record as the ones who created the
point of view of the Communist party; Thomas Jefferson, John Locke and John Stuart Mills
have similarly developed the theories which prevailed in democratic societies.
As The parent Discipline, Philosophy feeds the other areas of human study with the breast of
critical examination and analysis of issues concerning our world and ourselves in order to be
more and more human. Such is why the zenith of human knowledge/learning is tagged
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the various areas of study like Physics, History, English, Law,
or Medicine among others. This is the thinking that has informed the introduction of two
compulsory philosophy courses namely, GST 102: Introduction to philosophy and Logic,
and GST 104: History and philosophy of Science for Nigerian undergraduates in all Nigerian
Universities.
Reasons for studying philosophy run deep in the human spirit: As John Stuart Mill (d.
1873) put it:
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better
to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied and if the fool or the pig,
are of different opinion, I tis because they only know their own side of the
question. And Adam Smith adds (d.1970).

‘A man without the proper use of the intellectual faculties of a man, is if

possible, more contemptible than even a coward, and seems to be
mutilated and deformed in a still more essential part of the character of
human nature.

Philosophy delivers us from the bondage of conventional ways of thinking. As

Socrates said some four centuries before Christ ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’.
Either out of curiousity or the need to know we ask ourselves questions. And we ask
questions because we do not have the answers. We are uncertain. The value of philosophy is,
in fact, to be sought largely in its uncertainty. The man who has no spirit of philosophy in
him goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the
habitual beliefs of his age and nation, and from convictions, which have grown up in his mind
without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to
become definite, finite, obvious, common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar

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possibilities are contemptible. As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find,
as we saw in the course that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only
incomplete answers can be given. Philosophy, though unable to tell us, with certainty what is
the true answer to the doubts, which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities, which
enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our
feelings of certainty, as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they
may b e; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never traveled into
the regions of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar
things in an unfamiliar aspect.
But if we allow ourselves to be possessed by Philosophy then many things happen.
For the influences of philosophy are both direct and indirect. Socrates, the father of Moral
Philosophy, spoke about the direct influence of philosophy in the following way: ‘The course
of ignorance is that a man without being good or wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself:
he has no desire for that which he feels no want’.
Thinking Philosophically provides a basic ingredient, indeed an essential feature of
intellectual development. Without this vitamin one carries about the typical deficiency
diseases of the mind: misconception of points, vagueness of reason, wooliness of expression,
feebleness of intellectual grasp and emotions overworked as reasons are banished to the
wilderness.
The direct influences of philosophy are manifold: Philosophy is not concerned with
each idea, but how to think. It does not concentrate on making the weaker argument the
stronger” but tests each argument in the cold, clear light of reason. Its intention is not to
bamboozle the opposition into submission, but to present a point of view with clarity and
tolerance; it is not so much to refute your adversary but to join yourself with him in a higher
viewpoint. Real philosophy does not succumb to philosophical jargon in ignorance, but
consistently, coherently, it presents a vision and outlook, a viewpoint with real explanatory
power.
But philosophy also has its indirect influence and these are many. In fct Philosophers
are much more influential on people and on society than one might think: J.M. Keynes
observation is quite relevant here:
“The idea of economists and political philosophers both when they are
right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly
understood”. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who
believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences,
are usually the slaves of some defunct economists. I am sure that the

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 power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the
gradual encroachment of ideas.

Some of the influences of philosophers have become so much part of our culture that
we do not appreciate the pioneer work of the philosophers in their regard. I recall in particular
the morality of Socrates, the contemplation of Plato, the rationality of Aquinas and the
liberalism of Mill. Other influences have been more spectacular and dramatic like the
formation of the modern scientific mentality in the mind of the 18 th century Hume, the
contemporary atheistic culture in the mind of the 19th century Nietzsche, or the current
theories of structured inequality in the mind of Marx.
But it is often claim, is not of value because it is always dealing with the same issues.
The philosopher seems all the time to be concerned with questions like “what may I know?”
Who am I? ‘What ought I to do’? and ‘What do I hope for’? There are many observations one
could make here; I restrict myself to four of them.
(i) First of all, it is true that such questions keep reoccurring because the philosopher is
all the time pushing ahead, prodding for answers and criticizing those same answers.
This does not mean that the answers are not important. Of course they are. But the
philosopher in us leaves nothing to chance. And he is very convinced that if we could
get our questions straight then we could search in the right direction, make the
appropriate distinctions and discover the illuminating insights. Such a discovery of
insights will not consist in a neat answer, but an insight that while it discovers, leaves
more to be achieved.
(ii) If, as it appears, philosophers deal with the same questions from century to century we
must look back into the History of Philosophy and see how philosophers down the
ages have handled these same problems. You will discover as you read philosophy
that it has been one long conversation, a dialogue in which each party makes its
distinct contribution and in turn received from others. The man who tries to
philosophize without learning at the feet of the great philosophers is like a man going
down a dark alley blindfolded.
Philosophers have given us signposts along the way. We will not be blindfolded.
Some of these signposts say ‘go this way’ others say ‘do not enter’ and others still
‘cull de sac’. We must learn to read the sign ourselves and see for ourselves where to
go and what to do with the help of the signs. But in any case we cannot omit attending

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 to them because otherwise we will only land ourselves in fallacies an simplicities
which philosophers themselves have discovered centuries ago.
(i) Describing philosophers as always asking the same questions
does not fully describe the work of the philosopher. Plato 2000 years age studied the
problem of justice. You can say he is saying the same thing as yourself as you study
justice today. But you must also admit that many things have happened in the 2000,
whereby your questions and answers are much more developed and take into account
many more issues than Plato might have been concerned with.
(ii) As already stated it is very tempting and superficially smart to
say that philosophy is useless and ‘pie in the sky’. If you feel like rejecting philosophy
as muddleheaded nonsense then consider this remarks from Rahner.
“A man who refuses to commit himself for fear of following an insight
that cannot be mathematically verified does not in fact remain free, but
rather enters upon the worst of all commitments; that of living his life
without commitment. He tries to live a life as a neutral, deciding nothing.
And that itself is a decision.

Whatever, beliefs you have about life will be more nature and convincing if you are
able to reflect on them. Remember that the man or woman who will not reason is a bigot, and
the one who cannot is a fool, while the one who dare not is a slave. Some people think it is a
sign of common sense not to reason about basic issues in life or question things and other
consider it sophisticated to believe in nothing. When I find people anxious to tell me what
they do not believe in I like to suggest to them they tell me what they stand for. For it is also
true that the open mind that never makes up its mind is an empty mind. We cannot all the
time is standing scoffing on the sidewalks, of truth. While none of us has monopoly on truth
we must receive our share and cherish it. If everything becomes negotiable provided there is
agreement all it means is that we really accept nothing with any depth.
The achievements of philosophers are many:
i) There are words today we understand in a richer way precisely because of
the work of the philosophers. Today we have a keener sense of freedom, equality,
poverty, dignity development and we can largely thank the philosopher for it.

‘The philosopher in society witnesses to the supreme dignity of thought;

he points to what is eternal in men, and stimulates out thirst for pure
knowledge and disinterested knowledge, for knowledge of those
fundamentals about the nature of things and the nature of the mind and
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 himself, and God – which are superior to end independent of, anything
we can make or produce or create to which all our practice is appended,
because we think before acting and nothing can limit the range of
thought: our practical decisions depend on the stand we take on the
ultimate questions that human thought is able to ask”.

ii) There are classics of philosophical analysis, which have stood the test of
time. Historical and familiar arguments like the ontological argument of Anselm,
which even Kant applauded, have rejected once and for all, so far as claim to validity
goes. Above all, it has been made clear what consequences a man commits himself to
in adapting certain positions, what further difficulties certain lines of reasoning entail.
iii) There has been built upon large common store of carefully formulated
philosophical concepts which have been subjected again and again to thorough going
analysis. Thus we have analyses of concepts like ‘truth’ ‘meaning’, ‘cause’, ‘ideas’,
‘happiness’, ‘value’ which are much more understandable experience of analysis.

It is thus not an overstatement to underscore the functional indispensability of

philosophy as a redeemer of humankind. Today, philosophers through the power of reason
have with their deeds stored up a treasury of values from which humanity can draw
inspiration to save the troubled world that has been so criminally poisoned by exaggerated
materialism. Philosophy is not just an effective source of knowledge, it is a useful way of life,
which opens up the eyes of the human soul to eternal truths.
As one builds upon one’s own philosophy of life in aid of one’s pilgrimage, it is a
wise choice to be guided by the following Ten Commandments of philosophy. One is
however advised to test them, refine them, and possibly reject some of them or add better
ones as one proceeds on his/her own pursuit of wisdom.
1. Allow the spirit of wonder to florish in your breast: Philosophy begins with deep wonder
about the universe and about who we are, where we came from and where we are going.
What is this life all about?
2. Doubt everything until the evidence convince you of its truth ;Bereasonably caotios , a
moderate sceptic, and suspicious of those who claim to hhave the truth. Doubt is the soul’s
laxative. Do not fear intellectual inwuiry as Johann Goethe (1749-says , “The masses fear the
intellectual, but it is stupidity that they should fear, if they only realized how dangerous it
really is”
3. Love the Truth: Philosophy is the external search for truth, a search for which
inevitability fails and yet is never defeated; which continually eludes us, but which always

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guides us. This free intellectual life of the mind is the noblest inheritance of the western
world; it is also the hope of the future (W.T Jones)
4. Divide and Conquer: Divide each problem and theory into its smallest essential
components in order to analyze each unit carefully. This is the analytic method.
5. Collect and Construct: Build a coherent argument or theory from component parts. One
should move from the simple secure foundations to the complex and comprehensive. As
mentioned previously, Russell once said that the aim of philosophical argument was to move
from simple propositions so obvious that no one would think of doubting them via a method
of argument to conclusions that no one could help but doubt them. The important thing is to
have a coherent, well-founded, tightly reasoned set of beliefs that can withstand the
opposition.
6. Conjecture and Refute: Make complete survey of possible objection to your opposition,
looking for counter examples and subtle mistakes. Following a suggestion of philosopher
Karl Popper, philosophy is a system of conjecture and refutation. Seek bold hypotheses and
seek to find disconfirmations of your favorite positions. In this way, by a process of
elimination, you will negatively and indirectly and gradually approach the truth.
7. Revise and Rebuild: Be willing to revise, reject, and modify your beliefs and the degree
with which you hold any belief. Acknowledge that you have many false beliefs and be
gratefull to those who correct you.
8. Seek Simplicity: Prefer the simplest ezplanation to the more complex of all things being
equal. This is the principle of parsimony, sometimes known a Occam’s Razor.
9. Live the Truth: Appropriate your ideas in a personal way,so that even as the objective
truth is a correspondence of the thought to the world, this lived truth will be a correspondence
to the life to the thought. As Kierkegaard said, Here is a definition of (subjective) truth:
holding fast to an objective uncertainty in an appropriation process of the most passionate
inwardness is the truth, the highest truth available for an existing individual.
10. Live the Good: Let the practical conclusions of a philosophical reflection on the moral
life inspire and motivate you to action. Let moral truth transform your life so that you shine
like a jewel growing in its own light amidst the darkness of ignorance